Within Abhinavagupta’s Tantrāloka, the teachings on mantra and worship are not confined to a single place but unfold across several āhnikas, each illuminating a different facet of practice. The text treats mantra as both a technical discipline and a vehicle of inner transformation, and it situates worship within a larger ritual and contemplative framework. In this way, the work gradually leads the practitioner from the outer forms of sacred action toward their more interior and subtle dimensions.

Several āhnikas are especially associated with mantra. Āhnika 4 contains discussions of mantra-related practices in the context of broader spiritual disciplines, indicating that mantra is woven into the very fabric of sādhana. More explicitly, Āhnika 15–16 deal extensively with mantra initiation (mantradīkṣā), the nature and classification of mantras, and their proper application. These sections emphasize not only the formal correctness of mantra usage but also its deeper doctrinal grounding, including the relationship between mantra and realization.

Worship practices, too, receive sustained treatment. Āhnika 29 focuses on pūjā and ritual procedures, describing the arrangement of worship, the offerings, and the ceremonial activities that structure tantric devotion. Āhnikas 30–32 continue this trajectory, covering various aspects of tantric worship, including specific ritual practices, ceremonial worship of deities, and the integration of mantra with worship activities. Here, worship is shown as a dynamic interplay of form and sound, gesture and recitation.

There are also more specialized discussions that link mantra and worship in particular ritual contexts. Āhnikas 23–24 address certain specialized worship practices and their connection to mantra recitation, suggesting that advanced ritual work presupposes and refines the mantra discipline laid out earlier. Taken together, these āhnikas portray a path in which mantra and pūjā are not isolated techniques but mutually reinforcing modes of approaching the divine, gradually aligning body, speech, and mind with the nondual vision at the heart of the tradition.