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Reference is made in the Text and in this Introduction to Shabda, Varna, Mantra. It is said that the letters (Varna) of the alphabet are distributed throughout the bodily centers on the petals of the lotuses, as is shown on Plates II.-VII. In each of the lotuses there is also a seed Mantra (Bīja) of the Tattva of the center. Kundalinī is both light (Jyotirmayī) and Mantra (Mantramayī),{277} and Mantra is used in the process of rousing Her.

There is perhaps no subject in the Indian Shāstra which is less understood than Mantra and Shabda, of which it is a manifestation. The subject is so important a part of the Tantra-Shāstra that its other title is Mantra-Shāstra. Commonly Orientalists and others describe Mantra as “prayer,” “formulae or worship,” “mystic syllables,” and so forth. These are the superficialities of those who do not know their subject. Whilst I am not aware of any work in any European language which shows a knowledge of Mantra and its science, yet there is perhaps no subject which has been so ridiculed—a not unusual attitude of ignorance. Mantra science may be well founded or not, but even in the latter case it is not the absurdity which some suppose it to be. Those who think so might except Mantras which are prayers, and the meaning of which they understand, for with prayer they are familiar. But such appreciation itself shows a lack of understanding. There is nothing necessarily holy or prayerful about a Mantra. Mantra is a power (Mantrashakti) which lends itself impartially to any use. A man may be injured or killed by Mantra;{278} by Mantra a kind of union with the physical Shakti is by some said to be effected;{279} by Mantra in the initiation called Vedhadīkshā there is such a transference of power from the Guru to the disciple that the latter swoons under the impulse of it;{280} by Mantra the Homa fire may and, according to ideal conditions, should be lighted;{281} by Mantra man is saved, and so forth. Mantra, in short, is a power (Shakti) which is thought-movement vehicled by and expressed in speech. The root “man” means “to think.”

The creative power of thought is now receiving increasing acceptance in the West. Thought-reading, thought-transference, hypnotic suggestion, magical projections (Mokshana), and shields (Grahana),{282} are becoming known and practiced, not always with good results. The doctrine is ancient in India, and underlies the practices to be found in the Tantras, some of which are kept in general concealed to prevent misuse.{283} What, however, is not understood in the West is the particular form of thought-science which is Mantravidyā. Those familiar with the Western presentment of similar subjects will more readily understand{284} when I say that, according to the Indian doctrine here described, thought (like mind, of which it is the operation) is a power or Shakti. It is, therefore, not only as real, but in a sense more real than outer material objects, which are themselves but the projections of the creative thought of the World-thinker. The thought-movement vehicled by and expressed in speech is Mantra.{285} Mantra is the manifested Shabdabrahman.

But what is Shabda or “sound”? Here the Shākta-Tantra Shāstra follows the Mīmāngsā doctrine of Shabda, with such modifications as are necessary to adapt it to its doctrine of Shakti. Sound (Shabda), which is a quality (Guna) of ether (Ākāsha), and is sensed by hearing, is twofold—namely, lettered (Varnātmaka shabda) and unlettered, or Dhvani (Dhvanyātmaka shabda).{286} The latter is caused by the striking of two things together, and is meaningless. Shabda, on the contrary, which is Anāhata (a term applied to the Heart Lotus), is that Brahman sound which is not caused by the striking of two things together. Lettered sound is composed of sentences (Vākya), words (Pada), and letters (Varna). Such sound has a meaning.{287} Shabda manifesting as speech is said to be eternal.{288} This the Naiyāyikas deny, saying that it is transitory. A word is uttered, and it is gone. This opinion the Mīmāngsā denies, saying that the perception of lettered sound must be distinguished from lettered sound itself.{289} Perception is due to Dhvani caused by the striking of the air in contact with the vocal organs—namely, the throat, palate, and tongue. Before there is Dhvani there must be the striking of one thing against another. It is not the mere striking which is the lettered Shabda. This manifests it. The lettered sound is produced by the formation of the vocal organs in contact with air, which formation is in response to the mental movement or idea, which by the will thus seeks outward expression in audible sound.{290} It is this perception which is transitory, for the Dhavni which manifests ideas in language is such. But lettered sound, as it is in itself—that is, as the Consciousness manifesting as idea expressed in speech—is eternal. It was not produced at the moment it was perceived. It was only manifested by the Dhvani. It existed before, as it exists after, such manifestation, just as a jar in a dark room which is revealed by a flash of lightning is not then produced, nor does it cease to exist on its ceasing to be perceived through the disappearance of its manifester, the lightning. The air in contact with the voice organs reveals sound in the form of the letters of the alphabet, and their combinations in words and sentences. The letters are produced for hearing by the effort of the person desiring to speak, and become audible to the ear of others through the operation of unlettered sound or Dhvani. The latter being a manifester only, lettered Shabda is something other than its manifester.

Before describing the nature of Shabda in its different forms of development it is necessary to understand the Indian psychology of perception. At each moment the Jīva is subject to innumerable influences which from all quarters of the universe pour upon him. Only those reach his Consciousness which attract his attention, and are thus selected by his Manas. The latter attends to one or other of these sense impressions, and conveys it to the Buddhi. When an object (Artha) is presented to the mind and perceived, the latter is formed into the shape of the object perceived. This is called a mental Vritti (modification), which it is the object of Yoga to suppress. The mind as a Vritti is thus a representation of the outer object. But in so far as it is such representation the mind is as much an object as the outer one. The latter—that is, the physical object—is called the gross object (Sthūla artha), and the former or mental impression is called the subtle object (Sūkshma artha). But besides the object there is the mind which perceives it. It follows that the mind has two aspects, in one of which it is the perceiver and in the other the perceived in the form of the mental formation (Vritti) which in creation precedes its outer projection, and after the creation follows as the impression produced in the mind by the sensing of a gross physical object. The mental impression and the physical object exactly correspond, for the physical object is, in fact, but a projection of the cosmic imagination, though it has the same reality as the mind has; no more and no less. The mind is thus both cognizer (Grāhaka) and cognized (Grāhya), revealer (Prakāshaka) and revealed (Prakāshya), denoter (Vāchaka) and denoted (Vāchya). When the mind perceives an object it is transformed into the shape of that object. So the mind which thinks of the Divinity which it worships (Īshtadevatā) is at length, through continued devotion, transformed into the likeness of that Devatā. By allowing the Devatā thus to occupy the mind for long it becomes as pure as the Devatā. This is a fundamental principle of Tantrik Sādhanā or religious practice. The object perceived is called Artha, a term which comes from the root “Ri,” which means to get to know, to enjoy. Artha is that which is known, and which therefore is an object of enjoyment. The mind as Artha—that is, in the form of the mental impression—is an exact reflection of the outer object or gross Artha. As the outer object is Artha, so is the interior subtle mental form which corresponds to it. That aspect of the mind which cognizes is called Shabda or Nāma (name), and that aspect in which it is its own object or cognized is called Artha or Rūpa (form). The outer physical object of which the latter is, in the individual, an impression is also Artha or Rūpa, and spoken speech is the outer Shabda. Subject and object are thus from the Mantra aspect Shabda and Artha—terms corresponding to the Vedantic Nāma and Rūpa, or concepts and concepts objectified. As the Vedānta says, the whole creation is Nāma and Rūpa. Mind is the power (Shakti), the function of which is to distinguish and identify (Bhedasangsargavritti Shakti).

Just as the body is causal, subtle, and gross, so is Shabda, of which there are four states (Bhāva), called Parā, Pashyantī, Madhyamā, and Vaikharī—terms further explained in Section V. of this Introduction. Parā sound is that which exists on the differentiation of the Mahābindu before actual manifestation. This is motionless causal Shabda in Kundalinī in the Mūlādhāra center of the body. That aspect of it in which it commences to move with a general—that is, non-particularized—motion (Sāmānya spanda) is Pashyantī, whose place is from the Mūlādhāra to the Manipūra Chakra, the next center. It is here associated with Manas. These represent the motionless and first moving Īshvara aspect of Shabda. Madhyamā sound is associated with Buddhi. It is Hiranyagarbha Shabda (Hiranyagarbharūpa) extending from Pashyantī to the heart. Both Madhyamā sound, which is the inner “naming” by the cognitive aspect of mental movement, as also its Artha or subtle (Sūkshma) object (Artha), belong to the mental or subtle body (Sūkshma or Linga sharīra). Perception is dependent on distinguishing and identification. In the perception of an object that part of the mind which identifies and distinguishes, or the cognizing part, is subtle Shabda, and that part of it which takes the shape of the object (a shape which corresponds with the outer thing) is subtle Artha. The perception of an object is thus consequent on the simultaneous functioning of the mind in its twofold aspect as Shabda and Artha, which are in indissoluble relation with one another as cognizer (Grāhaka) and cognized (Grāhya). Both belong to the subtle body. In creation Madhyamā Shabda first appeared. At that moment there was no outer Artha. Then the cosmic mind projected this inner Madhyamā Artha into the world of sensual experience, and named it in spoken speech (Vaikharī Shabda). The last or Vaikharī Shabda is uttered speech developed in the throat issuing from the mouth. This is Virāt Shabda. Vaikharī Shabda is therefore language or gross lettered sound. Its corresponding Artha is the physical or gross object which language denotes. This belongs to the gross body (Sthūla sharīra). Madhyamā Shabda is mental movement or ideation in its cognitive aspect, and Madhyamā Artha is the mental impression of the gross object. The inner thought-movement in its aspect as Shabdārtha, and considered both in its knowing aspect (Shabda) and as the subtle known object (Artha), belong to the subtle body (Sūkshma sharīra). The cause of these two is the first general movement towards particular ideation (Pashyantī) from the motionless cause, Parashabda, or Supreme Speech. Two forms of inner or hidden speech, causal and subtle, accompanying mind movement thus precede and lead up to spoken language. The inner forms of ideating movement constitute the subtle, and the uttered sound the gross, aspect of Mantra, which is the manifested Shabdabrahman.

The gross Shabda, called Vaikharī or uttered speech, and the gross Artha, or the physical object denoted by that speech, are the projection of the subtle Shabda and Artha through the initial activity of the Shabdabrahman into the world of gross sensual perception. Therefore in the gross physical world Shabda means language—that is, sentences, words, and letters, which are the expression of ideas and are Mantra. In the subtle or mental world Madhyamā Shabda is the mind which “names” in its aspect as cognizer, and Artha is the same mind in its aspect as the mental object of its cognition. It is defined to be the outer in the form of the mind. It is thus similar to the state of dreams (Svapna): as Parashabda is the causal dreamless (Sushupti) and Vaikharī the waking (Jāgrat) state. Mental Artha is a Sangskāra, an impression left on the subtle body by previous experience, which is recalled when the Jīva reawakes to world experience and recollects the experience temporarily lost in the cosmic dreamless state (Sushupti) which is dissolution (Mahāpralaya). What is it which arouses this Sangskāra? As an effect (Kārya) it must have a cause (Kāraka). This Kāraka is the Shabda or name (Nāma), subtle or gross, corresponding to that particular Artha. When the word “Ghata” is uttered this evokes in the mind the image of an object—a jar—just as the presentation of that object does. In the Hiranyagarbha state Shabda as Sangskāra worked to evoke mental images. The whole world is thus Shabda and Artha—that is, name and form (Nāma rūpa). These two are inseparably associated. There is no Shabda without Artha or Artha without Shabda. The Greek word Logos also means thought and word combined. There is thus a double line of creation, Shabda and Artha, ideas and language together with their objects. Speech, as that which is heard, or the outer manifestation of Shabda, stands for the Shabda creation. The Artha creation are the inner and outer objects seen by the mental or physical vision. From the cosmic creative standpoint the mind comes first, and from it is evolved the physical world according to the ripened Sangskāras, which led to the existence of the particular existing universe. Therefore the mental Artha precedes the physical Artha, which is an evolution in gross matter of the former. This mental state corresponds to that of dreams (Svapna) when man lives in the mental world only. After creation, which is the waking (Jāgrat) state, there is for the individual an already existing parallelism of names and objects.

Uttered speech is a manifestation of the inner naming or thought. This thought-movement is similar in men of all races. When an Englishman or an Indian thinks of an object, the image is to both the same, whether evoked by the object itself or by the utterance of its name. Perhaps for this reason a thought-reader whose cerebral center is en rapport with that of another may read the hidden “speech”—that is, the thought of one whose spoken speech he cannot understand. Thus, whilst the thought-movement is similar in all men, the expression of it as Vaikharī Shabda differs. According to tradition, there was once a universal language. According to the Biblical account, this was so before the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel. Similarly in the Rigveda a mysterious passage{291} speaks of the “three fathers and three mothers” by whose action, like that of the Elohim, “all comprehending speech” was made into that which was not so. Nor is this unlikely when we consider that difference in gross speech is due to difference of races evolved in the course of time. If the instruments by, and conditions under, which thought is revealed in speech were the same for all men, then there would be but one language. But now this is not so. Racial characteristics and physical conditions, such as the nature of the vocal organs, climate, inherited impressions, and so forth, differ. Therefore, so also does language. But for each particular man speaking any particular language the uttered name of any object is the gross expression of his inner thought-movement. It evokes that movement and again expresses it. It evokes the idea, and the idea is consciousness as mental operation. That operation can be so intensified as to be itself creative. This is Mantrachaitanya.

From the above account it will be understood that, when it is said that the “letters” are in the six bodily Chakras, it is not to be supposed that it is intended to absurdly affirm that the letters as written shapes, or as the uttered sounds which are heard by the ear, are there. The letters in this sense—that is, as gross things—are manifested only in speech and writing. This much is clear. But the precise significance of this statement is a matter of great difficulty. There is, in fact, no subject which presents more difficulties than Mantravidyā, whether considered generally or in relation to the particular matter in hand. In the first place, one must be constantly on guard against falling into a possible trap—namely, the taking of prescribed methods of realization for actualities in the common sense of that term. The former are conventional, the latter are real. Doubts on this matter are increased by some variations in the descriptive accounts. Thus in some Ganesha is the Devatā of the Mūlādhāra. In the text here translated it is Brahmā. Similarly this Text gives Dākinī in the Mūlādhāra as the Devatā of the Asthi Dhātu (bony substance). When sitting in the prescribed Āsana (posture), the bones are gathered up around this Chakra, and, moreover, from it as the center of the body the bones run up and downwards. Another account, however, given to me places Devī Shākinī here.{292} Mistakes have also to be reckoned with, and can only be ascertained and rectified by a comparison of several MSS.{293} Again, four letters are said to be on the petals of the Mūlādhāra Lotus—namely, Va, Sha, Sha, and Sa. Why are these said to be there? Various statements have been made to me. As there are certain letters which are ascribed to each form of sensible matter (Bhūta), it seems obvious to suggest that the earth letters (Pārthiva varna) are in the earth center. But an examination on this basis does not bear the suggestion out. Next, it is said that the letters have colours, and the letters of a particular color are allocated to the lotuses of the same color. The Text does not support this theory. It has been said that certain letters derive from certain Devatā. But the letters produce the Devatā, for these are the Artha of the Mantra as Shabda. I have been also told that the letters are placed according to their seat of pronunciation (Uchchārana). But it is replied that the Mūlādhāra is the common source of this (Uchchāranasthāna) for all.{294} Again, it is said that the letters on the petals are Bījās of all activities (Kriyā) connected with the Tattva of the center, each letter undergoing variations according to the vowels.{295} All beings in Prithivī (earth) Tattva should be meditated upon in the Mūlādhāra. Here are, therefore (as we might expect), the organs of feet (Pādendriya), the action of walking (Gamanakriyā), smell (Gandha), the quality of Prithivī, the sense of smell (Ghrāna), Nivritti kalā,{296} and Brahmā (Lord of the Tattva). But we are also told that the letters Va, Sha, Sha, and Sa are the Ātmā and Bījas of the four Vedas,{297} of the four Yugas,{298} of the four oceans,{299} which are therefore called Chaturvarnātmaka, or in the self of the four letters. It is true that the four Vedas are in, and issue from, Parashabda, the seat of which is the Mūlādhāra. For Veda in its primary sense is the world as idea in the mind of the creative Brahman, portions of which have been revealed to the Rishis (seers) and embodied in the four Vedas. But why should Va be the seed of the Rigveda, Sha of the Yajurveda, and so forth? The ritual explanation, as given in the Rudrayāmala (xiv. 73, xv. 2, xvi. 1, 2), is that the petal Va is Brahmā (Rajoguna), and is the Bīja of Rik; Sha is Vishnu (Sattvaguna), and Sha, being Pundarīkātmā, is the Bīja of Yajus; Sha is Rudra (Tamoguna), and is the Bīja of Sāma. Sa is the Bīja of Atharva, as it is the Bīja of Shakti.{300} These four are in Parashabda in Mūlādhāra. It seems to me (so far as my studies in the Shāstra have yet carried me) that the details of the descriptions of the centers are of two kinds. There are, firstly, certain facts of objective and universal reality. Thus, for example, there are certain centers (Chakra) in the spinal column. The principle of solidity (Prithivī Tattva) is in the lowest of such centers, which as the center of the body contains the static or potential energy called Kundalī Shakti. The center as a lotus is said to have four petals, because of the formation and distribution of the Yoga-nerves{301} (Nādī) at that particular point. Solidity is denoted aptly by a cube, which is the diagram (Yantra) of that center. The consciousness of that center as Devatā is also aptly borne on an elephant, the massive solidity of which is emblematical of the solid earth principle (Prithivī). The forces which go to the making of solid matter may by the Yogī be seen as yellow. It may be that particular substances (Dhātu) of the body and particular Vritti (qualities) are connected with particular Chakras, and so forth.

There are, however, another class of details which have possibly only symbolical reality, and which are placed before the Sādhaka for the purposes of instruction and meditation only.{302} The letters as we know them—that is, as outer speech—are manifested only after passing through the throat. They cannot therefore exist as such in the Chakras. But they are said to be there. They are there, not in their gross, but in their subtle and causal forms. It is these subtle forms which are called Mātrikā. But as such forms they are Shabda of and as ideating movements, or are the cause thereof. Consciousness, which is itself (Svarūpa) soundless (Nihshabda), in its supreme form (Parashabda) assumes a general undifferentiated movement (Sāmānya spanda), then a differentiated movement (Vishesha spanda), issuing in clearly articulate speech (Spashtatara spanda). The inner movement has outer correspondence in that issuing from the lips by the aid of Dhvani. This is but the Mantra way of saying that the homogeneous Consciousness moves as Shakti, and appears as subject (Shabda) and object (Artha) at first in the subtle form of mind and its contents generated by the Sangskāras, and then in the gross form of language as the expression of ideas and of physical objects (Artha), which the creative or cosmic mind projects into the world of sensual experience to be the source of impressions to the individual experiencer therein. It is true that in this sense the letters, as hidden speech or the seed of outer speech, are in the Chakras, but the allocation of particular letters to particular Chakras is a matter which, if it has a real and not merely symbolical significance, is explained in my “Shakti and Shāktā.”

In each of the Chakras there is also a Bīja (seed) Mantra of each of the Tattvas therein. They are the seed of the Tattva, for the latter springs from and re-enters the former. The natural name of anything is the sound which is produced by the action of the moving forces which constitute it. He therefore, it is said, who mentally and vocally utters with creative force the natural name of anything brings into being the thing which bears that name. Thus “Ram” is the Bīja of fire in the Manipūra chakra. This Mantra “Ram” is said to be the expression in gross sound (Vaikharī Shabda) of the subtle sound produced by the activity of, and which is, the subtle “fire” force. The same explanation is given as regards “Lam” in the Mūlādhāra, and the other Bījas in the other Chakras. The mere utterance,{303} however, of “Ram” or any other Mantra is nothing but a movement of the lips. When, however, the Mantra is “awakened”{304} (Prabuddha)—that is, when there is Mantra—chaitanya (Mantra-consciousness)—then the Sādhaka can make the Mantra work. Thus in the case cited the Vaikharī Shabda, through its vehicle Dhvani, is the body of a power of consciousness which enables the Mantrin to become the Lord of Fire.{305} However this may be, in all cases it is the creative thought which ensouls the uttered sound which works now in man’s small magic, just as it first worked in the grand magical display of the World-creator. His thought was the aggregate, with creative power, of all thought. Each man is Shiva, and can attain His power to the degree of his ability to consciously realize himself as such. For various purposes the Devatās are invoked. Mantra and Devatā are one and the same. A Mantra-Devatā is Shabda and Artha, the former being the name, and the latter the Devatā whose name it is. By practice with the Mantra (Japa) the presence of the Devatā is invoked. Japa or repetition of Mantra is compared to the action of a man shaking a sleeper to wake him up. The two lips are Shiva and Shakti. Their movement is the coition (Maithuna) of the two. Shabda which issues thereform is in the nature of Bindu. The Devatā thus produced is, as it were, the “son” of the Sādhaka. It is not the Supreme Devatā (for it is actionless) who appears, but in all cases an emanation produced by the Sādhaka for his benefit only.{306} In the case of worshippers of Shiva a Boy-Shiva (Bāla Shiva) appears, who is then made strong by the nurture which the Sādhaka gives to his creation. The occultist will understand all such symbolism to mean that the Devatā is a form of the consciousness of the pure Sādhaka which the latter arouses and strengthens, and gains good thereby. It is his consciousness which becomes the boy Shiva, and which when strengthened the full-grown Divine power itself. All Mantras are in the body as forms of consciousness (Vijnāna rūpa). When the Mantra is fully practiced it enlivens the Sangskāra, and the Artha appears to the mind. Mantras are thus a form of the Sangskāra of Jīvas, the Artha of which manifest to the consciousness which is pure. The essence of all this is—concentrate and vitalize thought and will power. But for such a purpose a method is necessary—namely, language and determined varieties of practice according to the end sought. These Mantravidyā, which explains what Mantra is, also enjoins. For thought, words (gross or subtle) are necessary. Mantravidyā is the science of thought and of its expression in language.

The causal state of Shabda is called Shabdabrahman—that is, the Brahman as the cause of Shabda and Artha. The unmanifest (Avyakta) power or Shabda, which is the cause of manifested Shabda and Artha, uprises on the differentiation of the Supreme Bindu from Prakriti in the form of Bindu through the prevalence of Kriyā shakti.{307} Avyakta Rava or Shabda (unmanifest sound) is the principle of sound as such (Nāda mātra)—that is, undifferentiated sound not specialized in the form of letters, but which is, through creative activity, the cause of manifested Shabda and Artha.{308} It is the Brahman considered as all-pervading Shabda, undivided, unmanifested, whose substance is Nāda and Bindu, the proximate creative impulse in Parashiva and proximate cause of manifested Shabda and Artha.{309} It is the eternal partless Sphota{310} which is not distinguished into Shabda and Artha, but is the Power by which both exist and are known. Shabdabrahman is thus the kinetic ideating aspect of the undifferentiated Supreme Consciousness of philosophy, and the Sagunabrahma of religion. It is Chit-shakti vehicled by undifferentiated Prakriti-shakti—that is, the creative aspect of the one Brahman who is both transcendent and formless (Nirguna), and immanent and with form (Saguna).{311} As the Hathayogapradīpikā says:{312} “Whatever is heard in the form of sound is Shakti. The absorbed state (Laya) of the Tattvas (evolutes of Prakriti) is that in which no form exists.{313} So long as there is the notion of ether, so long is sound heard. The soundless is called Parabrahman or Paramātmā.”{314} Shabdabrahman thus projects itself for the purpose of creation into two sets of movement—namely, firstly, the Shabda (with mental vibrations of cognition) which, passing through the vocal organs, become articulate sound; and, secondly, Artha movements denoted by Shabda in the form of all things constituting the content of mind and the objective world. These two are emanations from the same conscious activity (Shakti) which is the Word (Logos), and are in consequence essentially the same. Hence the connection between the two are permanent. It is in the above sense that the universe is said to be composed of the letters. It is the fifty{315} letters of the Sanskrit alphabet which are denoted by the garland of severed human heads which the naked{316} mother, Kālī, dark like a threatening rain-cloud, wears as She stands amidst bones and carrion beasts and birds in the burning-ground on the white corpse-like (Shavarūpa) body of Shiva. For it is She who “slaughters”—that is, withdraws all speech and its objects into Herself at the time of the dissolution of all things (Mahāpralaya).{317} Shabdabrahman is the consciousness (Chaitanya) in all creatures. It assumes the form of Kundalī, and abides in the body of all breathing creatures (Prānī), manifesting itself by letters in the form of prose and verse.{318} In the sexual symbolism of the Shākta Tantras, seed (Bindu){319} issued upon the reversed union{320} of Mahākāla and Mahākālī, which seed, ripening in the womb of Prakriti, issued as Kundalī in the form of the letters (Akshara). Kundalī as Mahāmātrikāsundarī has fifty-one coils, which are the Mātrīkās or subtle forms of the gross letters or Varna which is the Vaikharī form of the Shabda at the centers. Kundalī when with one coil is Bindu; with two, Prakriti-Purusha; with three, the three Shaktis (Ichchhā, Jnāna, Kriyā) and three Gunas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas); with the three and a half She is then actually creative with Vikriti; with four She is the Devī Ekajatā, and so on to Shrīmātrikotpattisundarī with fifty-one coils.{321} In the body, unmanifested Parashabda is in Kundalī Shakti. That which first issues from it is in the lowest Chakra, and extends upwards through the rest as Pashyantī, Madhyamā, and Vaikhari Shabda. When Shakti first “sees”{322} She is Paramakalā{323} in the mother form (Ambikārūpā), which is supreme speech (Parāvāk) and supreme peace (Parama shāntā). She “sees” the manifested Shabda from Pashyantī to Vaikharī. The Pashyantī{324} state of Shabda is that in which Ichchhā Shakti (will) in the form of a goad{325} (Angkushākāra) is about to display the universe, then in seed (Bīja) form. This is the Shakti Vāmā.{326} Madhyamā Vāk, which is Jnāna (knowledge), and in form of a straight line (Rijurekhā), is Jyeshthā Shakti. Here there is the first assumption of form as the Mātrikā (Mātrikātvam upapannā), for here is particular motion (Vishesha Spanda). The Vaikharī state is that of Kriyā Shakti, who is the Devi Raudrī, whose form is triangular{327} and that of the universe. As the former Shakti produces the subtle letters or Mātrikā which are the Vāsanā,{328} so this last is the Shakti of the gross letters of words and their objects.{329} These letters are the garland of the Mother issuing from Her in Her form as Kundalī Shakti, and absorbed by Her in the Kundalī-yoga here described.