This interpretation by Bhaskararaya is not an isolated one. It has a long tradition in Hindu spiritual history. Poetess and author Mani Rao points out that "the mantra ... in Rig Veda 1.164.39 as well as Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4.8.3 ... note that for the person who does not know akshara (syllable) in the highest vyoman (heart-space) in whom all the deities are supported/established, the veda is of no use.' (Mani Rao, Living Mantra: Mantra, Deity, and Visionary Experience Today, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, Page 60)

What is this 'Akshara'? Many consider it as 'Aum' which itself consists of 'A' along with 'U' and 'M'. In Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna declares that he is 'Akara’ among the Aksharas.

The Buddhist text 'Bhagavati prajnaparamita sarva-tathagatha-mata ekaksara nama', whose original Sanskrit text except for the title is lost but whose translation is present in Tibet, says that in a discourse to his disciple Ananda utters a single sound, the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, the A. It was "for the sake of the welfare and happiness of all beings" that Buddha wanted Ananda to receive "this perfection of wisdom in one letter”. (Judith Simmer-Brown, Dakini's Warm Breath: Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism', Shambala, 2002, Page 87)

It should be remembered that this Prajnaparamita text itself was composed somewhere between 600 and 1200 CE. And it should be noted that Prajnaparamita the wisdom goddess of Buddhism incorporates in her many aspects of Vedic Saraswati.

Professor Catherine Ludvik has pointed out how the Saraswati figurine in Buddhist tradition actually becomes a multi-armed warrior goddess as well — similar to Durga-Parvati. So one can say that the 'A' syllable containing perfect wisdom can be associated with the goddess in the Buddhist tradition as well, though it is very well defined and strongly established in Vedic tradition.

So, in every letter of the language as ‘A’ forms a part of the letter, can say that it attains an Ardhanarishvara essence.

Sure enough, Prof David Shulman points out that "Tamil syllables, both in their aural and their graphic forms are the stuff of reality; pragmatic Tantric grammars regulate their use.” (Tamil A Biography, Harvard University Press, 2016, Page 31)

So with every syllable carrying in it the ‘akara’, the goddess also becomes part of it and it is this androgynous nature at the very basic level which animates language. Appar Thirunaavukarasar also invokes this aspect of language when he his famous verse ‘Sottrunai Vedhiyan...’ (He is abiding in the language).

Kalidasa also points to this when he speaks of the union of Shiva and Shakti as that of how a word and its meaning are united. But what is again important in this is that through the ‘Akara’, he permeates all the words — similar to Brahman permeating all existence.

This brings us to the very first verse of Thiruvalluvar’s Thirukkural which speaks of ‘Akara’ being primal to the realm of the languages, so is Adhi-Bhagvan primal to all existence. Tamil grammarians point out that the term Adhi-Bhagvan is the union of two nouns which are Sanskrit in origin.

For if it is Tamil, it would have been ‘Adhi-p-Bhagwan’. A dominant section of academia as well as polity needing to negate any Vedic religious connotation to Thirukkural have always attributed Adhi-Bhagwan to Jainism — not without reason though.

Adhi-Bhagvan is indeed a term often found in Jain literature. However, the use of ‘Akara’ makes one pause.

Adhi-Bhagavan may well be one of the ‘dual deities (dvidevatya) in Ardhanaari’ which Ellen Goldberg mentions. This may also explain the belief which speaks of Thriuvalluvar being born to Adhi, a woman of Paraiyar community and Bhagvan the Brahmin.

Here the Parai and Adhi, the goddess may well symbolise an exalted divine status as important as that of or perhaps even exceeding that of Bhagvan the Brahmin — Shiva. The social stagnation and colonialism imparted to the word ‘Parai’ an inferior meaning which classical Hindu Dharma never did.

Now from the discussion above if the ‘Akara’ actually refers to ‘Srikantha’ then Adhi-Bhagvan may actually refer to the androgynous divine. Shaivaite literature consistently attributes the term ‘Akara’ as well as the name ‘Akaramuthalvan’ to Shiva. Thirumoolar’s Thirumanthiram states that no one knows the mystery that Shiva is the Akara (1751 & 1753). Sambandar calls his ‘Akaramuthallanai...’ the very term used in Thirukkural.

But when we consider Sri Lalita Sahasranama along with Tamil Shaivaite injunctions, we find that she forms the basis of every syllable and animates them with meaning in context. Therefore, the language manifests as two elements united in one phenomenon — Akaramuthalvan is indeed contained in Ardhanarishvara or should we say Srikanthaardthasareerini!