Brahman, which is the reality of Word (Śabda-tattva), is without beginning or end, is the imperishable syllable. It manifests (vivartate) in the form of meaning — and from this process the world proceeds. This is the opening verse of Bhartṛhari's Vākyapadīya (~5th CE) — the foundational text of philosophy of language. The Sphota theory holds that the meaning-bearing unit of speech is an indivisible whole (sphota), not individual phonemes.