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THE SPEECH OF THE GODS
133 To begin with B and M (pronounced ba and am), it we analyse their character and difference from other sounds and from each other, we find that with the exception P (pa) a slight variant of B, they are the only sounds which require the complete closure of the mouth for their formation. Whether it be preceded or followed by a vowel, B cannot be correctly pronounced without first closing the lips and then opening them. It is evident therefore that as Ba is the only sound which is made by the bursting forth of the breath from closed lips, it is more suited than any other to express "the beginning of life," or "life.” M differs from B in this, that it is made not by the breath coming from the just opened lips, but by closing them and stopping the breath completely for a time, then the breath finds an outlet by its upper channel, the nose. Taking these facts into consideration, we perceive that it should mean something extreme, like "end," "height" or "death,” or, more fully, the stoppage of the life energy and its transfer to a different channel. We may here remark that this value agrees with the characteristics of Siva, in the mystic syllable om, or Aum, representing Brahman the Creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Siva the destroyer and regenerator). It is a siinilar sound to M, but differs from it in this, that the stoppage of the breath, before its transfer to the upper outlet, is complete. It means "continuance” or change without any real end. P is a variation of the sound for life, its significance is less though similar, it means “for
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