Śikshā in the Agni Purāṇa
Śikshā, “the science of the sounds of the Veda”
Śikshā is the first of the six Vedāṅgas, the study of the sounds of the Vedic mantras: how each is pronounced, the accent and the intonation. Its purpose is the exact recitation of the Vedic mantras, since even a small change in sound could change their meaning or their power. It teaches the correct way to form each sound, the length of vowels and the right accent: udātta (raised), anudātta (not raised) and svarita (falling). In the Agni Purāṇa, Agni Deva gives a whole chapter to śikshā, the science of pronouncing the sounds of the Veda, and that teaching is given here.
The sixty-four varṇas
The varṇas (sounds or letters) number sixty-three, or sixty-four. Of them, twenty-one are svaras (vowels), twenty-five are sparśas (stops), eight are ya and the sounds that follow it, and four are yamas. With the anusvāra, the visarga, the dependent jihvāmūlīya and upadhmānīya, and the duḥspṛshṭa lakāra they make sixty-three; with the pluta lakāra they make sixty-four.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 336
How speech arises
Agni Deva tells how speech arises. The ātmā, weighing things with the buddhi, joins with the manas through the wish to speak. The manas strikes the jaṭharāgni, the fire in the belly, and that fire stirs the vāyu. The prāṇa-vāyu, moving in the heart, makes the low (mandra) svara, which serves the morning soma rite (prātaḥsavana) and rests on the Gāyatrī metre. Moving in the throat, it makes the middle (madhyama) svara, joined with the midday savana. Reaching the head, it makes the high (ucca) svara, which rests on the Jagatī metre and serves the evening savana. Rising to the crown, it reaches the places in the mouth and throat and brings forth the varṇas.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 336
The five marks and the eight places of sound
The varṇas are known in five ways: by svara (pitch), kāla (length), sthāna (place), ābhyantara prayatna (inner effort) and bāhya prayatna (outer effort). Svara is of three kinds, udātta, anudātta and svarita. By length a sound is hrasva (short), dīrgha (long) or pluta (prolonged). There are eight places of sound: the chest, the throat, the head, the root of the tongue, the teeth, the nose, the lips and the palate.
- a and ha come from the throat; ha joined with the nasals or with ya, ra, la or va comes from the chest.
- i, the ca-varga, ya and śa come from the palate.
- u and the pa-varga come from the lips.
- ṛ, the ṭa-varga, ra and sha come from the head.
- ḷ, the ta-varga, la and sa come from the teeth.
- va comes from the teeth and lips.
- e and ai come from the throat and palate; o and au from the throat and lips. In e, ai, o and au there is half a mātrā of the throat-sound a.
The vowels are open (aspṛshṭa); ya, va, ra and la are slightly touched; śa, sha, sa and ha are half touched; the other consonants are touched; and the nasals are sounded through the nose. The ayogavāhas take the place of the sound they rest on. When u follows and o is formed by joining, that o ends in a vowel (svarānta); an o formed in another way at a sandhi is one of the ways of the ūshman (sibilant) sounds.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 336
Who pronounces rightly
Agni Deva also says who pronounces the varṇas rightly: one who does not eat improper food, is not hanging-lipped, does not speak indistinctly or through the nose, and has no choked throat and no tongue-tie. The varṇas must never be sounded indistinctly or squeezed. Veda learned from a bad guru is burnt and dry; one who drags the syllables this way and that and then gives the meaning has “eaten up” the Veda (bhakshita). Learning from a good guru is auspicious, and Veda study with good svara and a good mouth is radiant. One who uses the varṇas well is honoured in Brahmaloka.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 336
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 336