Aum

Devanagari Aum

Aum (also Om, written in Devanagari as ॐ, in Sanskrit known as praṇava प्रणव [lit. "to sound out loudly"] or auṃkāra (also as Omkāra) ओंकार (lit. "auṃ syllable") is a mystical or sacred syllable in the Indian religions, i.e. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.

Aum is commonly pronounced as a long or over-long nasalized close-mid back rounded vowel, [õːː]) though there are other enunciations pronounced in received traditions. It is placed at the beginning of most Hindu texts as a sacred incantation to be intoned at the beginning and end of a reading of the Vedas or prior to any prayer or mantra. The Māndukya Upanishad is entirely devoted to the explanation of the syllable. The syllable is taken to consist of three phonemes, a, u and m, variously symbolizing the Three Vedas or the Hindu Trimurti or the three stages of life ( birth, life and death ).

The name Omkara is taken as a name of God in the Hindu revivalist Arya Samaj.

Contents

Name, phonology and written representation

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 aum" in the Chāndogya Upanishad and the Shrauta Sutras. More rarely used terms are akṣara (lit. symbol, character) or ekākṣara (lit. one symbol, character), and in later times omkāra becomes prevalent.

Phonemically, the syllable is /aum/, which is regularly monophthongized to [õː] in Sanskrit phonology. It is sometimes also written with pluti, as o3m (ओ३म्), notably by Arya Samaj. When occurring within a Sanskrit utterance, the syllable is subject to the normal rules of sandhi in Sanskrit grammar, however with the additional peculiarity that after preceding a or ā, the au of aum does not form vriddhi (au) but guna (o) per Pāṇini 6.1.95 (i.e. 'om').

The aum symbol Aum.svg is a ligature of Devanagari ओ+ँ (oṃ, encoded in Unicode at U+0950 ॐ, the Tibetan script variant ༀ at U+0F00, and the Chinese persian linguistics 唵 at U+5535 or 吽 at U+543D).

Ek Onkar (Punjabi ਇਕ ਓਅੰਕਾਰ, Ik Onkar, iconically ੴ in Gurmukhi script, a combination of the numeral one ੧ and an ura base glyph ੳ extended with a "peculiar modification,"[1]), from Sanskrit ekomkāra "one omkāra" per the special sandhi rule treated above, is a symbol of the unity of God in Sikhism, and is commonly found on Gurdwaras. The Ek Onkar ligature is encoded as a single character in Unicode at U+0A74 (ੴ).

Aum in various scripts
The symbol Aum in the Tamil script  
The symbol Aum in Kannada, Telugu and Tulu script  
The symbol Aum in Bengali script.  
The Balinese Om symbol  
The symbol Aum in Tibetan script  

In Hinduism

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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. As the creation began, the divine, all-encompassing consciousness took the form of the first and original vibration manifesting as sound "AUM".[2] Before creation began it was "Shunyākāsha", the emptiness or the void. Shunyākāsha, meaning literally "no sky", is more than nothingness, because everything then existed in a latent state of potentiality. The vibration of "AUM" symbolizes the manifestation of God in form ("sāguna brahman"). "AUM" is the reflection of the absolute reality, it is said to be "Adi Anadi", without beginning or the end and embracing all that exists.[2] The mantra "AUM" is the name of God, the vibration of the Supreme. When taken letter by letter, A-U-M represents the divine energy (Shakti) united in its three elementary aspects: Bhrahma Shakti (creation), Vishnu Shakti (preservation) and Shiva Shakti (liberation, and/or destruction).[2]

In Hinduism, Aum corresponds to the crown chakra and diamond white light.[2]

Early Vedantic literature

The syllable is mentioned in all the Upanishads, specially elaborated upon in the Taittiriya, Chāndogya and Māndukya 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-kāra means formless or shapeless like water, air or fire. Ma-kāra means neither shape nor shapeless (but still exists) like the dark energy content of the Universe. When we combine all three syllables we get AUM which is a combination of A-kāra, U-kāra, and Ma-kāra.[3]

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 conscience, 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." (1.2.15-17)[4]

The Chāndogya Upanishad (1.1.1-1) states:

om ity-etad akṣaram udgītham upāsīta / aum iti hy udgāyati / tasyopavyākhyānam
"The udgi:tā ["the chanting", that is, the syllable om] is the best of all essences, the highest, deserving the highest place, the eighth."

The Bhagavad Gi:tā (8.13) states that:

Uttering the monosyllable Aum, the eternal world of Brahman, One who departs leaving the body (at death), he attains the Supereme Goal (i.e., he reaches God).

In Bhagavad Gi:tā (9.17): Lord Krishna 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 Ṛig, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas."

The Bhagvad Gi:tā (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 sūtra it emphasizes, "The repetition of Om should be made with an understanding of its meaning".[5]

Pauranic Hinduism

The Om Parvat in Pithoragarh district. Its snow deposit is said to resemble the Aum symbol.
God Ganesha is sometimes identified with the Aum

In Purānic 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 Māndukya 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 Srīmati Rādhārāni and M jivas. According to Srīdhara Svāmi the pranava has five parts: A, U, M, the nasal bindu and the reverberation (nāda). 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

Aum symbol on a temple elephant's forehead

In Advaita philosophy it is frequently used to represent three subsumed into one, a triune, 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 sacred triunes (three-in-ones):

In proper names

When Aum is a part of a place name (for example Omkāreshwar), 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(Ah), ऊ(ooh) and म(ma) to write Aum.

Om is originated from navel of Lord Hashrasen . Quite often he creates another earth and in r.w. another space . He is also known as father of Lord Bramha , Lord Vishnu and Lord Mahesh. He gives them birth by by tearing his navel. His kingdom is known as land of believers / land of Bhavesh.

In Jainism

Depiction of Om in Jain script

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 well as most other mantras and dhāranis. As a seed syllable (bija mantra), it is also considered holy in Esoteric Buddhism.

The syllable is often written with the Chinese character 唵 (pinyin ǎn) or 嗡 (pinyin wēng) in Buddhist texts of East Asian provenience.

"Onkar" in Sikhism

Gurmukhi Ek Onkar symbol

The term onkar in Punjabi is found in Sikh theology as a symbol of God and invariably emphasizes God's singularity, expressed as Ek Onkar, stating that the multiplicity of existence symbolized in the aum syllable is really founded in a singular God.[6] Guru Nanak dev ji writes that, "From Onkaar, the One Universal Creator God, Brahma was created. He kept Ongkaar in his consciousness. From Ongkaar, the mountains and the ages were created. Onkaar created the Vedas."[7] Khushwant Singh writes that, "The concept of om, which is somewhat elusive in Hinduism, is crystallized in Sikh theology and is given a status of symbol - the symbol of God." The singularity of God is expressed in the saying, Ek Onkar ("There is one God").[8] Guru Nanak's teaching about God is summed in the Sikh Mool Mantra.[9]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ishar Singh, The Philosophy of Guru Nanak, p. 129
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda , The hidden power in humans, Ibera Verlag, page 15., ISBN 3-85052-197-4
  3. ↑ Satyarth Prakāsh by Swāmi Dayānand Saraswati
  4. ↑ :sarve vedā yat padam āmananti / tapām̐si sarvāṇi ca yad vadanti / yad icchanto brahmacaryaṃ caranti / tat te padaṃ saṃgraheṇa bravīmy / om ity-etat //
    etad dhy evākṣaraṃ brahma / etad dhy evākṣaraṃ param / etad dhy evākṣaraṃ jñātvā / yo yad icchati / tasya tat //
    etad ālambanaṃ śreṣṭham / etad ālambanaṃ param / etad ālambanaṃ jñātvā / brahmaloke mahīyate //
  5. ↑ Yoga Su:tras of Patanjali, English translation by Bon Giovanni. (sacred-texts.com)
  6. ↑ Wazir Singh, Aspects of Guru Nanak's philosophy (1969), p. 20: "the 'a,' 'u,' and 'm' of aum have also been explained as signifying the three principles of creation, sustenance and annihilation. ... aumkār in relation to existence implies plurality, ... but its substitute Ekonkar definitely implies singularity in spite of the seeming multiplicity of existence. ..."
  7. ↑ Siri Guru Granth Sahib (English Translation) (3rd ed.). pp. 929. http://www.gurbanifiles.org/translations/English%20Translation%20of%20Siri%20Guru%20Granth%20Sahib.pdf. 
  8. ↑ Singh, Khushwant (2002). "The Sikhs". In Kitagawa, Joseph Mitsuo. The religious traditions of Asia: religion, history, and culture. London: RoutledgeCurzon. p. 114. ISBN 0-7007-1762-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=5LSvkQvvmAMC&pg=PA114&. 
  9. ↑ Mahinder N. Gulati (2008). Comparative Religious and Philosophies. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. p. 330. ISBN 8126909021. 

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