In Indian mythology, two metaphors are used to explain the origin of things and the cause of things. These are womb (yoni, in Sanskrit), and seed (bija). Related to bija is the concept of fruit, or phala. From the yoni comes the phala that contains the bija, which when placed in the yoni once again creates new phala.

These are metaphors: known ideas used to explain unknown concepts. The yoni metaphor comes from herding communities, which secured food from the animal kingdom. The bija and phala metaphors come from foraging communities, which secured food from the plant kingdom. Though widely used in “Sanskirt” literature, these ideas are pre-Sanskrit, even pre-language. Long before we used sound to communicate, we used gestures (mudra) and symbols (pataka, pratika) to communicate ideas. These pre-verbal forms of communication are still found in dance. We must remember the story of how Shiva educates Vedic priests about the secret of atma using dance, captured in the famous Nataraja statue.