The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 1 of 4: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and PhilosophyBlavatsky, H. P. (Helena Petrovna)
Religion
The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 1 of 4: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy
Blavatsky, H. P. (Helena Petrovna)
Theosophy
In the _Anugîtâ_,(164) a conversation is given between a Brâhmana and his
wife on the origin of Speech and its Occult properties. The wife asks how
Speech came into existence, and which was prior to the other, Speech or
Mind. The Brâhmana tells her that the Apâna (_inspirational __ breath_)
becoming lord, changes that intelligence, which does not understand Speech
or Words, into the state of Apâna, and thus opens the Mind. Thereupon he
tells her a story, a dialogue between Speech and Mind. Both went to the
Self of Being (_i.e._, to the individual Higher Self, as Nîlakantha
thinks; to Prajâpati, according to the commentator Arjuna Mishra), and
asked him to destroy their doubts, and decide which of them preceded and
was superior to the other. To this the Lord said: “Mind (is superior).”
But Speech answered the Self of Being, by saying: “I verily yield (you)
your desires,” meaning that by Speech he acquired what he desired.
Thereupon again, the Self told her that there are two Minds, the “movable”
and the “immovable.” “The immovable is with me,” he said, “the movable is
in your dominion” (_i.e._ of Speech), on the plane of matter. “To that you
are superior.”
But inasmuch, O beautiful one, as you came personally to speak to
me (in the way you did, _i.e._ proudly), therefore, O Sarasvatî!
you shall never speak after (hard) exhalation. The goddess Speech
[Sarasvatî, a later form or aspect of Vâch, the goddess also of
secret learning, or Esoteric Wisdom], verily, dwelt always between
the Prâna and the Apâna. But, O noble one! going with the Apâna
wind [vital air], though impelled, ... without the Prâna
[expirational breath], she ran up to Prajâpati [Brahmâ], saying,
“Be pleased, O venerable sir!” Then the Prâna appeared again
nourishing Speech. And, therefore, Speech never speaks after
(hard) exhalation. It is always noisy or noiseless. Of these two,
the noiseless is the superior to the noisy (Speech).... The
(Speech) which is produced in the body by means of the Prâna, and
which then goes [is transformed] into Apâna and then becoming
assimilated with the Udâna [physical organs of Speech] ... then
finally dwells in the Samâna [“at the navel in the form of sound,
as the material cause of all words,” says Arjuna Mishra]. So
Speech formerly spoke. Hence the Mind is distinguished by reason
of its being immovable, and the Goddess (Speech) by reason of her
being movable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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