What is yantra?
Yan= sadhan (સાધન - tool), tra means = 3. Yantra means when you become one with God using a tool. The 3 parts here are you, God and a tool.
Tool can be anything. However, a tool that helps you to connect with God is called a yantra. The oldest yantra is ૐ (aum). Other common yantras are swastik (卐) and sri yantra.
Swastik: It depicts the 4 directions (karma, bhakti, gyaan and yoga). All the directions face towards right (implies towards righteousness). All directions are interconnected with each other and when rotated they form a chakra (the wheel of life). Swastik has the 2 arms forming a plus (+) that are double in length of that of direction. One arm depicts you and the other is God and forms a cross. You and God meet at centre point and when meet there from any direction, you become zero.
ૐ (Aum): It is depicted as trishul (trident) and a chandra (moon) on the top. These are 2 yantras of Shiv – trishul and moon. Thus aum is the yantra of Shiv and when spoken becomes mantra of shiv. Trishul is used for destruction of impurity and Chandra (moon) depicts peace of mind. Establishing this yantra at home leads to loss of negativity and brings peace in the house. It is also in the shape of अ, ઉ, म. 3 for अ, for ઉ and ँ for म. Even in islam they worship moon and star. Star means light of God and moon for peace of mind. In Islam it is called as amin and in Christianity it is called as amen. Both come from the word “aum”.
- These are topics of various aspects of spirituality as told by Para.