The Sri Lalitha Sahasranamam was composed by the Vasinyadi Vakdevatas.
We praise Devi as…
bhāṣārūpā-bṛhatsenā-bhāvābhāvavivarjitā
[She who is in the form of language, who has a vast army and she who is beyond being and non-being]
(Sri Lalitha Sahasranama : 678-680)
She is praised as,
nādarūpā
[She who is in the form of sound]
(Sri Lalitha Sahasranama – 299)
She is also praised as,
mātṛkāvarṇarūpiṇī
[She who is in the form of the letters of the alphabet]
(Sri Lalitha Sahasranama – 577)
In Sri Lalitha Sahasranama, Devi is hailed as,
parā
[She who is the supreme, She who transcends all]
(Sri Lalitha Sahasranama – 366)
paśyantī
[She who is pashyanti, the second level of sound after para in the svadhishtana chakra]
(Sri Lalitha Sahasranama – 368)
madhyamā
[She who stays in the middle]
(Sri Lalitha Sahasranama – 370)
vaikharīrūpā
[She who is in the form of vaikharI (sound in the manifested,
audible form)]
(Sri Lalitha Sahasranama – 371)
There are many languages in the world, and it is believed that Lord Parameshwara is the source of them all. In the book “laghu sidhānta kaumudi,” there is a discussion on the origin of language. Lord Parameshwara played the “Damaru”, a small two-headed drum, and divine sounds were produced. Unlike regular instruments, where sounds blend together, the tones from the Damaru were distinct and could be clearly differentiated. It is said that from this Damaru came the māhēsvara sutras, the Sanskrit alphabet sequence, as mentioned in the laghu sidhānta kaumudi.
The māhēsvara sutras are as follows:
1. अ इ उ ण् (a i u ṇ)
2. ऋ ऌ क् (ṛ ḷ k)
3. ए ओ ङ् (e o ṅ)
4. ऐ औ च् (ai au c)
5. ह य व रट् (ha ya va raṭ)
6. ल ण् (la ṇ)
7. ञ म ङ ण न म् (ña ma ṅ ṇa na m)
8. झ भ ञ् (jha bha ñ)
9. घ ढ ध ष् (gha ḍha dha ṣ)
10. ज ब ग ड द श् (ja ba ga ḍa da ś)
11. ख फ छ ठ थ च ट त व् (kha pha cha ṭha tha ca ṭa ta v)
12. क प य् (ka pa ya)
13. श ष स र् (śa ṣa sa r)
14. ह ल् (ha l)
These are the fourteen Sutras that emerged from the Damaru played by Shiva. From these Sutras, the vowels and consonants were formed. We revere Devi as the source of the fifty-one alphabets, including vowels, consonants, and compound letters. These are known as mātṛkāvarṇas, and Devi embodies the mātṛkāvarṇas. Devi is nādarūpini, the embodiment of sound.
As children, before we learned to speak, we expressed our emotions and needs through facial expressions, body gestures, and a few basic sounds. People understood us without the need for spoken words. Eventually, we learned the alphabet, words, and sentences in our native language, and later, progressed to other languages. Over time, we gained the ability to master many different languages.
From the Lalitha Sahasranama, we learn that the origin of sound and language within us is the mūlādhāra (root center cakrā). Just as a tiny seed, as small as a mustard seed, can grow into a large tree, language also evolves in a similar way. The sound that originates in the mūlādhāra, known as parā, is the initial stage of this process, but it is not recognizable to us. This unseen, subtle sound gradually unfolds, just like a seed growing into a plant and eventually a tree.
Our vāsaṉās—the subtle, latent tendencies formed in our mind from previous births—shape the way we express language. This is why one person becomes a scholar, another remains unrefined, and yet another may speak in coarse language. The sound parā gradually transforms into paśyantī, which is like a faint light filtering through the darkness. As this light becomes clearer and stronger, it eventually reaches daylight. Similarly, paśyantī, in its rudimentary form, evolves into madhyamā, located in the aṉāhatā (heart chakra). madhyamā is the intermediate sound between paśyantī, (the subtle form of sound) and vaikharī (the audible sound), which is why it is called the “middle sound.”
The sound then passes through the seven organs of speech: the neck, throat, teeth, glottis, tongue, lips, and nostrils. Some nasal sounds can only be produced with the help of the nostrils, while other sounds require the tongue, throat, or teeth. In total, there are seven places from which sound is produced. The foundation of all languages is built upon fifty-one alphabets. Sanskrit has fifty letters, with the addition of “Ksha,” making it fifty-one. Malayalam also has fifty-one alphabets. Except for Tamil, all South Indian languages share the same number of alphabets, as do many North Indian languages.
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