Thus Spake the Divine - God is Source for Words and Meanings

Thus Spake the Divine

God is Source for Words and Meanings

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava analyses the genesis of sound, alphabets and words.

We are all under a false impression that what we see through our eyes and hear using our ears is alone the truth. We feel whatever we cannot see or hear is not true. This implies that everything elucidated in Vedas and Puranas is not true, as we have not seen them with our own eyes. This thought is absolutely wrong.

There are many things, which we cannot see or hear, but they are the absolute truth. There could be waves of electricity that are not within the reach of our eyes. There are some sound waves, which cannot be captured by our ears. In that case, how can we ever say that whatever we do not see or hear cannot exist in this universe? Rishis and saints have seen mysterious images of Gods with their divine eyes. They have decoded with their wisdom sounds that they heard in space as Mantras.

It is such rishis and sages who have visualised the Dance of Lord Parameshvara as the source of all movements within the cosmos. Nataraja dances very swiftly. When He momentarily freezes a movement in His dance, His locks of hair jut out in many strands, while he continues to whirl around in His dancing frenzy. This is what we see in the statue of Lord Nataraja.

All sounds of universe that are audible to us have also emerged from only Nataraja. In His rear right hand, Shiva often holds an hourglass-shaped drum or damaru. This drum represents the rhythmic sound to which Nataraja dances and ceaselessly keeps recreating the universe. Nandikeshwarar (the bull sitting in front of Lord Shiva) has captured these sounds and composed “Maheshvara Sutram”.

The sound of damaru has 14 kinds of verses. Each of these 14 verses contain a group of basic Sanskrit phonemes, i.e. open syllables consisting either of initial vowels or consonants, followed by the basic vowel “a”. The phonemes are followed by a single ‘dummy letter’, or anubandha, conventionally rendered by capital letters in Roman transliteration and named ‘IT’ by Panini. Panini Maharishi developed the grammar of the language using these sounds as the base.

Vedas are four in number, while Upa Vedas (sub-sects) are six, and Dharma Shastras are four. All these 14 are the source of manuscripts for our Sanatana Dharma. These are together called “Vidya Sthanam”. Aligning with these are 14 sounds from the damaru of Parameshvara, the Lord of All Arts. As I told you, they start with ‘A’ and end in ‘L’. The syllable ‘al’ represents all ‘syllables’ or ‘alphabets’ of a language. The most notable point here is that letters ‘al’ are present in all languages. In Urdu language, “aliph” is the first alphabet. In Greek, it is “Alpha” and in English it is “Alphabet”, for which letters ‘al’ are the base. Similarly, all sounds and languages emerged only from the Ishvara.

Patanjali, who is the incarnation of Adhisesha, the King of Cobras on whom Lord Vishnu rests, has given a Bhashyam on grammar. According to this Bhashyam (Commentary or interpretation), “Adhisesha wraps the legs of dancing Nataraja. The sound comes from the damaru held in the hands of Nataraja, while Patanjali, who has wrapped Nataraja’s legs in the form of Adhisesha, gives interpretations for the sounds. Thus, the entire spectrum of languages of the universe has emerged from the movements of Nataraja’s hands and legs.”

The inner meaning of this is that Ishvara is the source for both the sound and its meaning. Once we realise this, we will never misuse or abuse our speaking ability. Whatever we write or speak should only be aimed at elevating our own self and others, with the divine thought that Ishvara is the absolute Brahmam.

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.

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