Akshara

{{further|Shiksha#Sound and alphabet}}

The akshara is the unit of graphemic symbols in the Brahmic scripts. An akshara is more a syllable-like unit for writing which requires the knowledge of syllables and the matra, i.e. the measure of prosodic marking. In writing it prototypically stands for CV, CVV, CCV, CCVV, CCCV, CCCVV, V and VV where "C" stands for a consonant, "V" for a vowel and "VV" for a long vowel. It is usually a sub-syllabic representation which stands for onset, onset plus nucleus and nucleus alone; the coda part of a syllable goes into the next akshara in a word.{{Cite book |last1=Joshi |first1=R. Malatesha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n_ecDwAAQBAJ&dq=akshara+brahmic+script&pg=PA46 |title=Handbook of Literacy in Akshara Orthography |last2=McBride |first2=Catherine |date=2019-06-11 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-05977-4 |pages=46 |language=en}}

Its nature favours the phonological mediation i.e. the non-lexical strategy of reading, which may be interpreted in stages such as the "Visual Analysis System" and proceeding to the "Aksara Recognition System" and then to the "Aksara sound Conversion System" and the "Phonological Assembly System" before ending with the "Response Buffer" prior to reading aloud.{{clarify|date=March 2013}}{{dubious|date=March 2013}}{{cite book|title=Psychology in India Vol.1|author=Misra|date=September 2009|publisher=Pearson Education India|page=125|isbn=9788131717448|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_Fy0hsJKA0YC&q=Aksara&pg=PA125}}

As part of basic instructions of Shiksha and Sanskrit grammar, it is explained that among the Word-entities, both, Aksara and Brahman stand out as especially important because both refer to a special form of ritual word. In the Brahmanas and the Upanishads both come to mean the Absolute. Aksara is a part of the Sacred Word "Om" and possesses a unique and intensified power and dignity. In the Upanishads, in a condensed and intensified form, it signifies the transcendent Principle of all that exists. Its significance is derived from its role as a "syllable", the essential and embryonic core of speech.{{cite book |author=Arij A.Roest Crollius |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=st7fbeSCsxwC&q=Aksara&pg=PA185 |title=Word in Experience |publisher=Gregorian Biblical Workshop |year=1974 |isbn=9788876524752 |pages=183–5}}

The eighth brahmana of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad focuses on the concept of the imperishable (akshara). Verse 3.8.8-9 describe akshara having certain qualities. It is neither physical nor subtle, and it is not defined by physical characteristics such as size, length, or physical traits like blood or fat. It exists beyond shadows, darkness, air, and space, untouched by sensory experiences like taste, smell, sight, or hearing. It does not possess attributes like speech, mind, energy, breath, and form. Akshara is immeasurable, existing without internal or external elements, and is neither a consumer nor consumed. Akshara governs the universe and influences various aspects of existence including the sun, moon, earth, sky, time, rivers, human behavior, and the dependence of gods and ancestors on ritual offerings.{{Cite book |last=Paul Deussen |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.191073 |title=Sixty Upanisads Of The Veda -part- Ist |date=1905 |pages=463}}{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/TheEarlyUpanisads |title=The Early Upaniṣads in Sanskrit and English Parallel Texts |pages=91}} Verse 3.8.10 emphasizes the significance of understanding this imperishable:

{{Blockquote|text=Without knowing this imperishable, Gargi, even if a man were to make offerings, to offer sacrifices, and to perform austerities in this world for many thousands of years, all that would come to naught. Pitiful is the man, Gargi, who departs from this world without knowing this imperishable.|author=Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Chapter 3, Brahmanam 8, Hymn 10}}

The Mandukya Upanishad divides the syllable Aum into three morae (sound units) and a fourth, silent part, known as turiya. It teaches that only the silent part, beyond the three states of consciousness (wakefulness, dream, and deep sleep), is ultimately real. This silent part, linked to akshara, corresponds to Atman, the eternal self.{{cite book|title=A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy|author=Ramachandra Dattatrya Ranade|author-link=Ramachandra Dattatrya Ranade|year=1968|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|place=Mumbai|page=246|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sE8pAAAAYAAJ&q=A+constructive+survey+of+Upanishadic+philosophy}}

In Mundaka Upanishad verses 1.1.3-7, Aksara is discussed in the context of the higher knowledge. The lower knowledge (apara vidya) includes knowledge of four Vedas, phonetics, grammar, etymology, meter, astrology, and the knowledge of sacrifices and rituals.{{Cite book |last=Robert Ernest Hume |url=http://archive.org/details/thirteenprincipa028442mbp |title=The Thirteen Principal Upanishads |date=1921 |publisher=Oxford University Press |others=Universal Digital Library}} The higher knowledge (para vidya) is the means by which one can comprehend the imperishable (Aksara, Brahman).{{Cite book |last=Paul Deussen |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.191073 |title=Sixty Upanisads Of The Veda -part- Ist |date=1905 |pages=572}}

{{Blockquote|text=But the higher knowledge is that through which that imperishable one (aksaram) is known|author=Mundaka Upanishad, 1.1.5}}

Madhavananda, in his commentary on the Brahmopanishad belonging to the Atharvaveda, explains that, as per the Mundaka Upanishad I.7 and II.1-2, the term Aksara signifies Brahman in Its aspect of the manifesting principle. Pippalada suggests that this manifesting Brahman is the thread (Sutram) to be worn instead of the sacrificial thread on the body which should be discarded.{{cite book|title=Minor Upanishads|author=Swami Madhavananda|author-link=Madhavananda|publisher=Advaita Ashrama|page=11|url=https://www.advaitaashrama.org/Book/Detail/215|access-date=2013-02-17|archive-date=2018-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727084701/https://www.advaitaashrama.org/Book/Detail/215|url-status=dead}}

Aksara means one who is present everywhere, denotes the name of Shiva and Vishnu, and also that of Brahman, literally it means imperishable, indestructible. Every ritual and fire offering detailed in the Veda is impermanent. In contrast, the term Aum remains everlasting and is called Aksara, the symbol of God, who is the lord of all created things. It is a descriptive synonym of Brahman (Bhagavad Gita VIII.3), who is said to have arisen from Aksara (Bhagavad Gita III.15).{{cite book|title=Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World:Ak-Aq|author=Ganga Ram Garg|year=1992|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|pages=308–9|isbn=9788170223757|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WjDcd0cTFxQC&pg=PA309}}

With regard to Vallabha’s view of Aum it is said that Aksara itself is imperishable and appears as souls endowed with Sat and Chit but not as Ananda.{{cite book|title=The Bhagavad Gita:Translation and Commentary|author=Veeraswamy Krishnaraj|year=2002|publisher=iUniverse|page=387|isbn=9780595226788|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wI4lNMh50XgC&pg=PA387}} For Vallabha, Ananda, which is the first manifestation of God, is the actualisation of the absolute identity and selfness, whereas the second manifestation of God is the Aksara, the impersonal ground from which all determinations arise because it is the substratum of all finite forms that pre-exist but issue forth from it which though by itself is the intermediate form that lacks plenitude.{{cite book|title=Synthesizing the Vedanta:The Theory of Johanns Sj|year=2006|publisher=Peter Lang|page=246|isbn=9783039107087|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-S7DJLnkwG4C&pg=PA246}}

In verses 15.16 and 15.17, Purushottam is explained as being above kshar and akshar. There are two types of beings within the world: kshar and akshar. All those bound by maya are kshar, whereas the one who is unchanging - forever beyond maya - is akshar. The supreme being is distinct from kshar and akshar. He is called Paramatman.{{Cite book |last=Paramtattvadas |first=Sadhu |title=An introduction to Swaminarayan Hindu theology |last2=Paramtattvadas |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-15867-2 |location=New York |pages=168}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Indian philosophy|state=collapsed}}

Category:Vedanta

Category:Sanskrit grammar

Category:Sanskrit words and phrases

Category:Yoga

Category:Orthography