Every Sanskrit Alphabet Represents So Many Things

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Every Sanskrit Alphabet Represents So Many Things

In an earlier episode highlighting how correct pronunciation is important for the mantra to work and to give its desired effect, we took the example of Krishna and saw that there are positions in the speech organ or speech system for each and every alphabet or syllable.

Shakara’s position is murdha or upper head, while Sakara’s position is the teeth. When you pronounce Shakara, the vibrations are felt at the upper part of your head, inside, whereas Sakara is pronounced with the help of the teeth. When you pronounce Sakara, you will feel your tongue touching the teeth.

So, instead of saying Krishna, if you say Krisna, then the flow of sound is disrupted. Kri is pronounced at the throat. When it is pronounced correctly as Krishna, the sound flows from the throat towards the upper head. But when you pronounce it as Krisna, the flow is deflected towards the teeth. The effect may be completely different.

Let’s now look at another aspect. This was about the flow of sound.

Every alphabet in Sanskrit has a character of its own, a nature of its own. Alphabets are called aksharaskshara means end, vinasha, destruction. Alphabets in Sanskrit are called akshara because they never end; they never get destroyed. Even at pralaya, and even after pralaya, they are still there. They don’t die, which is why they are called aksharas. This is peculiar to Sanskrit and may not be the case with other languages.

In the context of Sanskrit, this refers to most Indian languages that use a common set of alphabets, the swaras – A, AA, I, and vyanjanaskavarga, chavarga.

After pralaya, when creation happens, they simply reappear as they were before, prior to pralaya. Aksharas in Sanskrit are nitya, shashwata. Nobody created them. They have not evolved out of anything or from human interactions. If you observe, most languages evolve as people continue speaking over generations. For example, the way English was spoken two centuries back in England is not how it is spoken now. Words have disappeared. Are you aware that at one point, the ampersand was considered the 27th alphabet in English, which is no longer the case? There was a long S and a short S.

These changes happen in languages that have evolved out of human interaction, but this is not the case with Sanskrit. Programming languages, even though they use English alphabets and special characters, have a completely different purpose and effects. You won’t be able to use them for regular one-to-one communication. Programming languages are man-made languages created within a short span of time. Languages such as English have evolved over thousands of years.

What I mean to say is that, when Brahma created the world out of Shabda Brahma, English alphabets were not present. Sanskrit alphabets, however, were already there. Brahma didn’t create Sanskrit alphabets. At the time Brahma came into existence, Sanskrit alphabets were already there.

Our sages, through meditation, have tried to understand the nature of each Sanskrit alphabet – what they represent, what they contain, and what effect they can produce.

We will see this by comparing Shakara and Sakara as in Krishna and Krisna.

Shakara
षकारं शृणु चार्व्वङ्गि ! अष्टकोणमयं सदा ।
रक्तचन्द्रप्रतीकाशं स्वयं परमकुण्डलीम् ॥
चतुर्वर्गमयं वर्णं सुधानिर्म्मितविग्रहम् ।
पञ्चदेवमयं वर्णं पञ्चप्राणमयं सदा ॥
रजःसत्त्वतमोयुक्तं त्रिशक्तिसहितं सदा ।
त्रिबिन्दुसहितं वर्णमात्मादितत्त्वसंयुतम् ॥
सर्व्वदेवमयं वर्णं हृदि भावय पार्व्वति ॥

Mahadeva is telling this to Parvathy Devi – the nature of Shakara.

Shakara is octagonal – this does not mean it is written as an octagon. If you manifest something by repeatedly chanting Shakara, it will be octagonal in shape. Remember the shapes in yantras: trikona, shatkona, ashtakona – every combination is unique to a particular devata. In the same way, Shakara’s two-dimensional manifestation is octagonal. This is what the sages saw and realized through meditation.

Shakara looks like a red moon. Parma Kundalini – Kula Kundalini Shakti – this has its own definition, which we will not go into in detail here. Shakara is Kundalini Shakti. Chaturvargamayam varnam – Chaturvarga means the four purusharthas: Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha – Shakara is present in all four, or they are present in Shakara. It is made of sudha, amrita; its material is amrita.

Pancha devamayam varnam – the five devatas worshipped in Panchayatana puja – Ganesha, Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, and Surya – their presence is in Shakara. All the three gunas – Satwa, Rajas, and Tamas – are present in Shakara. All three shaktis – Iccha Shakti, Jnana Shakti, and Kriya Shakti – are also in Shakara.

Tri bindu or bindu traya – this is a concept of trinity in the Shaakta system. There are many interpretations, but since we are discussing aksharas here, one way to look at it would be as swaras, vyanjanas separately as two, and together as the third. Atmadi tatwasamyutam – Shakara contains tatwas in it starting from Atma. All devatas reside in Shakara. This is Shakara.

Now Sakara

शुक्लाम्बरां शुक्लवर्णां द्विभुजां रक्तलोचनाम् ।
श्वेतचन्दनलिप्ताङ्गीं मुक्ताहारोपशोभिताम् ॥
गन्धर्व्वगीयमानाञ्च सदानन्दमयीं पराम् ।
अष्टसिद्धिप्रदां नित्यां भक्तानन्दविवर्द्धिनीम् ॥
एवं ध्यात्वा सकारन्तु तन्मन्त्रं दशधा जपेत् ॥
त्रिशक्तिसहितं वर्णमात्मादितत्त्वसंयुतम् ।
प्रणम्य सततं देवि हृदि भावय सुन्दरि ||

Sakara is white in color, wearing white clothes, has two hands, red eyes, and is smeared with white sandalwood paste. The alphabet is described as a female, wearing a garland of pearls. She is the favorite alphabet of Gandharvas, as they use this alphabet frequently. She is always pleasant and happy. She grants the ashtasiddhis, is connected to devotion (bhakti), and increases the ananda of devotees. Sakara also contains the three shaktis and contains tatwas starting from Atma.

Are they the same? Just for comparison – Kundalini Shakti is missing in Sakara; rather than the intense Kundalini Shakti, it is the ananda of bhakti that is present in Sakara. Purusharthas are missing in Sakara, as is the representation of bindu traya.

I am not saying that Sakara is inferior to Shakara. Its nature itself is different. What Shakara can give and what Sakara can give are different.

This is why pronunciation as Krishna and Krisna are not the same, and their effects are not the same. Let’s not oversimplify everything in the name of Vedanta or bhakti. If you want to do that, then you should be mature enough to accept good and bad alike, sukha and dukha alike, pleasure and pain alike. If you are at that level, Shakara and Sakara will not matter. Until then, each one has its own specific effect and result.

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