In my previous blog posting, The Sound of Creation, I made a mention of the theory of sound according to Kashmir Shaivism. In this post, I intend to explain it. Kashmir Shaivism holds that Lord Shiva (Supramental Consciousness) is imbued with five Energies (Shakti). These are Truth-Consciousness Energy (Chaitanya Shakti), Bliss-Consciousness Energy (Ananda Shakti), Will-Power (Iccha Shakti), Cognitive Power (Jnana Shakti), and Executrix Energy (Kriya Shakti). These five Shaktis are represented by the the Sanskrit vowels: 'a', 'aa', 'i', 'ee', 'u', 'oo', 'e', 'ei', 'au', and 'aau'. While 'a' represents Truth-Consciousness Energy, 'aa' represents Bliss-Consciousness Energy, with the two always acting together, emphasizing the fact that Truth Consciousness and Bliss are forever co-existent.
At the Dawn of Creation, when Lord Shiva is in the state of Sat-Chit-Ananda (Truth and Bliss Consciousness), there manifests in Him the Will to create a reflection of Him. This Will manifests at two levels: unagitated and agitated. In its unagitated form, the Will power is manifest in the vowel 'i', and in the agitated form, it is represented by the vowel 'ee'. The Energy of Knowledge, Jnana Shakti, is represented by the vowels 'u' and 'oo', the first vowel indicative of the imminence of creation, while the second one indicative of the apprehension of Shiva that He may lose His Truth-Blisss-Consciousness, if He were to continue to project Himself as the Created World. Yet, Truth-Consciousness Energy and Bliss-Consciousness Energy brush aside this Doubt as puerile and urge the Lord to keep manifesting His Glory in the form of the Creation. So, these two twin Energies engage in the process of creating the four states of Executrix Energy, Kriya Shakti, by combining with the Energy of Will and that of Knowledge. The four states/stages of Kriya Shakti are represented by the vowels 'e', 'ei', 'au', and 'aau', with the first state/stage of Executrix Energy being not vivid (asphuta), the second vivid (sphuta), the third more vivid (sphutatara) and the fourth most vivid (sphutatama).
Swami Lakshmanjoo asserts that it is in 'this energy of action, (that) the reflection of the whole universe takes place'. Though the Supramental Consciousness (Lord Shiva) has projected Existence as a reflection of Itself, there has been no lessening of its Truth Consciousness. It remains pure as ever. The Sanskrit vowel 'um' indicates indicates this ever-anchored state of Shiva in its Truth-Bliss-Consciousness. And the visarga 'aah' indicates in its two dots, one above the other, that this world is nothing but an interplay of Shiva and Shakti.
At this point, I am reminded of the haloed lines from Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 'divas raat dui dai daya, khele sagal jagat', which I interpret as, 'This entire world is an interplay of opposites day and night'.
With the five Energies in place, the process of Creation begins. Each of these five Energies combines with itself and the other four Energies to deliver 25 elements of which this Cosmos is made up. In other words, this Existence of 25 elements is a product of five by five Energies. Each of these 25 elements are represented by the 25 consonants of the Sanskrit alphabet. Creation is an inverse reflection of the Sat-Chit-Ananda, that is Shiva.
The process of Creation begins with the birth of the grossest elements and ends with that of the finest ones. The first to be delivered are the five gross elements (panch mahaabhootas) by the unified action of the twin Energies of Consciousness and Bliss, along with themselves and the other three Energies. The five consonants, 'ka', 'kha', 'ga', 'gha', and 'na', represent the five gross elements of the earth, water, fire, air, and ether respectively. Similarly, when Iccha Shakti combines with the five energies of Shiva, it gives birth to the five subtle elements (tanamaatraas) of smell (gandha), taste (rasa), form (roopa), touch (sparsha), and sound (shabda), represented by the five consonants of 'cha', 'chha', 'ja', 'jha', and 'nya' respectively. Likewise are produced the five organs of action (karmendryas) and the five organs of cognition (jnaanaendriyas) represented by their respective cluster of five consonants each. The five finest elements of mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), ego (ahankaara), nature (prakriti) and the finite self (purusha) are produced by jnaana Shakti in combination with the five Energies, with each of these elements represented by the remaining five consonants of the Sanskrit alphabet.
As the Creation of 25 elements is an inverted image of the Truth-Bliss-Consciousness, that is Shiva, Indian Mystics have referred to it as Brahmaanda, with the top hemisphere being representative of Shiva and Shakti and the bottom hemisphere, as its inverted reflection.
The vowels and consonants of the Sanskrit alphabet combine to form speech, which is again viewed by the Shaivite Mystics as manifesting itself in three stages/states: subtlest speech (Pashyanti vaak), subtle speech (Madhyamaa vaak), and gross speech (Vaikhari vaak). Flowing out of summit-knowledge (shikharastha jnaana), Pashyanti vaak is indistinct and 'thoughtless' as it occurs when even thought has not taken shape. The third state/stage of speech, Vaikhari vaak, in contrast, is gross in so far as it is manifest in discrete words and phrases, which refer back to the underlying thoughts and feelings being communicated. The subtle speech (Madhyamaa vaak) occurs in the middle space between the first and the third states/stages of speech and as such refers to the stage when only thought has taken shape, without verbalization.
The philosophical moorings of language enunciated by the Shaivite philosophy is unparalleled in the history of linguistics and is moored in the modern day discoveries of Physics and mathematics, which I would like to take up some other time for exposition.
(My exposition of the theory of language is inspired by Swami Lakshmanjoo's lectures on Kashmir Shaivism, as recorded and edited by John Hughes. My deepest sense of gratitude to both for introducing me to this beautiful insight into the birth of language.)
No comments:
Post a Comment