The trouble with this is that no one ever used a mantra as a tool for thinking. This gave rise to the idea that mantra combined the root with an instrumental suffix -tra to mean something like "a tool for thinking". They consensus is that the root is √ man which is usually said to mean "think". However, modern grammarians are almost unanimous in rejecting this.
Apte's dictionary definition which gives the Pāṇinian code mantr-aC). The ancient grammarians derived it from a root √ mantr, "mantra" in this view is a simple verbal noun with the suffix -a (Cf. The etymology of mantra has always puzzled me. I've been revisiting my notes on mantra for my Heart Sutra book and made an interesting discovery. Mantra is a means of expressing thoughts of devotion or prayer.
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