Svarāḥ means vowels. Every vowel comes in two lengths: hrasva (short) or dīrgha (long).
| hrasva (short) | a | i | u | ṛ | lṛ |
| dīrgha (long) | ā | ī | ū | ṝ | lṝ |
Sandhyakṣara comes from sandhi + akṣara. Akṣara means "letter" or "undying" (a- "not" + kṣara "perishable/decaying"). Sandhyakṣara are the vowels formed by combining two other vowels.
| Length | Combination | Result |
|---|---|---|
| hrasva sandhyakṣara | a + i | e |
| a + u | o | |
| dīrgha sandhyakṣara | a + e | ai |
| a + o | au |