sound, the world proceeds.”^49 L. P. Singh writes that each letter of m ̄atÓrka ̄
varÓnais living energy: “They are the acoustic root of the different waves
and vibrations of the cosmos. These letters are the representative sonoric
manifestations of the universe.”^50
A b ̄ıja-mantrais a mystic symbol ending with a nasal sound, writ-
ten in Sanskrit’s Devan ̄agar ̄ı script with the sign called anusv ̄ara:a dot
above the syllable. The anusvara ̄ is transliterated by an mwith a dot ei-
ther above or beneath it:m/ ̇ m. Sometimes an alternate symbol is used:Ó
the anun ̄asika, which means ‘through the nose. The anun ̄asikais also
called candrabindu, ‘dot within a moon’: (
̆
·). The sound indicated by
these signs is pronounced somewhat like the -ng- in the English word
finger, or song. When intoning b ̄ıja-mantras, the nasal ending is not pro-
nounced as an msound, at the lips, but is “sounded nasally, high up in
the bridge of the nose.”^51 This is why mantraswritten in Roman translit-
eration sometimes end with -nginstead of m. Basically, a b ̄ıja-mantra ̄
consists of a single nasalized seed-sound, but compounds such as HÓr ̄ım
and AimÓ are also called b ̄ıjas.
B ̄ıja-mantrasserve as supports for meditation, and as the sadhaka ̄
progresses, their sounds, and their written forms on specific petals of the
cakras, are said to become perceptible by mystical or supra-empirical
hearing and vision. Omor Aumis written , with stylistic variations.
Aumis the seed-sound of the sixth cakra,in the region between the eyes,
and its ending is a labial msound. Omk ̄ara, the primordial sound Om, is
said to be heard spontaneously when the kuÓnÓdalin ̄ı rises and opens the
‘inner vision’ of this ‘third eye.’^52 The location of the b ̄ıja-mantrasat the
various cakrasis not arbitrary, but expresses a precise physiocosmic cor-
respondence: The fifty primordial sounds (the forty-nine + kÓsam)have
points of resonance within particular regions of the body. For a simple
demonstration, chant the fourth cakra’s seed-sound yaÓm, and the b ̄ıja-
petal sounds kam, khaÓ m, gaÓ m, ghaÓ mÓ , and so on. Compare the vibration
in the area of the fourth cakra, the heart region, against the locus of vi-
bration of ham,Ó the seed-sound of the fifth cakrain the throat region (its
b ̄ıja-petal sounds begin with vowels: amÓ a ̄m, iÓ m Ó ̄ım,Ó and so on).
Mantra’s efficacy depends in part on the fact that, correctly recited,
mantrascan ‘become’ what they represent:
Each god, for example, and each degree of sanctity have a b ̄ıja-mantra,
a “mystical sound” which is their “seed,” their “support”—that is, their
very being. By repeating this b ̄ıja-mantrain accordance with the rules,
the practitioner appropriates its ontological essence, concretely and di-
rectly assimilates the god, the state of sanctity, etc.^53AU:redrew art as lines were too light for such a great reductiontantra and aesthetic therapeutics 151