Q. But what I really have question is, that by chanting Navagraha mantra or going up the mountain in bare foot, which actually do not remedy any beings' suffering, that somehow our past evil deeds are nullified. This common theorem, propagated by Hindu astrologers does not answer the Law of Cause and Effect. Suppose someone kills others for money. Then in next or immediate life, he must suffer poverty and violent death.
A. Let me respectfully state that you have a very limited view on what beings are out there and what they
are experiencing. If I mentally chant the Vedic mantra of a planet with perfect swaram for 8 hours continuously, do you think no beings are affected by it?
First of all, even going by material subjects such as modern science, there are millions or billions of beings (microbodies) within our physical bodies.
Secondly, if you go beyond material subjects and accept spiritual experience as a pramaana, the entire universe and all gods are within. Rishis taught that all the worlds, all the deities and all the beings exist within one's sushumna nadi. Of course, our sleepy self-awareness is limited to bhooloka (moolaadhaara chakra) and hence we do not perceive all this normally. But, it is possible to actually experience that various lokas and devas are within oneself. Unfortunately, it cannot be experienced by everybody, because waking up one's sleepy self-awareness and purifying it is difficult, and hence science will not accept it.
Whether you accept that the entire universe is within or not, the bottomline is that there are so many beings within us. They are affected by our thoughts and the chemicals (at the gross level) and energies (at the subtle level) produced by those thoughts.
Each thought and action of ours changes the lives of so many beings that are within us! It may be mind- boggling to think of this, but it is so true. Vedic mantras are special and chanting them creates specific energy patterns in various energy centers and channels of the body. So, of course, they have the potential to "remedy some beings' suffering" (suffering of millions of beings that live within us).
Mantra involves sound or vibration. This vibration is not just of particles at sthoola sareera (gross) level, but at sookshma sareera and kaarana sareera level also. The vibration produced by the physical sound (vaikhari) coming out of physical mouth (sthoola sareera) is only the gross aspect of the sabda. The subtle vibrations produced by imagery in the mind and thoughts are as important (if not more important). Out of the four divisions of sabda, vaikhari is the least important. Madhyama, Pasyanti and Para are increasingly important.
When a great maharshi chants a Vedic mantra even a few times, such a harmonious blend of the vibrations is produced at various levels (sthoola/sookshma/kaarana/mahaakaarana sareeras) that paraa level of sabda is so strong that strong vibrations are created by it in the mahaakaarana sareera. Thus, the entire universe can vibrate to the mantra!
I for example chanted certain Navagraha mantra from morning to sunset without food, drink and toilet, completed the numbers required, Nothing happened.
If one sowed a seed and a plant did not come, may be one did something wrong. May be one did not put enough water. May be there wasn't enough sunlight. May be one did not wait enough time. You cannot conclude that this seed does not give a plant.
If you read a graha mantra and nothing happened, may be you were imperfect. First of all, try a Vedic mantra. Second of all, try to perfect the intonation. Third of all, try to focus all your conscious and sub- conscious energies on the mantra or deity and produce the correct vibrations at all levels.
If you succeed even 1% in that, Vedic mantras do produce tremendous results. Even a fool like me who knows not much has seen the power of these Vedic mantras.
Another thing:
The results of properly chanted Vedic mantras may sometimes be something you have not expected! She (or He, if you prefer) knows what should be given when. We are like small children who don't know what is good for us and bad for us and She is like the mother of children. Sometimes, a child may not like what mother gives or does, but mother knows the best.
When a small baby has an upset stomach, mother may forcefully put her finger at the base of the tongue and provoke a vomiting. The child may hate this act, but this may make his suffering less after one final suffering. Similarly, some properly done Vedic remedies sometimes bring one big trouble (like the vomiting) and much relief later. Also, one bad karma may be blocking a lot of good karmas and the planet may have to force the fructification of the bad karma before many good karmas fructify.
In fact, whenever I did intense sadhana for navagrahas (especially Mars) using Vedic mantras, there was immediate suffering for a few days before really good results. In fact, I try to not even distinguish between the two and try to consider both as Her blessings. They really are. As astrologers, we keep recommending remedies to people who are materially inclined and want temporary relief (so-called) from temporary troubles (so-called). But, it is also a good idea to increase devotion and sthita-pragnyata that makes people not distinguish between pleasure and sadness.