(1) In Sanskrit grammar, the term for "letter" in general, as opposed to consonant (vyanjana) or vowel (svara). Derived from the first and last letters of the traditional ordering of Sanskrit letters—"a" and "ksha". (2) More generally, in Indic writing systems, aksara refers to a "syllable," consisting of a consonant plus vowel sequence, where the vowel may or may not be the inherent vowel of the consonant letter. When multiple consonants are involved, the aksara represents the entire orthographic syllable, which can include two or more leading consonants that may be visually presented in conjunct forms; in such cases, the aksara may not be identical to the phonological syllable.