TEXT 47
sparsas tasyabhavaj jivah
svaro deha udahrta
usmanam indriyany ahur
antah-stha balam atmanah
svarah sapta viharena
bhavanti sma prajapateh
SYNONYMS
sparsahthe set of letters from ka to ma; tasyahis; abhavatbecame; jivahthe soul; svarahvowels; dehahhis body; udahrtahare expressed; usmanamthe letters sa, sa, sa and ha; indriyanithe senses; ahuhare called; antah-sthahthe set of letters so known (ya, ra, la and va); balamenergy; atmanahof his self; svarahmusic; saptaseven; viharenaby the sensual activities; bhavanti smabecame manifested; prajapatehof the lord of the living entities.
TRANSLATION
Brahmas soul was manifested as the touch alphabets, his body as the vowels, his senses as the sibilant alphabets, his strength as the intermediate alphabets and his sensual activities as the seven notes of music.
PURPORT
In Sanskrit there are thirteen vowels and thirty-five consonants. The vowels are a, a, i, i, u, u, r, r, l, e, ai, o, au, and the consonants are ka, kha, ga, gha, etc. Amongst the consonants, the first twenty-five letters are called the sparsas. There are also four antah-sthas. Of the usmas there are three ss, called talavya, murdhanya and dantya. The musical notes are sa, r, ga, ma, dha, and ni. All these sound vibrations are originally called sabda-brahma, or spiritual sound. It is said, therefore, that Brahma was created in the Maha-kalpa as the incarnation of spiritual sound. The Vedas are spiritual sound, and therefore there is no need of material interpretation as they are, although they are symbolically represented with letters which are known to us materially. In the ultimate issue there is nothing material because everything has its origin in the spiritual world. The material manifestation is therefore called illusion in the proper sense of the term. For those who are realized souls there is nothing but spirit.

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