35 - Discourses on Tantra Volume One

Chapter 11

The Acoustic Roots of the Indo-Aryan Alphabet (5)

AE

The thought of welfare and the materialization of welfare in the subtler sphere are symbolized by vaśat́. Those who pray to Lord Shiva for all-round human welfare say, Aeḿ Shiváya vaśat́; those who pray to their guru for the attainment of subtle knowledge say, Aeḿ gurave vaśat́; and those who pray to the rain-god for relief from floods say, Varuńaya vaośat́ (in this case the thought of welfare is confined to the physical sphere). But those who pray for victory in war against the forces of wickedness, say, Varuńáya vaśat. Within the acoustic root vaśat́ lies the thought of welfare in the subtle sphere; it is the atibiija, or mahábiija, of the sense of blessing in the subtle sphere.

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.

The first stage of linguistic expression, that is, language in its potential form or seed form, lies dormant in the múládhára cakra, and it leads through successively clearer stages of manifestation to full-fledged linguistic expression. This primordial phase of linguistic expression is called paráshakti, the primordial phase of vocalization.

Incidentally, I would like to say a few words about the fundamental paráshakti. The shakti [energy] with which unit beings discharge their physico-psycho-spiritual actions is called aparáshakti. Aparáshakti is by no means insignificant – it helps microcosms to maintain their existence and achieve greater evolution and elevation. But the energy with which microcosms direct their physico-psycho-spiritual efforts towards the divine and reach the highest rung of the evolutionary ladder by piercing every tender layer of microcosmic existence, is called paráshakti (this paráshakti, which is the primordial phase of vocalization, is not the same as the paráshakti or Supreme Operative Principle in the unbalanced triangle of forces). Here we are concerned with the ways of expression of language. All the potentialities of vocal expression lie dormant in the form of paráshakti at the múládhára cakra. Paráshakti is raised step by step and finally leads to the vocal expression of language.

If vocalization remains dormant in seed form at the múládhára, it is neither audible nor perceivable in the practical world. The latent paráshakti has got to be awakened. Human beings visualize whatever they want to communicate, sometimes only for a fraction of a second, consciously or unconsciously. If they are already aware of the name and form of the visualized object, they can progress further in the process of expression, otherwise that name or form will continue to remain in the abstract world. This stage, in which one can mentally visualize what one is going to communicate, is the second stage in the process of vocalization. Its controlling point is the svádhiśt́hána cakra. The energy which causes the visualization is called pashyanti. Pashyanti is derived from the root verb drsh plus shatr, and means “that which is seeing”.

This seeing is of two things: that which is original in the abstract world (its image is mostly indistinct) and that which is of a recurring nature in the abstract world, in other words, that which is reproduced from memory. Anubhútaviśayásampromaśah smrti. “After perceiving an object in the external world with the help of the eyes or any other external indriya, one often thinks about it.” The energy which helps one to visualize that thought is pashyanti shakti. This is the second stage of vocalization. Of course just to visualize the perceived object (with the help of pashyanti shakti) is not enough; other people cannot see your mental images or mental words, because those things belong to the psychic world. Linguistic expression pertains to the mundane world. Words are transmitted in the outer world through the medium of air or electro-magnetic waves, or some such medium. Mental images can be projected in the external world with the help of vital energy, but this sort of psychic projection is beyond the capacity of pashyanti shakti.

Ideas in the psychic world gain momentum with the addition of vital energy. This process of coordination must be consolidated step by step before ideas can be expressed through words in the external world. The human body’s energy, or indrashakti, or luminous factor, is located in the mańipura cakra.(11) The mańipura cakra maintains the body’s physical balance. When pashyanti shakti comes to the mańipura cakra and there receives the assistance of vital energy, it becomes madhyamá shakti. The controlling point of madhyamá shakti is the mańipura cakra or navel area.

To externalize an idea one has to apply physical energy (philosophically, this energy is called indra). We can call this stage the first expression of the sound tanmátra. Although this sound tanmátra is not audible to the external ear because it has not yet been vocalized, it does have internal sound.

The transformation of madhyamá shakti into the form of speech takes place at a point between the mańipura and vishuddha cakras. This is a state of calamánatá [mobility].(12) The force which functions between the mańipura and vishuddha cakras, trying to give vocal expression to mental ideas, is called dyotamáná.

Dyotamáná shakti is expressed as a relentless effort to transform idea into language. If, however, in this process of transformation, the mind is affected by fear or by any other instinct, there will be only a partial or incoherent vocal expression.

In the dyotamáná stage, if the idea is not metamorphosed into a corresponding picture, or if there is any defect in the area between the mańipura and vishuddha cakras, or if there is no proper command over language, then vocal expression is bound to be affected. In such cases people are unable to give linguistic expression to things that they know. They say, “The idea’s in my mind but I just can’t find the words to express it.”

The dyotamáná stage exists in collective life, also. Ever since the dawn of human civilization, human beings have been searching for ways to fulfil their various desires: the desire to fly, the desire to move fast over land, the desire to reach the distant planets, the desire to cross the oceans. Sometimes they have succeeded, sometimes they have failed. But even after failure, they have not given up the struggle, but have persisted with renewed vigour. We are still waiting for that glorious day to arrive when we will be able to give a full and rich expression to the vast world of human thought. Today, however, we can only express a small fraction of the vast world of ideas.

The vocal cord lies in the area of the vishuddha cakra. It is the organ responsible for transforming abstract idea into vocal expression. The energy which helps in this task is vaekharii shakti. Vaekharii shakti is the energy which causes ideas to take the form of language. It is the fifth stage in the process of vocal expression. When someone talks too much, this is the uncontrolled expression of vaekharii shakti. Some pandits, in order to prove their intellectual might through intellectual extravaganza, indulge in such unnecessary vocalization. It has been said,

Vákvaekharii shabdayharii
Shástravyákhyána kaoshalaḿ;
Vaeduśyaḿ viduśáḿ tadvat
Bhuktaye na tu muktaye.

[Garrulousness, grandiloquence and conflicting interpretations of the scriptures are nothing but intellectual extravaganza. They do not lead to salvation, but merely satisfy the intellect.]

Neither individual life nor collective life is benefited from such useless talk. Pandits may receive temporary applause but they ultimately gain nothing but a big zero.

Even after an idea gets metamorphosed into language, if there is the slightest defect in the uvula, vocal expression will be disturbed. (The Sanskrit equivalents of “uvula” are lambiká, galashuńd́iká, and áljihvá.) Even if one articulates properly, one will not be able to speak correctly if there is any defect in the uvula.

The energy through which the exact language is conveyed to the human ears is called shrutigocará. This is the last stage in the process of vocalization. The sound ae is the acoustic root of the six stages of vocalization: pará, pashyanti, madhyamá, dyotamáná, vaekharii, and shrutigocará.

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.