If a mantra is the invsible driving force, the yantra is often the visible means to gain power, wealth, ward off evil, ward off illnesses, nullify the ill effects of planets, bring you luck in love, enhance your capabilities -- the range is truly vast. Yantras are sometimes made up of numbers, sometimes of a certain set of symbols, sometimes of mantras. They can be written on paper or bhojpatras (parchment) and worn as a talisman; they can be engraved on an amulet or pendant and worn on the body; they can be painted on a door or wall or the floor, they can be engraved on gold, silver, copper, iron and even painted on leaves, stones and other objects. Some of the earliest yantras are associated with auspicious symbols and powerful numbers.

In ancient India, for instance, the good luck square of nine which always added upto fifteen was deemed a harbinger of prosperity and happiness and even today some business establishments and even homes paint this square (given below) near their main entrance. Whether you add the numbers in the square, vertically, horizontally or diagonally, the total is always fifteen. For eg :8 1 6 or 3 5 7 or 4 9 2 The Sanskrit word 'Yantra' derives from the root 'yam' meaning to sustain, hold or support the energy inherent in a particular element, object or concept. In its first meaning, 'yantra' may refer to any kind of mechanical contrivance which is harnessed to aid an enterprise. A yantra in this sense, therefore, is any sort of machine or instrument such as is used in architecture, astronomy, alchemy, chemistry, warfare or recreation. A Sanskrit text of the eleventh century AD, Samaranganasutradhara on the science of architecture, gives vivid descriptions of the making and operating of such mechanical yantras as a wooden flying bird, wooden aeroplanes meant to fly with hot mercury as fuel, male and female robot figures, etc. The vast observatories built in Delhi and laipur under the patronage of Jai Singh  (1686-1734) are called Jantar- Mantar, as their massive structures are astronomical 'instruments' (yantras) for recording heavenly phenomena. Principles of Yantra Mystic yantras are an amalgam of three principles:

1. The form principle (Akriti-rupa),
2. The function-principle (Kriya-rupa)
3. The power-principle (Sakti-rupa).

They are, first of all, believed to reveal the inner basis of the forms and shapes abounding in the universe. just as, whatever the outer structure, all matter is made of an intrinsic basic unity, the atom, so each aspect of the world can be seen in its structural form as a yantra. As the scientist sees the final picture of the world in the orderly, simple, atomic structures in which certain primal