"Rene Guenon, in an article on the language of birds, explains: "The (Vedic) hymns were given the name of chandahs, a word that properly means 'rhythm.' The same idea is contained also in the word dhikr, which in Islamic esotericism applies to rhythmic formulas exactly corresponding to the Hindu mantras. The purpose of the repetition of such formulas is to produce a harmonization of diverse elements of being and to establish vibrations able, by their repercussion across the series of stages in indefinite hierarchy, to open some communication with superior stages, which is, as a rule, the essential and primordial purpose of every rite" (Guenon, "La Langue des oiseaux," p. 670).

Danielou 4, fn. 9