• If we go back to the akshara-wheel , the last four letters in indigo viz. sh ( Sa ), shh ( Ya ), sa ( sa ) and ha ( h ) are the Sibilants or Ūshma. They are the “Shakti” symbols. The first three of these aksharas can be linked to the three Goddesses Shri Lakshmi, Ushha and Saraswati…they represent the energies of the manifest universe. They are the mythological consorts of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma (Brahma is equivalent to Ishvara and is the perceivable deity of Brahman, the Unknown). In the vedic sense energy is treated very differently from the western scientific method :-

sh ( Sa ) – Shri Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth, worldly goods and material acquisitions. It is the favourite of the Hindu trading community. This stands for all transactions that move the count. That is what diminishes from one place increases at the receiving end. Let us say, I give you money, it reduces with me, but adds to your account.

shh ( Ya ) – Ushha is that which keeps getting replenished. ….the rays of the sun ; the flowing rivers ; the sprouting leaves are all examples of this form of Shakti. The reservoir of energy is so huge that we get a feeling of ‘continuity’ in using it. Literally Ushha means ‘the dawn’ and Rig Veda, the oldest of the Vedas, is replete with its praise.

sa ( sa ) – Saraswati is the ‘energy that grows’ even though you part with it ! It is like the fruits of a tree that multiply or the dispersion of knowledge or like lighting many candles with one and so on. It is the mythical Goddess of speech and music. The root-verb for this type of increase is ‘brih’ and it is from this that the word Brahman is derived.

This leads us to ha ( h ) – the ‘fourth’ Sibilant or Ūshma which is the ‘aspirate’ sound situated at the gullet or kaṇṭaḥ …. Interestingly ha ( h ) is the bija-mantra for the ‘throat-chakra’…

■■       The Shiva Sūtras of Abhinavagupata, cited above, explain the human form in terms of seven ‘energy-centers’ or Shakti-chakras. Each body chakra has a seed-sound called the bija-mantra associated with it. We will next look at these seven bija-mantras to try and understand how the Shaktis of the mātrika-chakra are reflected in our body.