一切經音義 11.180

11.180

阿字為初（阿字取上聲梵字也毘盧遮那經云阿字門一切法本不生義能生一切世間文字偈云阿字第一句明法普周遍字輪以圍遶彼尊無有相以此義故所以得居眾字之首次第向下更有四十九字總名一切文字之母即梵字根本五十字也）。

The letter A as the first (The letter A is pronounced in the rising tone; it is a Sanskrit letter. The Vairocanābhisambodhi-sūtra states: 'The syllable door of A signifies the unoriginated nature of all phenomena; it is able to generate all mundane phonemes and words.' A verse says: 'The syllable A is the foremost phrase, / Illuminating phenomena pervading everywhere. / Surrounded by the circle of syllables, / That Honoured One is free from characteristics.' For this reason it occupies the head of all syllables. Sequentially below it are forty-nine more letters, collectively named the mothers of all phonemes and words, which are the fifty fundamental Sanskrit letters.)