Text 4.8 (Commentary)

[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 4.8]

The syllable A itself, which diversely appears.
Subsumes all things in forty-two
Consonantal and vocalic syllables, beginning with KA—
The manifestly perfect king itself is ascertained. [8] ...

[Tibetan]

a-nyid sna-tshogs-par snang-ba'i /
ka la-sogs-pa bzhi-bcu-gnyis /
sgra-yi ming-gis thams-cad bsdus /
mngon-rdzogs rgyal-po de-nyid nges / [8]

Commentary:

The syllable A itself (A-nyid), the source of all syllables, has a nature which diversely appears (sna-tshogs-par snang-ba'i) through conditions in the forms of the syllables. As previously explained, the syllable I emerges through the upward contraction of the basic syllable A, and U emerges from its downward contraction. From these three (basic syllables), E emerges through the conjunction of A and I; and O emerges through the conjunction of A and U; making five vowels in all. Then there is the syllable Ṛ which emerges through retroflexion and the syllable L which emerges through lateral action. These (seven) vowels also come to number fourteen through their subdivision into skillful means and discriminative awareness (i.e. long and short forms). Collectively they are known as A-li (the "vowels")—the syllable I clearly Indicative of skillful means and the syllable A clearly indicative of discriminative awareness.

The syllable A may itself be enunciated dependent on the throat, the palate, the tip of the tongue, the teeth, and the lips, giving rise respectively to the syllables KA, CA, ṬA, TA, and PA. When these sounds are then hardened (or aspirated)^[1] they emerge respectively as KHA, CHA, ṬHA, THA, and PHA. When softened (or voiced)^[2] they emerge respectively as GA, JA, ḌA, DA, and BA; and when these are voiced with aspiration^[3] they emerge respectively as GHA, JHA, ḌHA, DHA and BHA. Then, when nasalised, they emerge respectively as ṄA, ÑA, ṆA, NA, and MA; making five phonetic categories in all. in conformity with these, YA and ŚA are palatal, RA and ṢA are retroflex, LA and SA are dental, VA is labial, HA is velar, and KṢA is cerebral.

Through its contact with the throat and so forth, the sound of the syllable A subsumes all things (thams-cad bsdus) that can be expressed in the forty-two (bzhi-bcu gnyis) consonantal & vocalic syllables (sgra-yi ming-gis) of the alphabet (ā-li kā-li), beginning with KA (KA-la-sogs-pa). The uncreated syllable A is the king (rgyal-po) of primordial manifestly perfect (mngon-rdzogs) enlightenment, the attainment of Buddhahood in the body of reality. Thus, Just as A is the attainment of Buddhahood, the nature of the forty-two syllables which emanate from the disposition of A itself is (de-nyid) also ascertained (nges) to be the attainment of Buddhahood. For, they are a display of that single essence. Actually, the syllable A is the expanse of Saman-tabhadrī, and the forty-two syllables are the forty-two buddhas who emanate from the disposition of that (expanse). It is in accordance with the latter that the syllables are revealed to be the buddha-body of perfect rapture.

iv. The fourth comprises both a teaching on the syllables as the source of words, and a teaching on the arising of the diverse display of the syllables.

The former (comments on Ch. 4.9):

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Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Tibetan drag-tu bos-pa.

[2]:

Tibetan zhan-du bos-pa.

[3]:

Tibetan cher bos-pa.