A mantra is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other spiritual languages. Some mantras have a syntactic structure and literal meaning, while others do not. One of the most ancient Buddhist mantras is the Ye Dharma Hetu, also known as the dependent origination dhāraṇī. This phrase is said to encapsulate the meaning of the Buddha's Dharma. It was a popular Buddhist mantra .