A sádhaka, a spiritual aspirant, should be just like a soldier. He is a soldier, because his intuitional practice is nothing but a fight, a fight against all depraving tendencies. So you should also follow a particular code of discipline.

Shástra. What is shástra? This code of discipline is being prescribed by the shástra. Shásanát tárayet yastu sah shástrah parikiirtitah – “That which helps the sádhaka in attaining that supreme stance of salvation by prescribing the code of discipline and the code of spiritual cult is called shástra.” Now, the shástras say:

Prańavo dhanuh sharohyátmá Brahma tallakśyamucyate;
Apramattena veddhavyaḿ sharavattanmayo bhavet.

[The prańava (as regards spiritual practice, one’s meditation mantra) is like a bow, one’s unit consciousness is like an arrow, and Brahma is the target. One must aim without any inaccuracy and must oneself be like an arrow.]

“For this sádhaka, for this soldier-in-the-realm-of-spirituality, his bow should be” – what? – “the prańava dhvani [prańava sound]. Prańava should be his dhanu [bow].” What is prańava? It is a Sanskrit word – pra prefix, nu root verb, al suffix – prańava. “That which helps you in reaching a particular place is prańava.” That very thing, that very incantation, that helps you in reaching your goal, reaching the final, the culminating, point of all human destinies, is prańava. For a sádhaka, his personal incantation, his own Iśt́a mantra, is prańava, and in a general sense this word prańava is used for oṋḿkára also. Because this oṋḿkára, the sound oṋḿkára, emanates from the Supreme Nucleus of this Cosmological order; and so the sádhaka, the man who comes in contact with that divine sound, certainly reaches the goal, the source of the sound. He who comes in contact with the Ganges is sure to come in contact with Gauṋgottarii from where the Gauṋgá starts.

Prańava. Another name of prańava is oṋḿkára. It is a combination of three sounds – the first one is a, the second one is u, and the third one is ma. A-u-ma. A is the acoustic root of creation.

Whenever something is done, that action is represented by a certain sound, colour and several other inferences. You are laughing – the sound há-há-há-há is created. Now, that vibration há-há-há-há is the acoustic root of your action of laughing. Do you follow? You are walking – the sound khat́-khat́-khat́-khat́-khat́-khat́ is created. This sound khat́-khat́-khat́-khat́ is the acoustic root of your action of walking. So “acoustic root” means actional, functional representative of the vibration. So when the Macrocosm, when the Macrocosmic Self, creates something, certainly during the phase of creation a certain sound is created. He creates, He creates in His mind, and because He is creating, vibrations are also created. When you create an action, and vibrations are created, certainly sounds are also created. And the sound of creation, the sound created during His phase of creation, during the phase when He creates the universe, is the sound a. Just as há-há-há-há is the acoustic root of laughing, similarly a, the first letter a, is the acoustic root of creating. So when the Supreme Father creates this universe, the sound a is created.

So a is the first letter of our Tántrika varńamálá [Tantric alphabet]. What is the first letter? A. A is the first vowel and first letter. Now I think you have understood why a is the first letter and why not ka or i? But a babe of primary school will not understand these things. If, when he first comes in contact with a in his life, he asks his teacher why a is the first letter, then it will be very difficult to make him understand.

Then after creation, what will be His second action, what will be the second phase in this realm of creation? To maintain, to preserve, to nourish, to serve the created beings. After creation, after the birth of the child, what is the duty of the mother? To feed the babe. So to maintain is the second phase of creation. Now, the acoustic root of this action of maintaining, action of serving, action of preserving, is u. A then u.

And after that, the last phase is destruction. The last phase of this Cosmological order is destruction. And the acoustic root of this function of destruction is ma. Hence ma is the last letter of the vargiiya varńamálá [portion of alphabet composed of phonetic groups]. The last varga [phonetic group] is pa-pha-ba-bha-ma. Ma is the last letter of the vargiiya varńamálá. After that is antahstha varńa [semi-vowel letters], ya-ra-la-va. Not vargiiya varńa [phonetic-group letters].

A plus u. As per the Sanskrit sandhi [transition] rule, a plus u becomes o. So a plus u and ma become oṋm. Oṋm represents the entire system of creation – creation, maintenance and destruction – that is, the combination of all the waves of this Cosmological order is oṋm. Oṋm represents the universe.

When the Supreme Brahma creates the universe, He creates the sound a. Brahma means “the Great”. And in the creating phase, He creates the sound a. Then Brahma plus a – what will be the result as per the Sanskrit grammatical rule? Brahma plus a becomes Brahmá. A plus a is equal to á. Brahmá. Hence the progenitor of the first phase of creation is called Brahmá. Brahmá, Viśńu, Maheshvara.

And while He maintains, while He preserves, He is called Viśńu, And while He destroys, He is called Saḿhartá, Maheshvara. So God the Creator, God the Operator, and God the Destructor. So in the first phase He is the Creator, He is the Generator. What is the first letter of “generator”? “G.” Then in the second phase He is the Operator. What is the first letter of “operator”? “O.” Then He is the Destructor. What is the first letter of “destructor”? “D.” G-O-D, “God.”

So Prańava dhanu. For that spiritual soldier, his bow should be prańava, His own Iśt́a mantra should be the bow. Prańava dhanu.

And sharohyátmá. His “I” feeling, “I am” – this sense, the pure “I” feeling – should be the arrow. Prańavo dhanuh sharohyátmá – “His “I” feeling should be the arrow.”

And Brahma tallakśyamucyate. A soldier with bow and arrow has got one target. Now, “that target is the Cosmic Father, that target is Brahma, his object of ideation.”

Apramattena veddhavyaḿ. And this arrow will pierce through the target. When? “When the soldier is apramatta.” Apramatta means “not pramatta”. What is pramatta? He who has committed mistakes, committed blunders, in the very beginning, and he who is committing mistakes throughout the phase of activity, and he who is committing mistakes even in the last stage, is called pramatta. And a sádhaka, a spiritual soldier, should be apramatta. Only in that case will his “I” feeling (his “I” feeling is the arrow) reach, come in contact with, the Supreme Self. He will attain the stance of salvation.

This is the order, this is the prescription, of the shástra. You are all sádhakas, you must remember these things.

Kalyáńamastu [“Let there be welfare”].