of ancient India, where chants and melodious sounds were believed to have innate spiritual and healing powers even if the sound cannot be translated and has no meaning (as in a music). The same root gives dharma or dhamma. According to the East Asian Buddhism studies scholar Paul Copp, some Buddhist communities outside India sometimes refer to dharanis with alternate terms such as "mantra, hrdaya (hridiya), paritrana (paritta), raksha (Pali: rakkha), gutti, or vidya" though these terms also have other contextual meanings in Buddhism.

According