The aspirate ‘h’ ( h ) sound is representative of the sharira or the body, as explained in the shlöka above. This is the bija-mantra for the Throat-chakra.

• • • • Paṇini, the oldest Indian grammarian who wrote his famous Asthadhyayi few centuries before Christ, has explained a system of pratyahara or abbreviation in which the first and the last letter actually include the entire list between them. In this light ‘ah’ ( A: ) can be understood as the pratyahara for the entire alphabet .From the sound of ‘a’ ( A ) , the first letter to the sound of ‘m’ ( ma ) , the last letter of the mute-consonants the entire organ of speech is traced. The pronunciation travels from the glottis i.e. the guttural, along the palate to the cerebral region, from there to the dental and finally ends at the lips or the labial region. Thus the entire mouth cavity is structured within this part of the alphabet and from here the symmetry gets reflected into the entire discursive language. Now, the mantra ‘aum’ ( ! ) can be understood as the pratyahara for all these vowels plus all the mute-consonant sounds and hence the complete definition of the vocal apparatus starting from the glottis to the lips. This is the Universal mantra for the liberation of the senses and during meditation helps in suppressing the complete cacophony of thoughts and hence silencing the mind. This is the bija-mantra for the Ajna-chakra located at the center of the forehead where the ceremonious tika is put during Indian rituals.

• • • • There are four aksharas, shown in green in the akshara-wheel viz. ‘ya’ ( ya ), ‘ra’ ( r ), ‘la’ ( la ) & ‘va’ ( va ). These are dual combinations of vowels and are called the Semi-vowels or antahstha. These antahstha are so called because they are in-between the vowels and the mute consonants. However, the prefix antar means both ‘intermediate’ as well as ‘internal’. Thus they reflect the inner or ‘returning’ energies of the body or sharira. These four aksharas are the bija-mantra of the lowest four of the seven chakras according to the Shiva-sutras.

‘a’ ( A ) combines phonetically with the second pure vowel ‘i’ ( [ ) to give ( [+A) – ‘ya’ ( ya ) and this is the bija-mantra for the Heart or Anahata chakra. This signifies the reflection of the Ishvara and the Unknown in the hridaya or the human heart.