36 - Discourses on Tantra Volume One

Chapter 11

The Acoustic Roots of the Indo-Aryan Alphabet (6)

O

The acoustic root of the completion of an action is sváhá. When ghee is offered into the fire, that cannot be called sváhá. Only when the ghee is consumed by the fire, that is, the ghee is totally effaced from existence, can that be called 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. This is the meaning of sváhá in the general sense. More specifically sváhá is used while offering oblations to fire. In this sense it is related to the acoustic root svadhá. The general meaning of svadhá is “one who is self-reliant” (sva + dhác = svadhá). Sváhá is also used as an acoustic root for spiritual actions, while svadhá is used while making offerings to the ancestors.

In ancient times, in the entire Rgvedic period and in the first half of the Yajurvedic period, su and sva were used almost synonymously. But later they acquired different meanings: sva came to mean “own” (svadesha means “own country”) and su came to mean “good” (sujan means “good man”). One Sanskrit word for “good” is bhadra, from which the Bengali word bhálo comes. The Hindi word bháláii is the abstract noun of bhálá. In old Ráŕhii Bengali, the word bhálá is used in the sense of “look at”. It is an indigenous Bengali word. Ajaná pathik ek deshke eseche bhálgo. [“An unknown traveller has come to our land; look at him.” – Prabháta Saḿgiita]

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.” Hence sváhá was used in the course of offering oblations to gods and goddesses, and svadhá for ceremonies in memory of departed ancestors.

In ancient times people used to observe a period of austerity before offering oblations to the gods or ancestors; this preparatory period was called adhivása. In the Vedic period, as far as is known, people had a great weakness for surá [an alcoholic drink]. (Sanskrit synonyms for surá are somarasa, madya, madhu, ásava, ariśt́a and sudhá.) During their adhivása the priests would of course have to abstain from drinking. So they would cover their shoulders with a mrgacarma(13) [a deerskin – a symbol of their adhivása], so that other people would not invite them to drink. When they conducted rituals concerning the gods and goddesses, they would utter the sváhá mantra and would wear the skin on the left shoulder (in this case the skin was called yajiṋopaviita, or upaviita, for short); and when they conducted rituals concerning the ancestors, they would use the svadhá mantra and wear the skin on the right shoulder (in this case the skin was called práciináviita.) When they were not conducting either of these rituals, they would place the skin around their necks (in this case it was called niviita). While invoking the gods and goddesses, they would chant the sváhá mantra with the sampradána mudrá; for ceremonies using the vaośat́ and vaśat́ mantras, they would use the baradá mudrá; and for ceremonies involving the svadhá mantra they would use the aḿkusha mudrá.

A little while ago, I mentioned that su and sva could be used almost synonymously. [When reading mantras from ancient texts, people would understand from the context whether su or sva meant “good” or “own”.] But to use sva in place of su [in the sense of “good”] was not so common.

Rtaḿ pibantao sukrtasya loke
Guháyáḿ praviśt́ao parame parárdhe;
Cháyátapao Brahmavido vadanti
Paiṋcágnayo ye ca trińáciketáh.

“Human beings reap the consequences of their own karma [deeds].” In this shloka, sukrta is used instead of svakrta [to mean “done by oneself”, “own” (referring to karma, “deeds”)].

The human mind is divided into two functional chambers: the karttr ámi or subjective “I”, and the karma ámi or objectivated “I”. The objectivated “I” moves forward; the subjective “I” remains in the background, as an observer. “Just as it is difficult to discern the precise line between sunshine and shade, it is almost impossible to discern the transition point between the subjective ‘I’ and the objectivated ‘I’. This is what the brahmavids [knowers of Brahma] say, and it is corroborated by the paiṋcágnii, or renunciates, and the trińáciketa, or householders.”

Regarding the metempirical entity, the Vedas say:

Dvá suparńá sayujá sakháyá
Samánaḿ brkśaḿ pariśasvajáte;
Tayoranyah pippalaḿ svádvattyan
Ashnannanyo abhicákashiiti.

[Two friendly birds with beautiful plumage are perched on the same branch of a tree. One of them is eating the sweet fruit while the other looks on as a mere witness.]

The acoustic root sváhá signifies pious resolve and the psychic desire for universal welfare. The sound o is its super-acoustic root or atibiija. So whatever may be the importance of o in the alphabetical order, its value as an acoustic root is immense.