16 Fruit from the Garden of Wisdom by Swami Krishnananda General Secretary, The Divine Life Society Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, India 7. The Name of God, especially when it is given to us in the form of what is known as a Mantra, is a power by itself. It has a Shakti of its own, and this is the reason why Bhaktas, sages and saints have told us that even a mere repetition of the Name of God has the capacity to produce an effect of its own, though you may not be really meditating, though you may not be in a position to contemplate the actual meaning hidden behind it.
Chemical elements act and react upon each other.
You know the action between an acid and alkali, for instance. Sometimes the chemical reaction is such that it can produce a tremendous effect. Mantras produce such effect, similar to the reaction of chemical elements, because of the peculiar combination of letters. The Mantra-Shastra is a secret which tells us that every letter of the alphabet is a condensed form of energy. Sounds are really energy manifest.