Knowledge, the shortest way of Union with Me, which has remained heretofore a mystery known only to Myself."
The alphabet as already stated in the foregoing pages has its two divisions, viz., the vowels and the consonants, The vowels from अ to अनुस्वार constitute the fifteen Tithis or days of the lunar fortnight. Related to these is Time which forms the medium of their utterance and, as a result accruing therefrom, the two vital spirits of the body viz., the Prāna and the Apāna form the origin of the busy world like the Sun and the Moon respectively. The coalition of these fifteen vowels with Visarga is called the Shiva Tattva, i. e., the pure light of intelligence (Chinmātra, Chit only) without any thing whatsoever to shine upon, and may be called the Life (Prāņa) in the Universal seed. But in order that there may be a Universe, the consonants, proceeding from the vowels and inseparable from the latter, are in like manner called the Shakti Tattva which is really the Universe as a potentiality. The twenty-five Tattvas from the Prithvi (earth) Tattva to the Purusha (Spirit or Self) Tattva, owe their origin to the twenty-five consonants from क to म, that is to say, the five Mahābhūtas (material or gross elements), viz., earth, water, light, air and ether are the result of creation from क to ङ. From the consonants च to ञ
