43 - Discourses on Tantra Volume One

Chapter 11

The Acoustic Roots of the Indo-Aryan Alphabet (13)

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. To avoid the unsalutary effects of murcchá vrtti, one should direct one’s mind along the path of righteousness through the practice of pratyáhára yoga.

Those who have not learned the technique of pratyáhára yoga(18) should do kiirtana aloud or sing devotional songs to escape the clutches of múrcchá vrtti.

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

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). You may have met people who have no confidence in themselves at all, even if they are told to be self-confident. Such people say right up to the end of their lives, “Shall I be able to do it?” They can never accomplish anything great in this world. As they also lack confidence in others, others have no confidence in them.

RA

Ra is the acoustic root of agnitattva or práńashakti – vitality. (Raḿ biijaḿ shikhinaḿ dhyáyet, trikońam-aruńaprabham.) It is also the acoustic root of sarvanásha [the thought of annihilation]. Sarvanásha causes people to think, “I have nothing of my own. Everything is gone. I am undone.” Such a negative outlook can only be cured with the constant auto-suggestion, “Parama Puruśa is mine,” which in the language of Tantra is called guru mantra. The feeling that one is defeated in life is ra-biijátmak [symbolized by ra], and its cure is the auto-suggestion that “I have come to win. I am destined to win.” People of developed mentality try to keep the minds of people of such negative outlook free from the unhealthy effect of that mentality by outer-suggestion. To do this is the duty of each and every good person. We should see that our fellow human beings are never allowed to throw themselves into the abyss of frustration and disappointment; they should be rescued before they jump.

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]. When human beings encounter this propensity in other human beings, they should counteract it with the propensity of compassion. When one sees someone in the throes of misery one should think, “Oh, what great misery the man is suffering from! Is there anything I can do to reduce his misery? Although the person is a human in all other respects, how crude he is in thought and behaviour. Can’t I help him to arouse his latent intellect?” This attitude of compassion is the effective counter-measure for kruratá vrtti.

La is also the acoustic root of kśititattva, the solid factor.

Laḿ biijaḿ dharańiiḿ dhyáyet
Caturásráḿ supiitábhám.

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.

Sukhaḿ váinchati sarvvo hi
Tacca dharma samudbhútah;
Tasmáddharmah sadákáryah
Sarvavarńaer prayatnátah.

[All living beings long for happiness. Dharma originates from that innate propensity. Hence dharma should always be observed meticulously by all people.]

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Dhriyate dharma ityáhuh sa eva paramaḿ prabhu.

[Dharma is that which sustains.]

The seed of humanity cannot sprout and flourish unless it is planted in the soil of dharma. To diverge from the path of dharma means to rush headlong towards total annihilation. In all one’s actions one should keep Parama Puruśa as the goal, and be well-established in dharma.

Va is also the acoustic root of jalatattva [the liquid factor], and the acoustic root of the mythological rain-god Varuńa Deva. Jalatattva means not only water, but any liquid.