Mantra as Inner Sound
Bhairava
Instead of chanting words mechanically, this verse points to a deeper kind of mantra that becomes an inner vibration. When attention rests in the highest state again and again, the practice itself turns into a natural hum or current inside. The sound is not just spoken; it is lived.
भूयो भूय् परे भावे भावना भाव्यते वह या । जप् सोऽि स्वयं नादो मन्त्रात्मा जप्य ईदृश् ॥ १४५ ॥
bhūyo bhūyaḥ pare bhāve bhāvanā bhāvyate yā | japaḥ so'yaṃ svayaṃ nādo mantra-ātmā japyā īdṛśī || 145 ||
Translation
Again and again, in the supreme state, the contemplation that is contemplated—this very japa is itself the spontaneous sound (nāda), having the essence of mantra; such is the recitation.
The verse teaches that true mantra practice is the repeated return to the supreme state, where recitation becomes spontaneous inner sound.