Bhagavadgita Pages, Chapters 1 to 18
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V.Krishnaraj
Sound-Sabda
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Sabda is sound, which is more ancient than gods and men, precedes creation, and is eternal, indivisible, creative, and imperceptible in its subtle form. Sound is not just what you hear with your ear. Wherever there is motion and vibration of any kind that is sound, according to Tantra as said by Woodroffe. Movement causes sound; we do not have instruments to pick up the sound of the movement of subatomic particles.
Sound is classified as follows: Sphota, Nada, Anahata, and Ahata.
Vak (Vaak) means word, sound or sabda; the Latin Vox comes from Sanskrit Vaak.
Sphota literally means bursting and is eternal, indivisible, creative, and imperceptible.
Tantra literature goes further in elaborating Sphota.
Sphota is derived from the world Sphut meaning to burst or to open like a bud. The implication is (as the bud opens) as the word is sounded or articulated, the meaning of the word is revealed. The letter or letters by themselves carry no meaning until we connect them with an object or idea. When that object or idea is cognized, Sphota takes place. Sphota, before it opens, is in an undifferentiated partless state. It resides in Sabda Brahman, the Brahman of Sounds. When it differentiates it falls into two parts: Sabda and Artha, Sound and Meaning. Sound exists as Nada in Sabda Brahman and the force that makes it blossom is Bindu, which is also resident in Sabda Brahman. Unmanifested Sound = Avyakta Sabda; Manifested Sound = Vyakta Sabda. Bindu is enzymatic and has the same function as the Maya of Brahman of Upanishads. Brahman transforms into Isvara with Maya as an instrument or enzyme that makes the world visible to the senses. Maya of Suddha Saivism does not have the same meaning found in Upanishads. In the former, it means the building blocks of the universe--Tattvas or Saktis. But Maya (illusion) of Isvara, the clinical Brahman of both Siva and Vishnu, have the same functionality.
Refer to BG Chater 7 Knowledge and Realization: Chapter7, Verse 14 commentary on Maya.
Natural Sounds and Natural Names:
Inspiration for this article came from Natural Name by Woodroffe in Garland of letters. For better understanding, new terms introduced by me are as follows: Primary Essential Sound (Causal Stress Sound) and External Stress Sound (Stress).
There is movement in all that exists. All movements (and objects) emit sound whether you hear it or not. Remember atoms in objects spin and make sound but we cannot hear that sound. If you can hear that sound and name it after the way it sounds that is Natural Name of that sound or the object that produced the sound. Cuckoo is named onomatopoeically so because it emits that which sounds like "cuckoo". In Tamil a Crow is named after its sound Ka. Since it usually makes two consecutive Ka-Kas, it is called KAKA (¸¡¸¡). If you can hear the sound of the sap moving up the tree from its roots, you can give it a Natural Name. The Uncreated Brahman is Unmoving (Nispanda); the created world is moving and anything that moves makes sound. Sound is the basic phenomenon by which man apprehends the world. All else such as touch and feel, form and color, taste, and smell are all complex sounds. The skin, the eyes, the tongue and the nose are the peripheral organs that transmit the 'sound' to the respective cortex. Human ear and the brain cannot hear all sounds. Elephants in the wild communicate by sounds that humans cannot hear. Humans cannot smell what a dog smells. Smell is also a movement or sound. A dog can smell a narcotic 10 feet away from its source. Something moved from the narcotic to the nose for the dog to apprehend the narcotic. In like manner the Supreme Absolute Ear of Sakti can hear sounds in its purest state from all objects and that sound is the Natural Name for that object. Objects produce two kinds of sounds: Causal Stress Sound (Primary Essential Sound) and External Stress Sound. Let us take a tuning fork. There is a sound, though not audible to us, emanating from a non-vibrating tuning fork; that is the Causal Stress Sound we don't hear and yet is heard by the Supreme Absolute Ear of Sakti and accomplished Yogi and is produced by the motions of Subatomic Particles. When the tuning fork is subject to external stress (tapping), it vibrates and emits sound and that is the stress-induced sound heard by the Relative Ear. What the Yogi hears from the non-vibrating tuning fork is imperfect sound because only Brahman or Prajapati can hear the Natural Sound in its perfection with His Supreme Absolute Ear which is not gross or physical. Prajapati hears without ears, sees without eyes and walks without legs. The Prajapati utters the Causal Stress Sound by His Supreme Tongue to his Sadhaka who hears it by his imperfect Relative ear in a distorted way. When the Yogi rises to the level of Prajapati, the Causal Stress Sound sounds true to its quality to him. The Yogi communicates the Causal Stress Sound to his disciples who hear the sound in varying degrees of imperfection. Mantra Sastra states that Bija Mantras (Root Mantras sounding the Sanskrit letters) represent the Natural Names. The breath consisting of Inspiration and Expiration emits the sound of Prana-Bija Mantra, Hamsa. The out-breath sound is Ham and the in-breath sound is Sa. Om is the sound that has come down from its pristine natural state to its present form, structure and sound through many MAnasaputras and a line of Gurus, who tried to reproduce the sound to the best of their ability. Woodroffe states that it is an open continuous sound uninterrupted by any consonant which clips it, vanishing as it were upward in the NAdabindu which is placed on the vowel.
Interpretation of the term, "Natural".
1) The Supreme Absolute Ear (of God) hears the Primary Essential Sound (Causal Stress Sound) of an object without any distortion and He utters them with His Absolute Tongue without any distortion. Causal stress Sound that is emitted by the object is the name of an Object.
2) When Prajapati (God) utters them to Yogis, what they hear varies according to their Relative Ear (of Yogi) and what they utter varies according their Relative Tongue. What we hear and utter are not Natural Sounds because we hear with imperfect relative ears and brain and utter with imperfect tongues. The Mantras Om, Ham, Ram are all distorted sounds as heard and uttered by the imperfect us; the degree of distortion depends on the nature and sensitivity of the Relative Ear and Tongue.
3) Cuckoo and the crow are named onomatopoeically from the sound they make. This is the sound they make when subjected to stress--External Stress-induced Sound. When the firewood is burning, it emits many sounds, which the Relative Gross Ear hears. The Causal Stress Sound or the Primary Essential Sound fire emits is Bija Mantra Ram which only a Yogi alone hears. Various organs in the body make Causal Stress Sound Hamsa and so on. Primordial Sounds descend to our relative levels according to our Relative Ears and Relative Tongues. Some do not descend to us at all.
4) Objects are named by Denotation and Connotation.
de·no·ta·tion:
SaktyArtha, AbhidAsakti. Intrinisic, direct. Literal power or sense of the word. Primary name1. the explicit or direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression, as distinguished from the ideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it; the association or set of associations that a word usually elicits for most speakers of a language, as distinguished from those elicited for any individual speaker because of personal experience. Cf. connotation.
Ram is the Denotation of Fire. Ram is the Primary Essential Causal Stress Sound for Fire. Ram is the name for Fire that Yogi hears from the Absolute.
con·no·ta·tion:
LaksyArtha, laksanAsakti Secondary meaning, with attributes or qualities. Secondary Namethe associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning: A possible connotation of "home" is "a place of warmth, comfort, and affection." Cf. Denotation
Ram is the Denotation of Fire. Ram is the Primary Essential Causal Stress Sound for Fire. Agni, Vahni, HutAsana are connotation and the Secondary External stress-induced Sound for Ram.
Ram is the Denotation of Fire. Ram is the Primary Essential Causal Stress Sound for Fire. Ram is the name for Fire that Yogi hears from the Absolute. Agni is the Sanskrit name (Connotation) for Fire; Agni is the connotated name heard by the ear. The Europeans hear the word Agni and their imperfect tongue called it Ignis. From Ignis came the word Ignition.
5) "Primary and Secondary names may be combined in such order (Krama) and metre or harmony (Chandah) that by vitalizing one another, these in combination may appear as an approximate name of thing or process.
Pasyanti state is when all the Gunas are disequilibrium. Madhyama is in two forms: Subtle and gross. In gross form it makes nine forms of sound: 1) Vowel sounds, 2) Kavarga: Ka series--5 in number, 3) Cavarga: Ca series--5, 4) Ṭavarga: Ṭa series, 5) Tavarga--Ta series, 6) Pavarga--Pa series, 7) Ya series--Ya, Ra, La,and Va, 7: Ksa
Kundali as she goes upwards from Muladhara in ParA state (Para-VAk or Cit Sakti), She is called UrddhavagAmini (the One who goes up). She becomes self-manifesting (SvyamprakAsA) Pasyanti (associated with Manas) in Susumna NAdi at the level of Svadhisthana Chakra. When She reaches the Heart Lotus, She becomes MadhyamA associated with Buddhi as form of NAdarupini. From Anahata She goes up as undifferentiated 'hum'. She appears at the chest, throat, teeth, nose, palate, and head, assumes the form of letters (Varna), emerges as Vaikhari (the mother of all sounds) from the root of the tongue and lips and becomes audible to the sense of hearing.
Para Vak of no vibration, Visual Pasyanti of mind, Jnana and general motion, Madhyama with Buddhi and specific ideation and articulating Vaikhari (when the originally mental sound or thought exhibits hardness and solidity) are Kundalini Sakti as She moves upwards. Vaikhari = Vai = very; Khara = hard. another definition: Vai = certainly + Kha = cavity (of the ear) + R = to go or enter. the 3rd explanation: Vikhara is the Prana that produces Her. Vaikhari is VirAtsabda meaning the manifested letters send sound waves in singles, syllables, words, and Mantras. Vaikhari utterance is so sacred that all sounds are Mantras, which in every day speech mean letters, syllables and words used in UpAsanA and Mantryoga.
Sound, Meaning and Mantra: Sabda is Sound, Artha is meaning denoting the object, and Mantra refers to a sound form of Devata that the Sadhaka has not seen. Devata in Mantra exists only as a sound in this material world and not as a palpable entity. Mantra is like Love, which one can feel in the mind but cannot see, smell, touch or taste. The first step is to transform the Mantra Sound of a Devata to a Power like Love by SAdhana Sakti. This power like love creates a mental impression and leaves a mental imprint, which is more than the memory left by the word of Mantra. This imprint or mental image is a faint light unlike the mental image of a book, a pen etc. By marrying the Mantra Sakti with SAdhana Sakti, the SAdhaka creates Consciousness of Devata in the mind, which grows as the SAdhaka becomes more and more efficient. Devata Consciousness grows like Love. Mantra is VAcaka Sakti, the power of word and Saguna Devata, Devata in the form of word and thus She is Mantramayi which is Her Gross Form (Sthula). In Her Light or Her Suksma form (Subtle form), She is Jyotirmayi. Jyoti = light. The Direct Knowledge of the Light and merger with Devata Consciousness is Realization. Mantra is Devata in Word Form. Yantra is diagrammatic representation of Devata on a plate, paper....Light is Her Subtle Form.
The sacred texts says the following. Japa or Mantra repetition wakes up Sadhaka's higher consciousness. The two moving lips of the Sadhaka are Siva and Sakti; Movement indicates Mithuna (Coition) of Siva and Sakti. The product is Bindu or Boy Siva (Bala Siva). All this is symbolism for the development of Devata Consciousness in the Sadhaka who can strengthen it for his good.
The Cosmic Mind (CM) is dreaming and thinks the dream-thoughts; the dream-objects that are thought of are in a subtle state. This is the Dream Sleep (Svapna) of the Cosmic Mind. CM is thus the subject and object (GrAhaka and GrAhya).
CM as a subject is Sabda or Sound. Thought is Mental Sound. The mental imagery of the dream-object is subtle Artha or meaning. (You are the subject. Think of apple; you and your mind become apple, the object; you, your mind and the apple are one; thus CM is the subject, the dream-thought, and the object.) This dream-thought before it becomes an object is called MadhyamA Sabda (Middle sound, Inner Naming, Hidden Speech). MAtrikA (Little Mothers) are the subtle forms of gross speech; Subtle Speech is anthropomorphized as Mother. The Consciousness of the CM differentiates into two: Subject and object. Now the stage is set for the Cosmic dream-thoughts assume palpable objectivity; the Cosmic Mind projects the dream-thoughts on to the material plane and the dream-thoughts become palpable objects. This is the Jagrat or the Cosmic Waking State. At this stage, the mental sound of Madhyama acquires Gross Sound or Speech through vocal organs. The speech is made of letters, syllables, words and sentences. The mental Sound has become the Manifested Sound or Name. The named physical objects denoted by speech assume Artha or Meaning or Form (Rupa). A Single language was born, spoken and written in letters and words. Here is a Biblical description of how a single language and people were fragmented and scattered all over the globe.
The Tower of Babel: Bible says Babel was a city that united humanity, all speaking a single Adamic language and migrating from the east. Nimrod was the king and Babel was the city. The language of Adam and Eve was spoken by humanity and then Tower of Babel was built not for glory of God but for false man-made religion; Yahweh was offended by the edifice confused the single language, fragmented the people and the language and scattered them all over the globe.
Kali withdraws the world, words, the letters and the world of duality of Aham and Idam (I and This) and they all became one subsiding in Her Own Svarupa or nature (Her Consciousness). That is the Cosmic Deep Sleep State (Svapna). Now The Cosmic Mind has to do the Dream-Sleep to create a new world of Logos and its products.
Nibodhikā is a phase of Avyakta-nada (Avyakta-nādātmikā), and is fire-like. Raghava-bhatta says: "Nāda exists in three states. When Tamo-guna is dominant, it is merely sound unmanifest (Avyakta-nada) in the nature of Dhvani (sound); when Rajo-guna is more dominant, there is sound in which there is somewhat of a placing of the letters1; when the Sattvaguna preponderates, Nada assumes the form of Bindu." Hence Nada, Bindu, and Nibodhika, are respectively the Sun, the Moon, and Fire,' and their activities are Jnāna, Iccha, and Kriya, Jnana, again, is Fire, Iccha the Moon, and Kriya the Sun. --Woodroffe
letters1 = Letters exit in undifferentiated form until they take a shape.
Nada: This sound
is perceptible only to a Rishi. Nad is flow and Nada is sound.
Anahata means
unbeaten, unstruck, unwound, intact; new and unbleached; a sound that is
produced by means other than by beating or of two objects striking each other. It generally means ‘OM.’ In this
context it means that the sound is potentially existent, as in thought,
preverbal in its evolution and expression. It is latent sound, ready to unwind from the
mind and find expression. Analogy used to hear the unstruck sound is to occlude
or cover both your ears with the cupped palm and hear the buzz. Here it is not really an unstruck sound,
because the blood flow in the capillaries and other blood vessels striking the
vessel walls create that sound which is perceived by the auditory apparatus and
interpreted as buzz by the hearing area of the brain. Anyhow that conveys the idea what
an unstruck sound is. In Yogis practicing meditation, it is a mystic sound
whose origin is assumed to be transcendental. It is not hallucination, which, if
it is, is welcomed by Yogis. It is
also heard by the dying, whose origin is unknown. For Buddhists, it is ‘a sound
of golden bell.’ In Kundalini Yoga (the fourth Chakra or plane, Anahata or heart
Chakra), it is a sound
of Sabdabrahman, which needs no clanging of two objects (to produce the sound). It
is the sound not of the tongue or larynx, but of the spiritual heart. Devotee’s (Bhakta)
attention is focused on Anāhata plane of the heart, while Yogis
concentrate on Ajna Chakra of the glabella (forehead) and the Vedantists seek
the Para Nada in Hiranya Garba, the Golden Egg of the inverted thousand-petaled
Sahasrara Chakra on the crown. Brahma (Siva’s surrogate or manifestation for creation)
is the source of all Sounds.
Ahata means struck, or beaten as a drum. It is a struck sound; it has a known origin. It encompasses all sounds heard and unheard by humans within the decibel and frequency range of animals and humans. It is unlike Nāda which is heard only by Rishis or Seers.
Sound is of divine origin. In
combination with Bindu (Light), Nāda/Nada
is the incorporeal cause of (this material world, including) personal god Siva
and Sakti, from whom all tattvas
and universe originated. Here personal god Siva (Isvara) is different from
formless ParaSiva,
who is ontologic and hierarchical superior; the latter is the
origin of
Bindu and Nada. To put it differently, Isvara
is the progeny (son, grandson etc) of God, Parasiva. Paraparam, the God (the
Highest and Beyond the beyond), the male aspect, in Consciousness, consorted
with Paraparai (the divine energy of Siva) and gives birth to Param (the
excellent or the Supreme). Param, in union with Parai (Energy) gives birth to
Nada (Sound) which unites with Bindu (Light), Siva and Sakti. Siva, Sakti, Nada and Bindu form the Quadplex
or Tetralogy, the basis, on
which all constructs of Saiva Siddhanta are built. With Jnana and Kriya Saktis (V2007*, equivalent to Sattva
and Rajas), the Lord is the Sound (Nada) itself. Sound evolves from subtle to
gross form. The Lord enters Muladhara plane as Paranada, the most subtle form
of sound. As the sound rises through other planes and acquires more attributes,
it ends in Vaikhari (speech), the gross sound which consists of
The Primal Sound is the most
subtle and as it descends from Paranada, it assumes gross forms eventually
resulting in speech. Kundalini Sound is classified as follows:
Pasyanti (seeing,
observing—Visual Sound) Its seat is Manipura Chakra or
Svadhistana plane at the level of navel. Yogis
experience it in the form of color and form, which are common to all languages.
It is akin to universal sign language, which is understood by all cultures,
animals, birds, and humans. All body parts participate in Pasyanti language:
the ears, the eyes, the limbs and so on. When someone bares his teeth, raises
his sword or points his gun, that is a visual sound of aggression. The near comparison is sights and
sounds in a dream, in which there is no actual sound; the ear does not hear
because there is no external source for the sound; if the ear hears, you will wake up. It is
neither produced by an instrument or by a vocal organ nor heard by anatomical ears. It is a mental sound; it is heard by the inner
ear (not the inner ear of anatomist). Where is the visual aspect to this
sound? When you chant the name of
Madhyama (middle, intermediate—Mental Sound): Its seat is the heart (Anahata Chakra). The sound is of the heart and not of the tongue, associated with Buddhi and NAda. The yogis experience flashes of transcendental knowledge from the Source. Its frequency is in the hearing range. Anahata sounds heard by the yogis are chini, chini-chini (onomatopoetic sounds), the sound of bell, conch, lute, cymbals, flute, drum, Mridanga (double-drum), and the last thunder. These ten Anahata sounds can be heard at random subsequently and only during meditation. Ahata Sound as opposed to Anahata is the sound that is produced by an external sound producer such as a drum and perceived by an anatomical sensory organ such as ear. Anahata sounds originating in the spiritual heart are perceived by the non-anatomical spiritual or subtle ear. Para Brahman is attained, when one hears the tenth sound; that is lysis or absorption; you and the sound become one; one enters into Bliss. As the Yogi hears these sounds, he becomes adept in knowing hidden things, hears ParA VAk, develops divine eye and eventually becomes one with Para Brahman.
Vaikhari: (Articulation, Speech) It is the speech that originates in the larynx. Vaikhari is the mother (origin) of letters of Alphabet (Varna), syllables (Pada), words (Vak), and sentences (Vakya).
The stages of sound from the most subtle to articulated sound have concordance with the evolution of Primal Being from Avyakta through Brahman, Isvara, Hiranyagarbha, and Virat, the last being the manifest world.
The sound in Muladhara is Tamasic, impinges the mind upon arriving in Svahistana or Manipura Chakras, takes on the color of Buddhi upon arriving in Anahata or heart plane and flows out in combinations of fifty letters upon the arrival of Kundalini in the Visuddha (larynx) plane.
Nada
Yogis and Tirumular believe that the universe originates from Sound. Sabda
(sound) Brahman or Nada Brahman is the cause of the universe. All major and
some lesser known religions pronounce Sound as the origin of the universe. (The
primordial sound Om generates the cosmic energy which spreads like circles in
the pond and becomes the Mahat, the immediate progenitor of the universe,
according to one source.) Nada
is the mother (originator) of five subtle elements, five gross elements, five motor
organs, five sensory organs, four karanas, three gunas and others.
Fire
exists in the wood as latent heat and fire, and that is (latent) Para Vani; friction of
the wood manifests sparks and that is (the visual) Pasyanti; a small flame is
Madhyama; and the big flame is Vaikhari. Wind (air) is the mediator and facilitator of spark
and fire as it is the mediator of Sound also; the (mediator) Lord serves the same purpose in sound and speech. Para Vani,
Pasyanti, and Madhyama are the subtle sounds, remaining deep and unfathomable, while
Vikhari is the gross sound, which can be quantified (and qualified). Vaikhari
starts as Pranava (OM) and assumes characters and characteristics to become
Vedas (and spoken and written words). Para resides in the breath or Prana, Pasyanti
in mind, Madhyama in Indriyas (body parts and organs), and Vaikhari in larynx.
Paranada is the Supreme Sound Energy; it is transcendental. It shows as sprout in Para Vani, two leaves in Pasyanti, buds in Madhyama, blossoms in Vaikhari or Vak. Blossoms look beautiful but Vaikhari is the lowest of sounds; Para is the highest of sounds, because that is where the germ ideas originate.
ParA state is that state when Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are in equilibrium (SAmya). Pasyanti state is when all the Gunas are disequilibrium. Madhyama is in two forms: Subtle and gross. In gross form it makes nine forms of sound: 1) Vowel sounds, 2) Kavarga: Ka series--5 in number, 3) Cavarga: Ca series--5, 4) Ṭavarga: Ṭa series, 5) Tavarga--Ta series, 6) Pavarga--Pa series, 7) Ya series--Ya, Ra, La,and Va, 7: Ksa
The anatomical
locations of the Sound Centers:
