Nowadays it is commonly called "meditation".
In Yoga meditation is complete stoppage of all thoughts.
Concentration is an attempt to meditation. It is the 6. step on the path of Yoga. We sit down and focus on an object of concentration. We constantly try to come back to it when ever we are getting distracted by thoughts.
The more we practice, the more we succeed in this attempt, and the deeper we go.
Layers unfold, thought by thought, and thoughts will come less and less frequently. We come from concentration closer and closer to meditation, closer to pure consciousness, where we can realize our consciousness and face our true blissful nature. Then we reach liberation.
Why does Mauna / silence help us so much in meditating better?
We are like an onion. We have layers and layers of thoughts around our essence. Pure consciousness and bliss are hidden behind these layers.
If we put new layers around us, by watching news, interacting with people, seeing things and getting emotionally involved in all these things we are basically cluttering up our minds with more thoughts, reversing the effect of practicing concentration. We will have to "meditate" more in order to come back again, closer to the true blissful state.
Hence, the less we get involved in distractions, the less layers we build up. Then our practice to work through these layers will be more fruitful. We can go deeper in a shorter time.
We might think we won't get there anyways. But it just depends on how much you put in!
Take some time every day. Or as often as you can. Go deep. And don't clutter up your mind more than you need to. Then enjoy your meditation and see where you end up. You might become a completely different person. Happier, healthier and just content.
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