Acoustic Roots Explained by P.R. Sarkar

Introduction

An important work in Linguistics by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (Shrii Shrii Anandamurti) titled "The Acoustic Roots of the Indo-Aryan Alphabet" appeared in 1984-85 [1]. I would like to provide short quotations from this important article to bring it to the attention of wider readership. Note that the acoustic roots are also known as Biija Mantras*. Please see the original article [1] for complete explanations of the acoustic roots.

"Every vibration in this universe has colour and sound. Every vibration also represents a particular idea, and hence each idea has a vibrational sound and vibrational colour. Many vibrational waves are too long or too short to be perceived by human beings - we cannot hear their sound or see their colour – but they do exist. We can speak of them as causal matrices in the realm of vibrational colour; and consider them as the biija mantras [acoustic roots] of the ideas with which they are concerned." [1]

P.R. Sarkar's Comments on Pronunciation

Published in Varńa Vijiņána (Science of Language)

Excerpts from Phonetics (Discourse 1)

"All the languages of the world are bound together on a single thread – sútre mańigańá iva. No language is beyond this law. Those languages which used to carry the remnants of natural melodies have also finally had to obey this law. Even before the existence of written script the science of language was based on phonetics. Despite the lack of script, alphabetical order did exist. For example, during the Rgvedic era the letters ka, kha, ga, gha existed but people did not know how to write them. The people of that time were not familiar with the letters of the alphabet – they knew their pronunciation but they could not write them. At that time metrics were fixed according to alphabetical order.

Written script did not exist at the beginning of the Vedic era. Written script came into existence between five and six thousand years ago with the Saendhavii script. Although written script did not exist in the Vedic era, metre did. There are seven metres in the Vedas: Uśńik, Gáyatrii, Anuśt́up, Triśt́up, Brhatii, Jagatii and Paunkti. There were special rules for the pronunciation of Uśńik metre.

The Vedic language is the oldest language that we are familiar with. This language was influential in central Asia and certain parts of India for a period that extended from fifteen thousand years ago to about seven and a half thousand years ago. Its alphabetical order follows the rules of Rgvedic pronunciation. There are three accepted systems of pronunciation in Sanskrit – Saḿvrta, Vivrta and Tiryyak. Both Sanskrit and Vedic have three measures of pronunciation – short, long and extended.

In Sanskrit there are four accepted systems of pronunciation – Káshiká, Dakśińii, Maháráśt́rii and Gaoŕiiya [those of Benares, southern India, Maharashtra and Bengal]. The Rgvedic style of pronunciation is different from the Yajurvedic style of pronunciation. In Saḿvrta the pronunciation of the alphabet is similar to Bengali pronunciation. In Vivrta it is somewhat similar to that of the western areas of Uttar Pradesh. Tiryyak occupies a place somewhere between the English “au” and the English “o”. For example, we write man but we pronounce it somewhere in-between “maun” and “mone”.

The Rgvedic style has a total of fifty letters – sixteen vowels and thirty-four consonants. The sixteen vowels are: a, á, i, ii, u, ú, r, rr, lr, lrr, e, ae, o, ao, aḿ, and ah. The thirty-four consonants are: ka, kha, ga, gha, uṋa, ca, cha, ja, jha, iṋa, t́a, t́ha, d́a, d́ha, ńa, ta, tha, da, dha, na, pa, pha, ba, bha, ma, ya, ra, la, va, sha, śa, sa, ha, and kśa. D́a and d́ha are pronounced in two different ways. The letter d́a is pronounced d́a at the beginning of a word, for example, d́ambaru. However it is pronounced ŕa (rha) in the middle or at the end of a word, as in áŕambara. Similarly, d́ha is pronounced d́ha at the beginning of a word, for example, d́hakká, and ŕha (rhha) in the middle or at the end of a word, as in áśáŕha.

There is a fixed rule for the pronunciation of ya – padánte padamadhyasthe “ya”-kára “ia” ucyate. If ya occurs at the beginning of a word then it is pronounced like a light “ja” as in yoga, yadu, yamuná, but if it comes in the middle or at the end of a word then it is pronounced “ia”, as in viyoga or samaya. Some pandits in northern India mistakenly pronounce the word yoga “iog”. Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar Mahashay placed a dot beneath the letters d́a, d́ha and ya in his grade school primer, Varńa Paricaya, whenever they occurred in the middle or end of a word so that children would not make this sort of mistake.

A language normally lasts about one thousand years and a script about two thousand years before undergoing metamorphosis. Script, however, is not sound. It is alphabetical order. The Bengali script came into existence approximately fifteen hundred years ago and it will survive for some time longer. Due to the invention of printing, the life of the script will be extended somewhat.

An old form of Bengali script has been discovered in Singbhum District’s Jayda village on the banks of the Suvarnarekha River. A deed of gift written in the script of that time has been found in the Shushuniya(1) Hills in Bankura District’s Chatna Thana.(2) These are the two oldest extant examples of Bengali script.

The Prákrta language came into existence approximately thirty-five hundred years ago and when it did Sanskrit or Vedic pronunciation changed. To put it in another way, the name of those altered verbal root forms, word forms, pronouns and vocabulary was Prákrta, which spread orally among the common people. Prákrta came into existence shortly before the advent of Krśńa.

Many people believe that Sanskrit is an artificial language. However, the prevalence of so many Sanskrit words in the speech of uneducated people proves that it is not. For example, kandara is a Sanskrit word. In the colloquial language of Rarh there is a word kándar, that is, a small, deep tributary. If Sanskrit were an artificial language then how could there be so many Sanskrit words in use among uneducated people. The people of Rarh have Sanskrit in their blood. It is their native language. If Bengali is the language of our veins and arteries then Sanskrit is the language of our bone marrow.

The use of r, rr, lr, and lrr is not as widespread in the Yajurveda as it is in the Rgveda. They are also pronounced completely differently. In the Rgveda these letters are pronounced r, rr, lr, and lrr while in the Yajurveda they are pronounced ri, rri, lri, and lrri. In the Atharvaveda they are pronounced ru, rru, lru, and lrru. Modern Bengali has retained the use of r. Adding i to ra can serve the same function as r, but because these two letters can give rise to inversions in the case of certain conjuncts the letter r is used. For example, deva + rśi = devarśi. If it is written deva + riśi then the conjunct cannot be formed.

Modern Indian languages do not follow any specific Vedic rules. Bengali only has the sha pronunciation – śa and sa are not pronounced differently – while some other languages only have the sa pronunciation. For example, shuye paŕa in Bengali is so jáo in Hindi. The rules for Sanskrit-derived words in Bengali follow those for Sanskrit-borrowed words. For this reason, the letters śa and sa are used for spelling purposes but no Bengali teacher ever makes a distinction among the pronunciation of sha, śa and sa.

Ka + śa = kśa (khia). The word shiśya [pupil] was shikhya in Prákrta, hence the modern Panjabi word shikha In Assamese the letter śa becomes kha – niśedh becomes nikhedh. However, sáhas becomes háhakh, that is, sa is pronounced like ha at the beginning of a word and elsewhere like kha. Assamese partially follows the Yajurvedic style.

In regards to pronunciation, the pandits used to follow different rules according to the specific Veda. For example, the Bengali gyán is jiṋán in the Rgveda, ginán in the Yajurveda and dinán in the Yajurveda.

In the Rgveda the candrabindu is neither a letter nor is it pronounced. In the Yajurveda it is pronounced but there is no letter for it – the anusvára used to serve in its place, for example, táḿstathaeva. The candrabindu is pronounced in six of the twelve Bengali dialects – central Rarhi, Kánthi, Calcutta, Nadia, Shershahbadii and Rangpuri – and to a small extent in Varendrii."

Excerpts from Phonetics (Discourse 2)

"In Sanskrit phonetics the letters are systematically arranged. There are fourteen pure vowels – a, á, i, ii, u, ú, r, rr, lr, lrr, e, ae, o, ao – and two demi-vowels – aḿ and ah. In the Rgveda there is also a long anusvára that no longer exists in modern Sanskrit. Now the question is, why this demi-vowel?

A vowel can be pronounced without any additional help, but in the case of aḿ and ah, the ḿ and the h cannot be pronounced by themselves. Since they cannot be pronounced alone they are called demi-vowels, that is, they are vowels but not full vowels. Thus they are called ayogaváha in Sanskrit, that is, these two vowels cannot be pronounced without another’s help. A thousand years ago the visarga existed in Bengali and also in Maethilii; however at that time it was written like the Bengali symbol for “four”.

Among the thirty-four consonants, those belonging to the vargas – ka, kha, ga, gha, uṋa, ca, cha, ja, jha, iṋa, t́a, t́ha, d́a, d́ha, ńa, ta, tha, da, dha, na, pa, pha, ba, bha, ma – are pure consonants. Sha, sa, śa, ha and kśa are called uśmavarńa [aspirates]. When they are pronounced they create heat in the vocal cavity.(3) They are consonants but not pure consonants. Ya, ra, la and va are antahsthavarńa. They are also not pure consonants. They are pronounced one way at the beginning of a word and another way in the middle or at the end of a word. Ya at the beginning of a word is pronounced like a light “ja” [as in “Germany”], for example, yadu, yadi, yága-yajiṋa. In the middle or at the end of a word it is pronounced ia. Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that ja is a hard “ja” sound (palatal), for example, janttu-jánowár."

"Thus we see that at the beginning of a word ya is pronounced like a light ja, and in the middle or at the end of a word its pronunciation becomes ia. There is less influence of Sanskrit in north India by comparison due to the predominance of Urdu; thus this rule is not followed in Hindi. For example, iahán is written yahán although, according to the rule, if we write yahán it is not correct to pronounce it iahán.

The next letter is ra. When ra comes at the beginning of a word it is pronounced ra. It is pronounced this way when the tongue touches the teeth of the upper palate. One example is rańa. If ra is in the middle or at the end of a word it is pronounced without touching the tongue to the teeth of the upper palate, for example, carańa.

Then comes la. If la is at the beginning of a word it is called ádi la.(4) For example, la in latá is pronounced la. If la occurs in the middle or at the end of a word it is pronounced lra. For example, the correct pronunciation of the word phala is phalra (phalram, phalre, phalráni). This rule is not followed in northern India; thus the Sanskrit pandits there pronounce it incorrectly. In Rajasthan goli is pronounced gori. In Bhojpuri kapál is pronounced kapáŕ and diwál is diwáŕ.

Next comes antahstha va. In Bengali, antahstha va and vargiiya ba are written and pronounced the same. At the beginning of a word antahstha va is pronounced like the English “va”, as in the pronunciation of “van” and “caravan”. That is, it is pronounced by filling the mouth with air, closing it, and then thrusting the lower and upper lips out. In the middle or at the end of a word antahstha va is pronounced like the English “wa”. This is also the case when va is the second part of a conjunct, for example, vidvána. In northern India, antahstha va is mistakenly pronounced “wa” at all times.

Thus these four letters – ya, ra, la and va – are antasthavarńa rather than pure consonants. Why? Because in fact they are each a diphthong of two vowels. Specifically, ya = i + a, ra = r + a, la = lr + a, and va = o + a. They are mistakenly taken to be consonants but they are actually not consonants."

Excerpts from Phonetics (Discourse 2)

“A” in English is a light vowel, thus if a root verb occurs after the prefix “a” then the first consonant is doubled. For example, “a + quire”. Here “quire” is the root verb and “a” is the prefix. In this case the “q” should be doubled, however since double “q” cannot be pronounced, a “c” is substituted instead; it becomes “acquire”. The same is the case with “acquisition”, but in the case of “require” and “requisition” the consonant is not doubled because “e” is not a light vowel.

This rule is followed in Sanskrit. It is doubled in accordance with the rules of phonetics. For example, tarań + apashyat = tarańńapashyat, that is, “he saw [dekhle] while swimming”. (Now, tell me, will it be dekhla or dekhle in the spoken language of Calcutta? It will be dekhle. In Rarhi Bengali it will be dekhlek in this case. Bear in mind that if the final k is dropped from the Rarhi Bengali it becomes the Calcutta Bengali. Of course, in this case the transitive and intransitive verb forms are different. Similarly, the spoken form of se balila [he spoke] will not be se balla but rather se balle.)

In French the masculine form of the definite article (the) is le, the feminine form is la and the plural form is les. However here the pronunciation of this le, la and les changes where there is elision. In such cases the spelling practice becomes paramount. For example, “the men” in French is not le am but lezam [les hommes].

The English word “knife” comes from the French word kanife. Here the English letter “k” is silent. However, since “knife” comes from the French word kanife, it is still spelt with a “k”.

“H” at the beginning of a word is silent in French, for example, “history” – the French pronunciation is istoire. “Hotel” in French is pronounced otel, however in English the pronunciation of the “h” is maintained, thus it is pronounced “hotel”. “Hospital” in French is pronounced opital, but in English it is “hospital”. However, in the case of “honour” the French style of pronunciation, onár, has been preserved in English. Even uneducated French people follow these natural pronunciation practices.

Not only is the pronunciation and spelling of prefixes influenced by the style of vowel pronunciation, suffixes are as well. The “pre” of “prefix” is a Latin prefix and “fix” is a verbal root. Thus “pre” + “fix” makes “prefix”. In Sanskrit there are twenty prefixes. “Suffix” is derived from placing “sub” before “fix”, that is, “sub” + “fix”. Here the “b” becomes an “f” because “b” is a medium consonant, thus “suffix” is spelled with two “f”s. The first “f” of “suffix” is a substitute for “b”; the second “f” is a hard sound.

If there is a suffix added to the root word then it is called taddhita, and in the case of a verbal root with an added suffix it is called krtprakarańa. In this krt or taddhita process of adding a suffix to a root word or verbal root, the original root word or verbal root occasions, in some cases, a change in consonant, and sometimes a change in vowel. For example, sarvajana + iin = sarvajaniin. If śńik is added to sarvajana it makes sarvajanik but instead it is pronounced sárvajanik.

Sometimes in the roots of Arabic words, if the verbal root is made into a noun then mu is added and a change occurs in the second consonant. For example, musháfir means “one who makes a journey [sháfar]”. In this case, according to the rule, mu is added before shafar and it becomes musháfir. Mu + shafar = musháfir. Similarly, mu + hájir = muhájer; mu + sáhib = musáheb. This change in the second is not a product of grammar but of the people. When Arabic arrived in India the Koráńasharif had already been written down. Arabic grammar came into being after the composition of the Koran. There are a great number of Arabic words in Bengali but they came much later.

These kinds of rules also exist in English. There is an English rule that when there are two vowels then the short vowel follows the long vowel. In Bengali also it is priiti → piiriti (not piriiti). Sanskrit also follows this rule. Panini said that whenever a consonant follows which requires the vowel to be lengthened in order to facilitate its pronunciation then the vowel becomes long. For example, cakśu + roga; the spelling will be cakśúroga. Similarly, ni + rava = niirava. The ra of cakśúroga is a hard ra. In the case of a light ra this does not take place.

When “i” and “e” are placed side by side in English then the “i” comes first because its pronunciation is longer and stronger than that of the “e”. The pronunciation of “i” is always i, but there are many pronunciations of “e” – i, e, á – thus “e” comes after “i”. However, there can be exceptions after a light consonant, for example, “ceive”. Here “c” is the original consonant, thus “i” comes after “e” in the verbal root “ceive”. This rule remains in force when the verbal root “ceive” follows different prefixes, for example, “receive”, “perceive”, etc. Similar is the case with “leisure”, “counterfeit”, and so on. Hindi also follows some of these same rules, for example, laŕkii, but laŕkián.

Acoustic Roots (Biija Mantras)

A

"The sound a is the acoustic root of creation, and thus is the controller of the seven notes of Indo-Aryan music"

Á

"The sound á is the acoustic root of rśabha, the second musical note. This acoustic root directly controls rśabha and indirectly controls gándhára (gá), madhyama (má), paiṋcama (pá), dhaevata (dhá) and niśáda (ni)."

I

"The third letter of the alphabet, i, is the acoustic root of gándhára (gá). It directly controls gándhára and indirectly controls madhyama (má), paiṋcama (pá), dhaevata (dhá) and niśáda (ni)."

II

"The sound ii is the acoustic root of the fourth note of the surasaptaka, madhyama (má). This sound directly controls madhyama, and indirectly controls paiṋcama (pá), dhaevata (dhá), and niśáda (ni)."

U

"The short u sound is the acoustic root of paiṋcama (pá), the fifth musical note. This sound directly controls paiṋcama (pá), and indirectly controls dhaevata (dhá) and niśáda (ni)."

Ú

"The long ú sound is the acoustic root of the sixth musical note, dhaevata (dhá). It directly controls dhaevata (dhá), and indirectly controls niśáda (ni)."

R

"The r sound is the seventh letter and seventh vowel of Southeast Asian alphabets, as well as of the Indo-Aryan alphabet. It is the acoustic root of the seventh musical note niśáda (ni)."

RR

"The rr sound is the acoustic root of oṋm. You may say, Since oṋm is the acoustic root of creation, preservation and destruction, and the acoustic root of Saguńa and Nirguńa [it is used to symbolize Nirguńa], how can rr be the acoustic root of oṋḿkára?"

"Oṋm consists of five symbols: a, the acoustic root of creation; u, the acoustic root of preservation; ma, the acoustic root of destruction, (.), the symbol of the unmanifested universe; and ([BENGALI CRESCENT SYMBOL]), the symbol which signifies the process of manifestation."

"A is not only the acoustic root of śad́aja, it is also the acoustic root of the force of creation. When the idea to create something arises in the mind of Parama Puruśa, or in the microcosmic mind, its acoustic root is the sound a. Since a is the acoustic root of creation, from which everything else proceeds, a is the first letter of the alphabet.

The sound u is the acoustic root of the fifth musical note, and is also the acoustic root of a few other factors, the force of preservation being one of them. When the desire to maintain the created entities arises in the mind of Parama Puruśa, or in the individual microcosmic mind, then the acoustic root of that sort of desire is u.

The sound m with hasant [indicating that its pronunciation is m rather than ma], as well as being the acoustic root of the tendency [prashraya vrtti] to treat someone or something indulgently, is the acoustic root of the vinásha [destruction] that occurs in the course of time. When people feel that something has become monotonous, they want to change it."

"The manifested universe is constituted of creation, preservation and destruction (a-u-m). A + u = o, hence a + u + m = om. But that is not the end of the story; the dot (.) and the crescent ([BENGALI CRESCENT SYMBOL]) that form part of oṋḿkára are also important. The former represents the unmanifested universe; the latter represents the principle of transmutation from the unmanifested to the manifested.(9) Hence, oṋm is the acoustic root of creation, preservation and destruction, plus the principle of transmutation from the unmanifested to the manifested."

"Now even though oṋm (which includes the dot and crescent) can serve as the acoustic root of this expressed universe, since oṋm is nevertheless a combination of sounds, it requires an acoustic root of its own. The acoustic root of another root is called atibiija or mahábiija. So rr is the mahábiija of oṋḿkára."

LR

"The sound lr is the acoustic root of the sound hummm and of its inner import. The sound hummm is itself the acoustic root of struggle, of sádhaná, and according to Tantra, of the kuńd́alinii. As hummm is the acoustic root of struggle, people call it the battle cry. You may have noticed that when sádhakas progress along the spiritual path and attain bliss they sometimes release the sound hummm spontaneously during the practice of sádhaná. It has been mentioned that the utterance of hummm during sádhaná is a sign of progress in Tantra.

According to Tantra the kulakuńd́alinii is the sleeping divinity. By virtue of sádhaná and with the help of mantrágháta [striking at the kulakuńd́alinii with powerful incantative vibrations] and mantra caetanya [conceptual understanding of and psychic association with a mantra], and

by smashing all obstacles, the kuńd́alinii can be raised to the sahasrára cakra. The practice adopted to raise the kuńd́alinii is called purashcarańa in Tantra. The kuńd́alinii is the sleeping divinity. To arouse it from slumber and raise it upwards is quite a struggle and hence hummm must also be the acoustic root of the kuńd́alinii. The controlling point of the kuńd́alinii, the múládhára, is called mańipadma or mahámańipadma in Maháyána Buddhist philosophy. The Tibetan Maháyániis recite Oṋḿ mańipadme hummm while turning their dharma cakras [prayer wheels]. I have seen Oṋḿ mańipadme hummm inscribed on the walls of Tibetan caves."

LRR

"Lrr is the acoustic root of the sound phat́ (which is the acoustic root of putting a theory into practice) and is thus the atibiija, or mahábiija [super-acoustic root], of the phat́ biija. It is just like the sprouting of a seed, like a sudden awakening from slumber. When something which is sleeping or dormant suddenly bursts into the realm of light, we say colloquially [in Bengali] that it is making a phat́ sound. Lrr is also the acoustic root of the removal of lethargy. Hence, considering its enormous importance, it should not be deleted from the Bengali alphabet."

E

"The rhythmic expression of mundane knowledge; the sprouting of mundane knowledge; mundane welfare; and the thought of mundane welfare; are symbolized by vaośat́. The sound e is the atibiija, or mahábiija, of the vibrations of vaośat́."

AE

"While uttering any incantation it is the common practice to add ḿ to the end of the acoustic root. Thus ae is pronounced as aeḿ.

Aeḿ is the acoustic root of vocalization. Linguistic expression is divided into six stages: pará, pashyanti, madhyamá, dyotamáná, vaekharii, and shrutigocará.

Whatever you have said, or are saying, or will say in future, lies within you as dormant vitality. A great potentiality lies dormant in each human being, just as a huge banyan tree lies latent within a tiny seed. The banyan seed sprouts when light, air, water and fertile soil exist in requisite amounts. It subsequently grows foliage and branches, and in the course of time develops into a gigantic tree. Similarly, the immense potentialities of human beings lie latent and hypnotized in the kulakuńd́alinii at múládhára cakra as dormant humanity. When the kuńd́alinii is raised upwards through mantrágháta and mantra caetanya in the process of meditation (this process is called purashcarańa in Tantra and amrtamudrá or ánandamudrá in yoga), the doors of human potentiality start opening one after another. Human beings grow in beauty and vitality, their flowers divine, their foliage lush. Such individuals develop into great people in the eyes of the public and finally become one with the Supreme Entity. This process is called parábhyudaya in the scriptures."

"Ae is also called vágbhava biija, and is the acoustic root of the guru. People acquire knowledge through gurus, hence the guru is also invoked through this acoustic root: Aeḿ gurave namah. Those who believe in idol worship use this particular acoustic root in invoking the goddess of knowledge: Aeḿ sarasvatyae namah. And it is also used to invoke Shiva, the propounder of Tantra: Aeḿ Shiváya namah."

O

"The acoustic root of the completion of an action is sváhá."
"The sváhá mantra is often uttered when any action is being done with a divine purpose. When action is performed with a noble purpose in the psychic and spiritual spheres, or even in the mundane sphere, the controlling acoustic root is sváhá."

"Sváhá is split up as sva + áhá or su + áhá. In ancient times sváhá and svadhá were synonymous, but later sváhá came to convey the thought of welfare, that is, “Let there be prosperity,” and svadhá came to mean, “May the peace of God be with you.” "

AO

"The posture of surrender to the greatness of another person or entity is called namah mudrá or namomudrá. Such surrender results in one’s mental body being vibrated by the greatness of the Supreme. It is the person doing namomudrá who benefits, and not the one for whom the mudrá is performed."

"Namah is the acoustic root of acquiring greatness in life; and ao is the super-acoustic root of namah biija."

"The magnanimity of Shiva was as vast as the sky. People used to show their veneration for Him either in namah mudrá or with the sound ao. Hence the acoustic root of Shivatattva [essence of Shiva] is haoḿ: Haoḿ Shiváya namah. Those entities who were very dear to Shiva by virtue of their personal simplicity, naturalness and spirit of selfless service, were also revered using the sound ha. Shiva’s favourite flower was the common dhustara flower. Ha is the acoustic root of the dhustara flower. Thus you can easily understand why haoḿ is the acoustic root of Shiva."

AḾ

"Aḿ is the acoustic root of an idea. The same sound, when uttered with a different mental ideation, acquires different meanings, and the effect it has varies from person to person."

"The acoustic root of the poisonous mentality which utters poisoned words is aḿ. The acoustic root of that pleasant ideation which adds sweetness to a word is ah. You should remember that whenever you speak to someone, or recite a poem, or play any part in a drama, or sing any song, you should know the underlying meaning of what you are expressing. Only then will you be able to touch your listeners’ hearts and influence them."

AH

"There are some words which are neither good nor bad, but adopt a positive or negative meaning due to the way in which they are uttered or due to the mentality behind their utterance."

"The same word, khoká, when uttered with a different mentality takes on a different meaning. Where the mentality is bitter or repulsive, it is indicative of poison, and its acoustic root is aḿ; and where the mentality is sweet or attractive, it is indicative of nectar, and its acoustic root is ah."

KA

"A major part of the world of thought revolves around áshá vrtti [the propensity of hope]. Goaded by this propensity, various creatures, especially human beings, are inspired to work in various ways. Ka is the acoustic root of the abhiipśátmaka áshá vrtti. It is also the acoustic root of Kárya Brahma [the expressed universe]."

KHA

"Kha means “sky”, but kha is not the acoustic root of the sky. The acoustic root of the sky is ha. Kha also means “heaven”, but it is not the acoustic root of all of heaven, either. The crude aspects of heaven are represented by kha, whereas the sphere of heaven which transcends the crude is represented by kśa.

Ka is the acoustic root of Kárya Brahma. First comes ka, Kárya Brahma, and then follows the rest of creation. That is why ka is the first consonant. And as ka plus ha equals kha, ka is immediately followed by kha in the Indo-Aryan alphabet."

GA

"The effort made to arouse one’s dormant potentiality is called ceśt́á. Ceśt́á is one of the psychic vrttis [propensities] and is the main cause of mundane development and spiritual elevation. So its value in the mundane and supramundane spheres is immense.

Ga, being the acoustic root of ceśt́á vrtti, plays an important role in the physical, psychic and spiritual spheres of human life."

GHA

"Mamatá, the vrtti of love and attachment of human beings and all other creatures, is related to time, space and individuality."
"Gha is the acoustic root of mamatá vrtti."

UṊA

"Uṋa is the acoustic root of dambha vrtti [the propensity of vanity]."

CA

"Ca is the acoustic root of viveka [conscience]."

CHA

"Cha is the acoustic root of vikalatáh vrtti [nervous breakdown]."

JA

"Una is the acoustic root of dambha vrtti [the propensity of vanity]; ja is the acoustic root of ahaḿkára vrtti (ego)."

JHA

"Jha is the acoustic root of lolupatá, lobha [greed] and lolatá [avarice] vrttis."

IṊA

"Ina is the acoustic root of kapat́atá vrtti [hypocrisy]. Another Sanskrit word for “hypocrite” is páśańd́a, which was more widely used in the past. In Hindi a hypocrite is called pákhańd́ii. Hypocrisy can take many forms, but we are mainly acquainted with the following three: (1) getting one’s purpose served by exploiting or cheating others; (2) unnecessarily dominating somebody to conceal one’s own ignorance or weakness; (3) pretending to be moral by criticizing the sins of others, which one secretly commits oneself."

It is interesting to contrast this acoustic root to the Sanskrit letter “Iņa” (nasalized ia (Greek)) as in the Sanskrit word jiņana (pronounced “gyana”). In Sanskrit jiņana means science.  The jiņana (“gyana”) acquires subtle changes in meaning in different contexts. For example Varna Vijiņana can be translated as “Science of Letters” or “Science of Language”. The Jiņana Yoga (“Gyana Joga”) is the effort towards Self-realization through discrimination and Intuitional Science. Are we supposed to conclude that there is an element of hypocrisy in intellectual work? Is this acoustic root different from “Iņa” (nasalized ia (Greek)) ?

T́A

"T́a is the acoustic root of vitarka vrtti [overstating one’s case]."

T́HA

"T́ha is the acoustic root of anutápa vrtti [repentance]."

D́A

"D́a is the acoustic root of lajjá vrtti [the propensity of shyness]."

D́HA

Acoustic root of  pishunatá vrtti: "Senseless, sadistic killing is called pishunatá vrtti".

ŃA

"Ńa is the acoustic root of iirśá vrtti [the propensity of envy]."

TA

"Ta is the acoustic root of staticity, long sleep and deep sleep. It is also the acoustic root of intellectual dullness and spiritual inertness."

THA

"Tha is the acoustic root of viśada vrtti, of melancholy (melancholiness, melancholia)."

DA

"Da is the acoustic root of peevishness."

DHA

"Dha is the acoustic root of thirst for acquisition. This limitless craving for wealth, name, fame, power and prestige is called trśńa in Sanskrit. Here trśńa does not mean “thirst for water”. To divert all the pure and impure thoughts of the mind towards Parama Puruśa is the only cure for limitless psychic craving."

NA

"Na is the acoustic root of moha vrtti [blind attachment or infatuation]."

PA

"Pa is the acoustic root of ghrńá vrtti [the propensity of hatred or revulsion]."

PHA

"Pha is the acoustic root of bhaya vrtti [the propensity of fear]."

BA

"Ba is the acoustic root of avajiṋá vrtti [indifference]."

BHA

"Bha is the acoustic root of the múrcchá vrtti. Here múrcchá does not mean senselessness; it means to lose one’s common sense under the hypnotic spell of a particular ripu."

MA

"Ma is the acoustic root of prańásha [the propensity of annihilation]. It is also the acoustic root of prashraya vrtti - giving latitude [or treating with indulgence] – in Hindi baŕhvá dená."

YA

• remember in Sanskrit this letter of the Indo-Aryan alphabet is pronunced as ja as in the English word jar when the Sanskrit word starts with this letter
• The "Sound Archetype: YA" of the Near-Eastern cultures corresponds to the acoustic root "A" (the first acoustic root mentioned in this article)
  

"Ya is the acoustic root of avishvása vrtti [lack of confidence], and is also the acoustic root of constant movement (like the movement of air)."
 

RA

"Ra is the acoustic root of agnitattva or práńashakti – vitality."
"Ra is also the acoustic root of fire. So the monosyllabic word ra means “fire”."

LA

"La is the acoustic root of kruratá vrtti [cruelty]."
"La is also the acoustic root of kśititattva, the solid factor."

VA

"Va is the acoustic root of dharma. Dharma means ensconcement in one’s original stance. The innate propensity of human beings is to move along the path towards subtlety in the psychic and spiritual spheres, and finally to merge into Parama Puruśa. The unbroken movement of the human mind towards Parama Puruśa is called mánava dharma. It moves one from a state of ordinary happiness ever forward and eventually establishes one in the realm of Supreme Beatitude."

"Va is also the acoustic root of jalatattva [the liquid factor]"

SHA

"Sha is the acoustic root of rajoguńa [the mutative principle]. It is also the acoustic root of artha [psychic longing]."

ŚA

"Śa is the acoustic root of tamoguńa [the static principle], and is also the acoustic root of all kinds of worldly desires - desires for things such as wealth, opulence, name, fame and social position. The word káma is used in Sanskrit as the collective term for these desires and longings."

SA

"Sa is the acoustic root of mokśa [salvation, unqualified liberation]. (As mentioned, va is the acoustic root of dharma, ensconcement in one’s original stance; sha is the acoustic root of artha, the removal of worldly wants; and śa is the acoustic root of káma, worldly [and especially physical] wants.) Each of the letters is the acoustic root of one of the four vargas. Va is additionally the acoustic root of the liquid factor; sha is the acoustic root of rajoguńa; śa is the acoustic root of tamoguńa; and sa is the acoustic root of sattvaguńa [the sentient principle]."

HA

"Ha is the acoustic root of the ethereal factor, of daytime, of the sun, of svarloka, and of parávidyá [intuitional science]. Opposite to ha is t́ha, which is the acoustic root of nighttime, of the moon, of bhúvarloka, and of the kámamaya kośa.

Ha + ao = hao, which is the acoustic root of Shiva in His posture of dancing táńd́ava. But the acoustic root of Shiva in His role of spiritual preceptor is aeḿ. (It has already been noted that aeḿ is also the acoustic root of one’s preceptor and of the goddess of learning – Aeḿ gurave namah; Aeḿ Sarasvatyae namah"

KŚA

"Kśa is the acoustic root of mundane knowledge, and is also the acoustic root of material science."

References

[1] "The Acoustic Roots of the Indo-Aryan Alphabet", published in "Discourses in Tantra Volume One", Ananda Marga Publications

* For colorful explanation of the Biija Mantras used in meditation visit the babastories web site.

List of all articles by Suresh Emre