The Goddess of Time- the four levels of Speech!

[Guest guest]

Chitta writes :

 

(In other words, the word in Brahman is anahata - it is the unstruck

sound. It is also called para-vak. )

 

Yes! Chitta1 There are four levels of speech !

 

1) Vaikari ( which i mentioned in my other post)

 

2) Madhyama

 

3) Pashyanti

 

4) Paravak ( or paravani) as mentioned in your beautiful post.

 

Since i liked this explanation a lot , i thought i would share this

with all the members here !

 

SWami Muktananda explains the four levels of speech thus ....

 

"That inner vibration which is the source of all sound called by the

scriptures paravani or paravak, supreme speech. The paravani level of

speech exists within all of us.

 

Ordinarily, we are aware of only one level of speech. We are aware

only of the speech of our inert physical tongue, just as we are aware

only of our physical body and senses. yet the pysical body is only the

body of the waking state.

 

Within the pysical body is the subtle body into which we enter when

we dream.

 

Beyond that is the causal body, in which we experience

deep sleep.

 

And beyond the causal body is the supracausal body, the body of pure

light, in which we experience the state of true meditation, the

transcendental state called turiya.

 

Just as we have these four bodies, one within the other, we also have

four levels of speech, which are linked with the four bodies.

 

The name of the *gross level of speech*, the speech of the

physical tongue, is *vaikari.*

 

The second level of speech is called *madhyama;* it corresponds to

the *subtle body* and is located in the throat region.

 

The third level of speech, called *pashyanti,* corresponds to the

*causal body* and is located in the region of the heart.

 

The fourth and highest level of speech is located in the navel

region. That is *Paravani.* Paravani is the level of sound

as pure, unmanifest Consciousness, the level of the

Self. It pervades everything, extending from east to

west, from south to north, from above to below. It is

within all of us; it is spanda, the inner creative

pulsation which continually vibrates. The entire universe,

with all its forms, was born from that pulsation of

paravani. Infinite syllables and words and sentences exist

within paravani in the form of vibration. A peacock egg

contains all the colors of a peacock's feathers in a

potential form. Similarly, all words and syllables exist in

paravani in an undifferentiated seed form. That seed,

which contains all words, is the pure aham, the perfect

I-consciousness.

 

All mantras come out of paravani. Paravani is nothing

but Parashakti, the supreme energy which creates the

universe. Its nature is movement without any underlying

support. The Ishwara Pratyabhijna says that the Self is

immobile; it is always still, but paravani gives it the

appearance of movement. Shiva, the supreme Reality, is

completely tranquil. It is only because of his Shakti, his

energy, that there is movenent. It is because of Shakti

that Shiva has awareness of himself. That self-awarenss is aham

vimarsha, the throb of pure I-consciousness, and it is from that

original throb of self-awareness that the creation of the universe

begins. The pure aham is paravani. So paravani is the creative

pulsation of the Self. it is Kundalini, the inner spiritual

energy. It is the Universal Consciousness, the all-pervading supreme

principle.

 

When we contemplate this, from the gross level to the level of

paravani or paravak, we come to see that all sound is

synonymous with energy; Parashakti, the Kundalini Shakti

that is the universe itself, the knower, the known,

and the means. We see that this is one with

Paramashiva; the energy of Shiva; ShivaShakti. With a sudden

burst of realization, we come to truly understand the

nature of Self."

 

Swami Muktananda ( from his book "I am That " )

 

Now, Take the sacred syllable 'Aum'

 

The Universe is vibration (sound--language)

 

The relation of sound to silence is shown in the sacred syllable--AUM

 

AUM is a threefold sound which rises from, and returns to the fourth

element--Silence.

 

Levels of speech:

 

A--spoken (vaikari)

U--thought (madhyama)

M--(pushyanti)

 

to

Silence--supreme (para) -

 

Om Tat sat!

[Guest guest]

Dear AdiMa,

 

advaitin, "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16>

wrote:

> > (In other words, the word in Brahman is anahata - it is the

> > unstruck sound. It is also called para-vak. )

> Yes! Chitta1 There are four levels of speech !

> 1) Vaikari ( which i mentioned in my other post)

> 2) Madhyama

> 3) Pashyanti

> 4) Paravak ( or paravani) as mentioned in your beautiful post.

>

> Since i liked this explanation a lot, i thought i would share

> this with all the members here !

>

> SWami Muktananda explains the four levels of speech thus ....

 

 

AdiMa, your wonderful post is an excellent footnote to Sri

Shankaracharya's bhashya on the Brahma Sutra II.1.vi.17:

 

"If it be argued that the effect did not exist before creation, since

it is declared (in the Upanishad) as 'non-existent', then we say, no,

because from the complementary portion it is known that the word is

used from the standpoint of a difference in characteristics."

 

commenting on which Shankaracharya writes:

 

"The condition in which name and form become evolved is different

from the condition in which name and form is not so evolved. Hence

although the effect exists as non-different from the cause before

creation, still from the standpoint of this difference in conditions

the effect is declared to be non-existent before creation....

Therefore this declaration of non-existence of the effect before

creation is made from the standpoint of a difference of conditions.

Since in the world a thing is said to exist when it manifests itself

through name and form, therefore, as a concession to common sense,

the universe is said to be non-existent before being evolved through

name and form."

 

 

This difference in the condition of names and forms is the four

stages of speech. Bhartrhari calls this staging 'vivarta'. It

corresponds to the four states of Vishwa, Taijasa, Prajna and Turiya

(Turiya of course not being a state).

 

Thank you.

 

Warm regards,

Chittaranjan