SrI sArasAram -- I (13)

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srI:

SrI sAra sAram – I (13)

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I – ThirumantrAdhikAram

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The Significance of the ‘a’ in PraNava

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SwAmi Desikan has so far brought out the greatness of the praNava which is the

first word in the Thirumantram. Quoting from scriptures and the works of

AzhvArs, he showed that the praNava, by being the core of the essence of all the

Vedic scriptures, is on its own a powerful mantra. As an independent mantra, the

praNava’s three syllables form a word each making the praNava a sentence.

While trying to understand the significance of the praNava, one should keep in

mind that this is basically a sound-effect and merely a combination of letters,

namely, ‘a’, ‘u’ and ‘m’. It is commonly seen in books, it is

represented differently either by ‘Ohm’, Om’ and ‘aum’ etc. The

praNava cannot be pronounced just by reading the written word. For, it has a

unique sound that can be learnt only directly from a qualified Guru.

As we have seen that the praNava can be uttered in durations of a second, two,

three and finally three and a half seconds, with each utterance having its own

effect. The manner in which it has to be uttered has to be practiced under the

guidance of the Guru.

Keeping this in mind we may proceed further. SwAmi Desikan now takes up the

first syllable for explanation:

“ivaTRil, prathama aksharam rooDiyAlE, vishNu vAcakamennumiDam

Sruti-smruti-nighaNTu-kkaLalum prayOga-ngkaLAlum siddham. Ithu,

Sabda-artha-svabhAva-ngkaLAlE sarva-sangrAhakam.â€

SwAmi Desikan points out that the first syllable, openly and through analysis,

possesses all the messages in a compressed manner. We shall study this in

detail:

“ivaTRil†– Among these, namely, the three syllables. We have already seen

that the praNava comprises three syllables, namely, ‘a’, ‘u’ and

‘m’.

“prathama aksharam rooDiyAlE†-- The first syllable has a primitive

meaning. That is, it is a name by convention. It has been traditionally accepted

name.

KAvya prakAsa, a work on poetry and rhetoric by Mammata Bhatta of Kashmir, in

its second Chapter), explains this word ‘roodi’: “samudAya Saktih

roodih†-- collective denotation is ‘roodih’. In Tamil, it is called

‘idu-kuRippeyar’ – a fixed name, which can not denote any other object.

Its opposite is derivative name – a name christened due to a cause.

Hence, SwAmi Desikan stresses that the first syllable of the praNava is a

denotative name. Whose name is it? This question is being answered next:

“vishNu vAcakamennumiDam†-- That syllable (‘a’) denotes VishNu. That

is, ‘a’ is the name fixed for the Lord only. It will not denote anyone else.

This is authoritative, says SwAmi Desikan:

“Sruti-smruti-nighaNTu-kkaLalum pryOga-ngkaLAlum siddham.†– This is

established in Vedas, Smrutis and nighaNTus and the usage. Here, nighaNTu means,

a work on vocabulary of Vedic terms.

Reference to Vedic definition of ‘a’:

“akArENOcyatE vishNuh sarvalOkESvarO harih†-- The syllable of ‘a’

denotes VishNu, the Lord of all worlds, Hari.

Reference to Smruti:

“ashTAkshara-SreerAnga-praNavAdyakSharEN tu /

akArENAkhilAdhArah paramAtmA-abhidheeyatE //

samastaSabdamoolaTvAt akArasya svabhAvatah /

samastavAcyamoolatvAt brahmaNOpi svabhAvatah /

vAcya-vAcaka-sambandhah tayOrarthAt prateeyatE //†(VAmana PurANa)

(By the first syllable ‘a’ in praNava, which is one of the limbs of the

mantra with eight letters, BhagavAn, Who is the support of everything, is

denoted; the letter ‘a’ is the origin of all words and Brahman is the origin

of all things denoted by these words. Therefore, ‘a’ denotes BhagavAn. He is

denoted by that letter. This relationship between the letter ‘a’ and

BhagavAn is seen from the meaning to be appropriate.)

Similarly in the nighaNTu scriptures too, the syllable ‘a’ is attributed to

the Lord.

Besides, this syllable ‘a’ has been in the usage, since unknown time to

denote VishNu only.

In VedArtha Sangraha, SrI rAmAnuja as stated:

‘aksharANAm akArOsmi’ iti / (Gita, 10-33) ‘a iti Brahma’ iti ca SrutEh /

‘akArO vai sarvA vAk’ iti ca vAcaka-jAtasya akAraprakrutitvam vAcya-jAtasya

Brahma-prakrutitvam ca suspashTam / atah BrahmaNah akAravAcytA-pratipAdanAt

akAravAcyO nArAyaNa Eva mahESvarah iti siddham //â€

(The Lord says, “I am the letter ‘a’ among the letters.†(Gita, 10-33).

The Sruti also lays down—“‘a’ is the designation of Brahmanâ€, and

“All speech is ‘a’â€. All speech evolves out of ‘a’ and all entities

constituting the subject-matter of all speech evolves out of Brahman. Therefore,

as Brahman is affirmed to be the meaning of ‘a’, nArAyaNa, Whose name

‘a’ is, is determined to be the Supreme.)

SwAmiDesikan summarizes all the statements mentioned thus:

“Ithu, Sabda-artha-svabhAva-ngkaLAlE sarv-sangrAhakam.†– In word and its

sense, this syllable ‘a’ has within it all that is spoken in the scriptures.

 

 

(To continue)

dAsan

Ansil S.SrInivAsan

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