AUM

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Aum (also Om or, more rarely, Ohm; Sanskrit: ॐ) is a mystical or sacred syllable in the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist religions. It is placed at the beginning of most Hindu texts as a sacred exclamation to be uttered at the beginning and end of a reading of the Vedas or previously to any prayer or mantra and also is said in the beginning of any puja (religious ritual). The Mandukya Upanishad is entirely devoted to the explanation of the syllable.

Origin, name and written symbols

The Sanskrit name for the syllable is praṇava, from a root nu "to shout, sound, praise", verbal pra-nu- being attested as "to make a humming or droning sound" in the Brahmanas, and taking the specific meaning of "to utter the syllable om" in the Chandogya Upanishad and the Shrauta Sutras. More rarely used terms are akṣara or ekākṣara, and in later times omkāra becomes prevalent.

A popular depiction of the Aum syllable in the Devanagari script (ॐ) is as a ligature.

It is also believed that after a very long time of meditation the Purusha Sukta revealed the word AUM as being the truth.

In Hinduism

The syllable Aum is first described as all-encompassing mystical entity in the Upanishads. Today, in all Hindu art and all over India and Nepal, 'Aum' can be seen virtually everywhere, a common sign for Hinduism and its philosophy and theology.

Upanishads and Sutra literature

The syllable is mentioned in all the Upanishads, specially elaborated upon in the Taittiriya, Chandogya and Mandukya Upanishad set forth as the object of profound religious meditation, the highest spiritual efficacy being attributed not only to the whole word but also to the three sounds a (a-kāra), u (u-kāra), m (ma-kāra), of which it consists. A-kara means form or shape like earth, trees, or any other object. U-kara means formless or shapeless like water, air or fire. Ma-kara means neither shape nor shapeless (but still exists) like the dark matter in the Universe. When we combine all three syllables we get AUM which is a combination of A-kara,U-kara, andMa-kara.[2]

The Katha Upanishad has:

"The goal, which all Vedas declare, which all austerities aim at, and which humans desire when they live a life of continence, I will tell you briefly it is Aum"

"The one syllable [evākṣara, viz. Aum] is indeed Brahman. This one syllable is the highest. Whosoever knows this one syllable obtains all that he desires.

"This is the best support; this is the highest support. Whosoever knows this support is adored in the world of Brahma."

The Chandogya Upanishad states:

om ity etad akṣaram udgītham upāsīta / om iti hy udgāyati / tasyopavyākhyānam

"The udgitha ["the chanting", that is, the syllable om] is the best of all essences, the highest, deserving the highest place, the eighth."

The Bhagavad Gita (8.13) has:

Uttering the monosyllable Aum, the eternal world of Brahman, One who departs leaving the body (at death), he attains the superior goal.

The Bhagavad Gita (9.17)has: Krsna says to Arjuna - "I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable Oḿ. I am also the Ṛg, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas."

The Bhagavad Gita (17.23) has:

om tatsatiti nirdesho brahmanstrividhah samratah

"OM, tat and sat has been declared as the triple appellation of Brahma, who is Truth, Consciousness and Bliss."

In the following sutra it emphasizes, "The repetition of Om should be made with an understanding of its meaning".

Meaning

Om is the universal name of the Lord. It is made up of the letters A (phonetically as in "around"), U (phonetically as in "put") and M (phonetically as in "mum"). The sound emerging from the vocal chords starts from the base of the throat as "A". With the coming together of the lips, "U" is formed and when the lips are closed, all sounds end in "M".

The three letters symbolize the three states (waking, dream and deep sleep), the three deities (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva), the three Vedas (Rig, Yajur and Sama) the three worlds (Bhur, Bhuvah, Suvah) etc. The Lord is all these and beyond.

The formless, attributeless Lord (Brahman) is represented by the silence between two Om Chants. Om is also called pranava that means, "that (symbol or sound) by which the Lord is praised". The entire essence of the Vedas is enshrined in the word Om. It is said that the Lord started creating the world after chanting Om and atha. Hence its sound is considered to create an auspicious beginning for any task that we undertake. The Om chant should have the resounding sound of a bell (aaooommm).

Chant Om

Om is one of the most chanted sound symbols in India. It is said that it has a profound effect on the body and mind of the one who chants and also on the surroundings. Most mantras and vedic prayers start with Om.

All auspicious actions begin with Om. It is even used as a greeting - Om, Hari Om etc. It is repeated as a mantra or meditated upon. Its form is worshipped, contemplated upon or used as an auspicious sign.

Ways of writing Om

Om is written in different ways in different places. The most common form symbolizes Lord Ganesha’s. The upper curve is the head; the lower large one, the stomach; the side one, the trunk; and the semi-circular mark with the dot, the sweetmeat ball (modaka) in Lord Ganesha's hand. Thus Om symbolizes everything - the means and the goal of life, the world and the Truth behind it, the material and the Sacred, all form and the Formless.

Puranic Hinduism

The Om Parvat in Pithoragarh district

In Puranic Hinduism, Aum is the mystic name for the Hindu Trimurti, and represents the union of the three gods, viz. a for Brahma, u for Vishnu and m for Mahadev which is another name of Shiva. The three sounds also symbolize the three Vedas (Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda).

According to Hindu philosophy (see Mandukya Upanishad), the letter A represents creation, when all existence issued forth from Brahma's golden nucleus; the letter U refers to Vishnu the God of the middle who preserves this world by balancing Brahma on a lotus above himself, and the letter M symbolizes the final part of the cycle of existence, when Vishnu falls asleep and Shiva has to breathe in so that all existing things have to disintegrate and are reduced to their essence to him. More broadly, Aum is said to be the primordial sound that was present at the creation of the universe. It is said to be the original sound that contains all other sounds, all words, all languages and all mantras.

Dvaita

Vaishnava Dvaita philosophies teach that 'Aum' is an impersonal sound representation of Vishnu/Krishna while Hari Nama is the personal sound representation. A represents Krishna, U Srimati Radharani and M jivas. According to Sridhara Svami the pranava has five parts: A, U, M, the nasal bindu and the reverberation (nada). Liberated souls meditate on the Lord at the end of that reverberation. For both Hindus and Buddhists this syllable is sacred and so laden with spiritual energy that it may only be pronounced with complete concentration.

Advaita

In Advaita philosophy it is frequently used to represent three subsumed into one, a common theme in Hinduism. It implies that our current existence is mithyā and maya, "falsehood", that in order to know the full truth we must comprehend beyond the body and intellect the true nature of infinity. Essentially, upon moksha (mukti, samādhi) one is able not only to see or know existence for what it is, but to become it. When one gains true knowledge, there is no split between knower and known: one becomes knowledge/consciousness itself. In essence, Aum is the signifier of the ultimate truth that all is one.

Examples of Three into One:

• Creation (Brahma)- Preservation (Vishnu)- Destruction (Shiva) into Brahman the Atman, the Atman
• Waking- Dreaming- Dreamless Sleep into Turiya (transcendental fourth state of consciousness)
• Rajas (activity, heat, fire) - Tamas (dullness, ignorance, darkness) - Sattva (purity, light, serenity/shanti) into Brahman
• Body, Speech and Mind into Oneness

In proper names

When Aum is a part of a place name (for example Omkareshwar), or is used as a man's name, it is spelled phonetically using ordinary letters of whatever Indian alphabet is used in the area. The adherents of Arya Samaj always use the ordinary letters अ, ऊ and म to write Aum.

In Jainism

In Jainism, Aum is regarded to be a condensed form of reference to the five parameshthis, by their initials A+A+A+U+M (o3m). The Dravyasamgrah quotes a Prakrit line:

ओम एकाक्षर पञ्चपरमेष्ठिनामादिपम् तत्कथमिति चेत "अरिहंता असरीरा आयरिया तह उवज्झाया मुणियां"

oma ekākṣara pañca-parameṣṭhi-nāmā-dipam tatkabhamiti ceta "arihatā asarīrā āyariyā taha uvajjhāyā muṇiyā"

"Aum" is one syllable made from the initials of the five parameshthis. It has been said: "Arihanta, Ashiri, Acharya, Upadhyaya, Muni" .

Thus, ओं नमः (oṃ namaḥ) is a short form of the Navkar Mantra.

In Buddhism

Buddhists place om at the beginning of their Vidya-Sadaksari or mystical formulary in six syllables (viz., om mani padme hum) As a seed syllable (bija mantra), it is also considered holy in Esoteric Buddhism.

With Buddhism's evolution and breaking away from Vedic/Hindu tradition, Aum and other symbology/cosmology/philosophies are shared with the Hindu tradition. This character often appeared as "唵" in Buddhist scripts in East Asia.