During the Maharashtra Philatelic
Exhibition 1983 (Mahapex 83) a set of 4 special covers were issued; one
of which has a painting as cachet showing the alphabet “अ” of Sanskrit Devanāgarī.
Details of the inscription is printed on the back of the special cover as shown below:
“अ” (A) is the first alphabet in
Sanskrit and common to other languages including English, Arabic, Greek, etc.
Without the vowel, (alphabet A) no consonant can exist. It is the primal sound
and thus the loftiness of the akṣara (alphabet, also means - imperishable) “अ” is eulogised in the Bhagavad Gītā,10.33
where Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa declares - अक्षराणामकरोस्मि
"akṣarānāṃ akāro'smi"
"Of letters, I am the letter “अ”.
It is the perceptible form of God and regarded as the embodiment of Godhood. The famous couplet of Tiruvaḷluvar endorses this view very succinctly :
அகர முதல எழுத்தெல்லாம் ஆதி
பகவன் முதற்றே உலகு.
பகவன் முதற்றே உலகு.
No comments:
Post a Comment