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srI:
SrI  sAra  sAram â I (22)
-- 
I â ThirumantrAdhikAram 
-- 
The Significance of the âmâ in PraNava  
--- 
        After explaining in detail the significance of the second syllable, 
âuâ of the PraNava, SwAmi Desikan now takes up the third syllable, âmâ 
for explaining its significance: 
âtruteeya-aksharam keezhc conna cEshatvattinuDaiya ASrayatthaik kATTukiRthu. 
itthai âmana j~nAnEâ, âmanu avabOdhanEâ enkiRa dhAtukkaLilE 
nishpanna-mAna padamenRum, chAndasa-prakriyaiyAlE asmac-chabdatthilE lupta 
SEshamAi niRkiRathu enRum yOjippArkaL. ithu jIva vAcakamennumiDam 
Atma-samarppaNa-vidhi vAkyAtthAlE samarppaNeeyanAna AtmAvukku prakASamAkap 
pariSEsha-siddha-mAkaiyAlum kakAram muthalAi makAram iRuthiyAna varNangkaLaip 
pancavimSati tattvangkaLukku vAcakangkaLAkat tatvasAgara-samhitAdikaLilE 
collukaiyAlum âmakAram jeevabhootam tuâ, âAtmA sat u makArOyam 
pancavimSaha prakeertitahâ enRu viSEshikkaiyAlum siddham.â  
        Before studying SwAmi Desikanâs presentation, we must keep in mind 
the truths which have been already revealed by him.  The first syllable, 
âaâ represents the Lord Who is the Cause of everything, the Protector and 
the SEshi, Master of all. He is the only one Master is derived from the second 
syllable, âuâ. It was pointed out earlier that the SEsha, that is servant 
comes later in the form the third and final syllable, âmâ, who is the jIva. 
 This means he is the possessor of this SEshatvam, that is, the nature of being 
the servant of the Master. This what Swami Desikan says in the first sentence:
 âtruteeya-aksharam keezhc conna cEshatvattinuDaiya ASrayatthaik 
kATTukiRthu.â  -- The third syllable shows the jIva where the quality of 
SEshatvam rests. 
        How is it? â The learned explain this in the following way, says 
SwAmi Desikan:
 âtruteeya-aksharam keezhc conna cEshatvattinuDaiya ASrayatthaik kATTukiRthu. 
itthai âmana j~nAnEâ, âmanu avabOdhanEâ enkiRa dhAtukkaLilE 
nishpanna-mAna padamenRum, chAndasa-prakriyaiyAlE asmac-chabdatthilE lupta 
SEshamAi niRkiRathu enRum yOjippArkaL.â  -- 
        The syllable âmâ â which in Sanskrit, is said to have evolved 
from the verbal root, âmanâ. This verbal root, âmanâ has two meanings: 
1) knowledge: âmana j~nAnEâ; and 2) possession of knowledge: âmanu 
avabOdhanEâ.  By the first meaning, we come to know that the jIva is 
knowledge itself.  By the second, we derive that he does possess knowledge as 
an attribute. Therefore, from the verbal root âmanâ, evolves the syllable, 
âmâ.  It is also said that by another way too the syllable âmâ is 
evolved. That is, according to the Vedic nighanDu â vocabulary of Vedic words 
â in the Sanskrit word âasmatâ which means, the first person word, 
âIâ, âmâ is the middle syllable, with âasâ being the pre-fix and 
âatâ being the suffix. That is, âasâ + âmâ + âatâ = 
âasmatâ. With the pre-fix and the suffix removed, the balance left is 
âmâ, which indicates the jIvAtma.     
        We have already noticed that the PraNava is an independent mantra 
uttering which one performs prapatti â surrendering our Atma at the feet of 
the Lord. It is, therefore, necessary that this aspect is reflected in the 
praNava. This is what SwAmi Desikan states next:
âithu jIva vAcakamennumiDam Atma-samarppaNa-vidhi vAkyAtthAlE 
samarppaNeeyanAna AtmAvukku prakASamAkap pariSEsha-siddha-mAkaiyAlumâ â 
        That this syllable, âmâ represents the jIvAtma, is known from the 
sentence in the form of an injunction, in which âmâ refers to the thing 
that is being surrendered. This is known from the balance syllable left. 
        This is explained thus: 
        We know that the first syllable, âaâ mentions the Lord to whom the 
surrender is made. The second syllable, âuâ refers to the exclusiveness of 
His being the Master or His Consort, Lakshmee. The left over syllable in the 
praNava, is therefore, âmâ. This âmâ clearly represents the jIvAtma 
that is being surrendered to Sriya-patih, the Consort of Lakshmee. This is one 
way of fixing the syllable, âmâ as indicative of the jIva. 
There is also another way, says SwAmi Desikan:
 âkakAram muthalAi makAram iRuthiyAna varNangkaLaip pancavimSati 
tattvangkaLukku vAcakangkaLAkat tatvasAgara-samhitAdikaLilE collukaiyAlumâ  
-- 
        According our siddhAnta, there are 25 tattva-s, realities, besides the 
26th reality,  Parabrahman, SrIman nArAyaNa. They are as follows:
In the descending order:
jIva, 
prakruti, 
Intellect (Mahat), 
Ego (AhankAra), 
Five TanmAtrA-s (Sound, Touch, Colour, Taste, Smell)
Five Elements (Ether, Air, Fire, Water, Earth.)
Mind
Five organs of Knowledge (eyes, ears, tongue, nose, skin)
Five organs of Action (hands, feet, organ of evacuation, organ of generation) 
In the ascending order, these start from the organs of action (5), organs of 
knowledge (5), Mind (1), Elements (5), TanmAtrA-s (5), Ego(1), Intellect(1), 
Prakruti (1) and finally end with jIvAtma (1). In all, there are 25 in number. 
SwAmi Desikan gives the pramANa â authority in support of this theory:
 ââmakAram jeevabhootam tuâ, âAtmA sa tu makArOyam pancavimSaha 
prakeertitahâ enRu viSEshikkaiyAlum siddham.â  
        Some Samhitas specifically state the syllable, âmâ as representing 
the jIva. SwAmi Desikan refers to the above mentioned two quotes.. Let us 
consider these quotes in detail:
The first one is a part of a SlOka:
 âmakAram jeevabhootam tu SreerE vyApakam nyasEtâ (Source of the quote is 
not known)
{One should perform nyAsam (surrender) with makAram which indicates the jIva 
tattva.} 
This is one type of nyAsam to be done while muttering the mantra.) And the 
second quote, 
 âAtmA sa tu makArOyam pancavimSaha prakeertitahâ is from the PAdmOttara 
Samhita. We shall consider this along with all the related SlOkas both in this 
Samhita and the Tattva-sAgara Samhita:
 âpancArNAnAm tu pancAnAm vargANAm paramESvarah /
  samsthitah kAdimAntAnAm tattvAtmatvEna sarvadA //â (TattvasAgara Samhita)
{The five groups of consonants, in the Sanskrit alphabet, each containing five 
letters beginning with âkâ and ending with âmâ denote the twenty-five 
tattvas or realities.}
 âbhootAni ca kavargENa cavargENEndriyANi ca /
TavargENa tavargENa j~nAnagandhAvayastathA //
Manah pakArENaivOktam phakArENa tvahamkrutih /
bakArENa bhakArENa mahAn prakrutirucyatE //
AtmA tu sa makArOyam pancavimSah prakeertitah //â (PAdmOttara Samhita, 4-25 
to 27) 
{The five letters in the ka group denote the five elements (bhootas); those in 
the ca group denote the five senses of action (karmEntriyas); those in the ta 
group denote the five tanmAtras (like smell); the pa denotes the mind; the pha 
denotes ahankAra; ba denotes mahat; and the bha denotes prakruti.. The jIvAtamA 
is denoted by the letter âmâ and he is the twenty-fifth tattva or reality.) 
This is illustrated as follows: 
k,kh,g,gh,ng denote the five elements -- ether, air, fire, water and earth. 
c,ch,j,jh,nj denote the five senses of action â hands, feet, the organ of 
speech, the organ of evacuation and the organ of generation.
T,Th,D,Dh,N denote the five senses of knowledge -- eyes, ears, tongue, nose and 
skin.  
t,th,d,dh,n  denote the five tanmAtras -- sound, touch, colour, taste and smell.
p,ph,b,bh,m  denote respectively the mind, ahankAra (ego), mahat, prakruti and 
the jIvAtma.
        Starting from âkâ (kakAram) and ending with âmâ (makAram), the 
syllables represent the 25 tattvas (realities), say the samhitas. The 25th 
principle is the jIvAtma, represented by the syllable, âmâ.   
        Thus, it is now clear that the third syllable, âmâ refers to the 
jIvAtma which is the 25th reality just preceding the 26th tattva, the Ultimate 
Reality, Who is the Parabrahman, SrIman nArAyaNa.  

(To continue)
dAsan
Anbil S.SrInivAsan
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