Vyañjanāḥ means consonants. The 25 stop consonants are organized into five vargas (meaning "collections" or "groups"), each named after its first letter. Each column shares a 'manner' of articulation.
| Varga (place) | Unaspirated voiceless |
Aspirated voiceless |
Voiced unaspirated |
Voiced aspirated |
Nasal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kavarga/kaṇṭhya (guttural) | ka | kha | ga | gha | ṅa |
| Cavarga/tālavya (palatal) | ca | cha | ja | jha | ña |
| Ṭavarga/mūrdhanya (retroflex) | ṭa | ṭha | ḍa | ḍha | ṇa |
| Tavarga/dantya (dental) | ta | tha | da | dha | na |
| Pavarga/oṣṭhya (labial) | pa | pha | ba | bha | ma |