Introduction.¹

This article explores potential of electronic text technology, specifically Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Extensible Stylesheet Language for Transformation (XSLT), in the study of mantra and text resources. The reader should know that due to the necessity for clear explanation of this technology a detailed, incisive, and otherwise comprehensive treatment of mantra theory must remain secondary. Not unlike the competing demands for developmental time that a scholar of the humanities finds when trying to add digital technology to their arsenal of research techniques, this article strives for an appropriate balance. Accordingly, the citations related to mantra use are points of academic reference rather than a suggestion of rhetorical conclusiveness.

In the present document, the phenomenon of mantra presentation-specifically Vedic and Tantric-will serve as analog and a source of examples in the illumination of the new, extensible, text technology for research represented by XML and its related standards. There is a great deal more to the technology and related tools for working with XML than the basic outline of its primary characteristics presented below. However, if strictly followed, what I have summarized will give you sufficient grasp to begin benefiting from this technology in your own work. I've prepared files of working examples, as well as a special edition of the Rig Veda in XML, which accompany this publication online ².

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