चित्तं मन्त्रः
In plain words
is .
The commentators
Śivasūtra with Kṣemarāja's Vimarśinī
शिवसूत्रविमर्शिनी । अथ द्वितीय उन्मेषः । इदानीं शाक्तोपायः प्रदर्श्यते । तत्र शक्तिः मन्त्रवीर्यस्फाररूपा इति प्रथमोन्मेषान्तसूत्रिततत्स्वरूपविवेचनपुरःसरमुन्मेषान्तरमारभमाणो मन्त्रस्वरूपं तावत् निरूपयति - चित्तं मन्त्रः ॥ १ ॥ चेत्यते विमृश्यते अनेन परं तत्त्वम् इति चित्तं पूर्णस्फुरत्तासतत्त्वप्रासाद-प्रणवादिविमर्शरूपं संवेदनम् । तदेव मन्त्र्यते गुप्तम् अन्तर् अभेदेन विमृश्यते परमेश्वररूपम् अनेन इति कृत्वा मन्त्रः । अत एव च परस्फुरत्तात्मकमननधर्मात्मता भेदमयसंसारप्रशमनात्मक-त्राणधर्मता च अस्य निरुच्यते । अथ च मन्त्रदेवताविमर्शपरत्वेन प्राप्ततत्सामरस्यम् आराधकचित्तमेव मन्त्रः न तु विचित्रवर्णसंघट्टनामात्रकम् । यदुक्तं श्रीमत्सर्वज्ञानोत्तरे उच्चार्यमाणा ये मन्त्रा न मन्त्रांश्चापि तान्विदुः । मोहिता देवगन्धर्वा मिथ्याज्ञानेन गर्विताः ॥ इति । श्रीतन्त्रसद्भावेऽपि मन्त्राणां जीवभूता तु या स्मृता शक्तिरव्यया । तया हीना वरारोहे निष्फलाः शरदभ्रवत् ॥ इति । श्रीश्रीकण्ठीयसंहितायां तु पृथङ्मन्त्रः पृथङ्मन्त्री न सिद्ध्यति कदाचन । ज्ञानमूलमिदं सर्वमन्यथा नैव सिद्ध्यति ॥ इत्युक्तम् । एतच्च स्पन्दे सहाराधकचित्तेन तेनैते शिवधर्मिणः ॥ इति भङ्ग्या प्रतिपादितम् ॥ १ ॥
In plain words
The mind is mantra. The Śivasūtravimarśinī. Now, the second unmeṣa. Now the śākta upāya is set out. Here he begins another unmeṣa by first examining the nature of power, which the sūtra at the close of the first unmeṣa indicated to be the expansion of the potency of mantra; and to begin with he defines what mantra is. The mind, citta, is that by which the supreme reality is made conscious, reflected upon: it is awareness in the form of the reflective awareness of prāsāda, praṇava and the like, whose reality is full pulsing radiance. That alone is mantra, because by it the form of the Supreme Lord is "mantrita", secretly reflected upon within as not different. That is why its nature is said to be manana, reflection, which is supreme pulsing radiance, and trāṇa, protection, which stills the saṃsāra made of difference. Further, the mind of the worshipper, which, through being intent on the reflective awareness of the deity of the mantra, has attained oneness with it, is itself the mantra, and not a mere stringing together of various letters. As the Sarvajñānottara says: "The mantras that are uttered, they do not know as mantras at all: the gods and gandharvas are deluded, proud with false knowledge." And the Tantrasadbhāva too: "The imperishable power that is said to be the life of the mantras: without it, O lovely one, they are fruitless as autumn clouds." And the Śrīkaṇṭhīya Saṃhitā says: "With the mantra apart and the one who recites it apart, there is never fulfilment. All this has knowledge as its root; otherwise there is no fulfilment at all." And this is set out by implication in the Spanda: "Together with the mind of the worshipper; and so these share the nature of Śiva."