38 - Discourses on Tantra Volume One

Chapter 11 The Acoustic Roots of the Indo-Aryan Alphabet (8)

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. Á jáná bet́á baet́hná, kháná kháye ho? [“Come and sit here, my child. Have you had anything to eat yet?”] In this example the word bet́á is very pleasing to the ears. It is uttered in such a sweet way that the child will feel gratified. But when someone says, Áy bet́á toke dekhe noba! [“Come here, you wretch, I’ll teach you a lesson!”] the word bet́á becomes repulsive.

If one tells a boy, Eso khoká miśt́i niye yáo [“Come, little child, take some sweets”], a very pleasant mentality is expressed. But if one says, O ár nyákámi kare khoká sájte habe ná, aman d́haḿ anek dekhechi [“Stop being so childish. I’m sick of it”], that same pleasing mentality is not expressed. 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. So when singing, or reciting a poem, or acting in a play, or even when saying ordinary things, one should have full control over one’s expression, be it pleasant or unpleasant. Singers should also remember this and sing accordingly. The controlling point of viśa [poison] and amrta [nectar] is the vishuddha cakra.(17) Thus one should exercise a certain degree of control over the kúrma nád́ii [a nerve] at the vishuddha cakra.

The way in which people think varies from individual to individual. The thought processes of sub-human creatures flow in four directions – towards food, sleep, survival, and procreation. Broadly speaking, human thought moves in five directions - towards food, sleep, survival, procreation and dharma. Yet there are many sub-streams. Human thought can be roughly divided into two categories: abhiipśátmaka (áshá vrtti) and vishuddha saḿvedanátmaka (cintá vrtti).

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].

In ancient times, before people learned to dig in the ground, they collected water from the rivers and springs. Hence, anything that produced sounds like the roaring of rivers, the babbling of brooks, or the gushing of spring water, would inspire the hope of survival in their minds. Ka (derived from the root-verb kae plus suffix d́a) etymologically means “that which produces sound”. It also means “water”, and thus ka is the acoustic root of flowing water (va is the acoustic root of water in general).

If someone keeps a matted lock of hair on his or her head, it will be quite visible even from a distance. If the hair is properly oiled, it will become glossy. From kac, meaning “glossy”, we get another meaning of ka, “hair grown on the head”.

Hair when it is curly is called kuntala. And Shiva used to tie His hair in a knot in such a way that it pointed upwards. Hence just as one of Shiva’s names was “Vyomakesha”, meaning “Hair towards the Sky” (vyoma = “sky” and kesh = “hair”), He was also called “Khakuntala”, with the same meaning, since kha means “sky” and Shiva’s hair was curly.

And, as many people know, another name of Shiva was “Dhurjat́ii”.

We said before that ka is the acoustic root of Kárya Brahma. It is also the acoustic root of creation. According to Buddhist Mádhyamik and Saotántrik philosophy, one name for the created world is Saḿvrtti Bodhicitta (which is also another name of Kárya Brahma). The then Buddhist cult called those sádhakas who took the noble vow of serving all in the living and non-living worlds, kápálikas – Kaḿ [from ka] saḿvrtti bodhi cittaḿ pálayati iti kápálikah. Later on, the meaning and import of the word kápálika became distorted.

As mentioned, ka is the acoustic root of Kárya Brahma. Kárya Brahma (Saguńarasátmaka Brahma), represented by ka, is the controller of the living world. Ka + iisha = kesha. Kesha can mean “hair”; it can also mean Náráyańa.

(17) Editors’ note: Not only aḿ and ah, but all sixteen vowel sounds, are located at the vishuddha cakra. For correlation of other sounds with their respective cakras, see “Plexi and Microvita” in Yoga Psychology.