Abstract
The mantra plays a key role in Indian representations of the spoken word, both exoteric and esoteric. From the Vedic verse that punctuates sacrificial sequences in " running narrative of the rite ", to the magical uses of the revealed word, the mantra plays a key role in Brahman rituals. However, mantras are no strangers to Buddhism, which attributes to the Buddha the revelation of charms and incantations with a dual worldly and supramundane vocation. The Buddhist philosopher Dharmakīrti (550-650?), in particular, is credited with one of the few attempts to examine the efficacy of mantras on their own merits. In doing so, Dharmakīrti finds himself at the crossroads between a traditional Buddhism that he challenges, and a Tantric Buddhism that offends him, and which he attacks out of hand.
