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Re: The usage of Ka Varga SabdhAs by Swami Desikan in Varadaraja Sthavam

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Vidyasankar Sundaresan • March 14, 1997 


On 13 Mar 1997, V. Sadagopan wrote:

> Dear Devotees of Lord VaradarAjA :
> 
> I mentioned in my earlier posting that Ka sabdham is
> Brahma Sabdham as per Aadhi Sankara. He  has written 

In this connection, here are a few of my observations.

Many upanishads mention that the letter Ka stands for Brahman. Ka also
stands for AkASa among the pancabhUtas. The reason for this is that Ka is
the first in the list of consonants. In Mantrasastra, all consonants are
considered to be denoted by Ka. Therefore, Ka is Brahman, the first. 
Similarly, the vowel "A" is equated with Brahman also, because it is the
first vowel. In recent times, Muttuswami Dikshitar describes Goddess
Kamalamba as "a-ka-ca-Ta-ta-pa-adi varNA" - denoting that all the letters 
of the alphabet are contained in Her. 

Such resonances are important in all Mantras, including the most basic
one, Aum, which also denotes Brahman. Similarly, Aim denotes Vagdevi or
Sarasvati, the Vedamata. Hri, Kri, Kli, Sri etc. denote various aspects of
the Goddesses. These Mantras are a very ancient legacy. E.g. the Purusha
Suktam makes "Hri" the patni of the Purusha.

S. Vidyasankar