Translation help

[oak333]

Sometimes it is difficult for non-Indian yoga practicioners to find the translation and meaning of some terms.

E. g. I need help to translate this text:

The cleansing of the Nadi (Nadi-Suddhi) is either Samanu or Nirmanu.-that is
with or without the use of BIJA. What is BIJA ?

[Nichole]

bija mantra is the root sound associated with a chakra. each chakra has its own bija.

fyi, in general, modern indians do not tend to have an easier time understanding sanskrit. sanskrit is not common outside of specific studies, practices and families. the general indian populous are not yoga practitioners, which is one reason why swami ram dev is trying to reignite some yoga practices within india--giving yoga and pranayama back to the indians.

the wiki page for bija is actually not too shabby.

cheers,
nichole

[Pandara]

Hi Oak333,

Note that apart from the bija mantras of the chakras there are other sets of bija mantras as well, which is used in Tantra for aspects such as healing, spiritual growth etc. Also remember that all bija mantras are always preceded by the Om which is viewed as the original bija from which All originated.

Bija mantras, when correctly applied, intoned and invoked can be extremely powerful. It is part of Tantra yoga and fascinating once you understand it.

One of the other spellings of bija is also beeja, again translations are problemsome as Nichole has already pointed out.

[oak333]

Thank you both for your answers. Now the questioning goes further: how do you know the BIJA for each chakra ?

[oak333]

Sanskrit glossary
----------------

It looks like Bija means seed, source. However, this is a lot less than the explanation given by Nichole and Pandara.

http://www.atmajyoti.org/sw_glossary.asp

[InnerAthlete]

lam, vam, ram, yam, ham, aum - from root to crown.

[Pandara]

I would like to add and expand on IA's reply. It is just from root to ajna, sahasrara don't really have a bija ascribed to it and if you count the bija given by IA you'll see there is just 6. The bija for Sahasrara is the sound culmination of all the previous 6 in this chakra. Many people use the Aum for Sahasrara as well, I was taught differently by my teacher.

[oak333]

Originally Posted by InnerAthlete

lam, vam, ram, yam, ham, aum - from root to crown.

Thanks for your answer. I did a Google search for Bija Chakras and found quite a few sites.

Please let me know whether you find as correct the following Bija Mantras:

http://www.psychic101.com/bija-mantra.html

Thank you.

[Pandara]

Originally Posted by oak333

Thanks for your answer. I did a Google search for Bija Chakras and found quite a few sites.

Please let me know whether you find as correct the following Bija Mantras:

http://www.psychic101.com/bija-mantra.html

Thank you.

I don't know the one they suggest for Ajna, again it is how you have been taught by your teacher and Bija should ideally be taught by a teacher to a student.

[oak333]

I have found a good web site, based on four classics, like Gheranda Samshita and Hatha
Yoga Pradipika:

http://homagetothesource.com/pranayama.html