OṂ

OṂ , a contraction of the sounds /a/, /u/, and /m/, is considered in the Hindu tradition to be the most sacred of Sanskrit syllables. In a religious setting that reveres the intrinsic power of sound as a direct manifestation of the divine, a setting in which the hierarchy of scripture is headed by the śruti ("heard") texts and in which oral tradition has preserved the religious language unchanged over millennia, oṃ is the articulated syllable par excellence, the eternally creative divine word. Indeed, the Sanskrit word denoting "syllable" (akṣara, literally "the imperishable") commonly serves as an epithet for oṃ. Its other epithets include ekakṣara ("the one syllable" but also "the sole imperishable thing") and pranava (from praṇu, "to utter a droning"); the latter term refers to the practice of initiating any sacred recitation with a nasalized syllable. The syllable oṃ itself has been associated with the Sanskrit root av ("to drive, impel, animate"; Uṇadi Sūtra 1.141). It is represented graphically by a familiar mystical symbol combining the syllable's three components.

Articulated at the beginning and end of recitations and prayers, oṃ is a particle of auspicious salutation, expressing acknowledgment of the divine or solemn affirmation, in which latter sense it is compared with amen ("verily, this syllable is assent"; Chāndogya Upaniṣad 1.1.8). Evidence of its use as an invocation occurs in the Ṛgveda; though it appears in a relatively late section (1.164.39), this note dates the practice to at least 1200 bce.

From the sixth century bce, the Upaniṣads make direct mention of oṃ. One of the oldest Upaniṣads, the Chāndogya, discusses the syllable at length in setting forth rules for the chanters of the Sāmaveda and states that "one has to know that oṃ is the imperishable" (1.3.4). By sounding oṃ, one intones the Udgītā, the essential canto of the Vedic sacrifice (1.1.5).

In the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, the figure Death defines oṃ as the goal propounded by the Vedas, and proclaims that anyone who meditates on the syllable oṃ can attain brahman (1.2.15–16). A later Upaniṣad, the Taittirīya, indicates that oṃ is both brahman and the cosmos (1.8.1–2): The sound symbol is identical to what it represents.

The first chapter of the Mānḍụkya, one of the latest of the Vedic Upaniṣads, is devoted to the elucidation of oṃ. The sacred syllable is divided into its four phonetic components, representing the four states of mind, or consciousness: /a/ is related to the awakened state, /u/ to the dream state, /m/ to dreamless sleep, and the syllable as a whole to the fourth state, turīya, which is beyond words and is itself the One, the Ultimate, the brahman. "One should know oṃ to be God seated in the hearts of all" (1.28).

The sixth chapter of the Maitrāyaṇīya, possibly the latest of the Vedic Upaniṣads, is devoted entirely to the discussion of the sacred syllable, referred to as the "primary sound" (6.22). The devotee is enjoined to meditate on the Self as oṃ (6.3). When oṃ is articulated, the sound "rises upward." The chapter closes with the invocation "Hail oṃ ! Hail brahman !"

When the Bhagavadgītā —a fragment of the Mahābhārata, perhaps contemporary with the latest of the Vedic Upaniṣads—proclaims that "the imperishable is brahman," it plays on the term akṣara, which may be read either as an adjective ("brahman is imperishable") or as a substantive ("brahman is the Imperishable [i.e., oṃ ]").

Manu (Manusmṛti 2.74) echoes the assertion made in the Chāndogya regarding the articulation of oṃ preceding any sacred recitation, and prescribes that it be repeated not only at the beginning but also at the end of the daily recitation of the Veda, under penalty of losing the merit attached to such an exercise. He adds that Prakjāpati, the creator, extracted the milk of three cows (i.e., the three primary Vedas) in order to draw the three phonetic components that make up the syllable.

Through imagery borrowed from archery, the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad indicates how the articulation of oṃ was integrated into the practice of meditation according to Indian thought: The syllable oṃ is the bow, the ātman (the self) is the arrow, and brahman is the target (2.2.3–4). One must bend toward the target without diverting the mind; one must make oneself identical to the arrow. (The same image is found in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa.) The Yoga Sūtra of Patañjali mentions that the various yoga systems all insist on the importance of oṃ as a symbol of the devotee's attempt to unite with the Absolute, a goal that is itself the prerequisite to any practice of meditation.

In later times oṃ stands for the union of the three gods of the Hindu triad, Brahmā (the creative force, or /a/), Viṣṇu (the sustaining force, or /u/), and Śiva (the dissolving force, or /m/).

As the primary sound symbol for an Indian tradition maintained continuously from the age of the Vedas into modern times, the syllable oṃ stands charged with an unquestionable religious energy. Its use as a mantra for profound meditation reflects the Vedic teaching that the devotee is one with the sacred sound and all it represents. Through its constant repetition in recitations, prayers, and even recently composed sacred texts it acts as a pitch that tunes the worshiper to the heart of the prayer.

Bibliography

In the absence of monographical studies on the subject the reader would do well to consult André Padoux's Recherches sur la symbolique et l'énergie de la parole dans certains textes tantriques, "Publications de l'Institut de civilization indiennes," no. 21 (Paris, 1963).