Om
 .jpg)   Om (or Aum; ⓘ; Sanskrit: ॐ, ओम्, romanized: Oṃ, Auṃ, ISO 15919: Ōṁ) is a polysemous symbol representing a sacred sound, seed syllable, mantra, and invocation in Hinduism as well as in other Indian religions.[1][2] Its written form is the most important symbol in the Hindu religion.[3] It is the essence of the supreme Absolute,[2] consciousness,[4][5][6] Ātman, Brahman, or the cosmic world.[7][8][9] In Indian religions, Om serves as a sonic representation of the divine, a standard of Vedic authority and a central aspect of soteriological doctrines and practices.[10] It is the basic tool for meditation in the yogic path to liberation.[11] The syllable is often found at the beginning and the end of chapters in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Hindu texts.[9] It is described as the goal of all the Vedas.[12] Om emerged in the Vedic corpus and is said to be an encapsulated form of Samavedic chants or songs.[1][10] It is a sacred spiritual incantation made before and during the recitation of spiritual texts, during puja and private prayers, in ceremonies of rites of passage (samskara) such as weddings, and during meditative and spiritual activities such as Pranava yoga.[13][14] It is part of the iconography found in ancient and medieval era manuscripts, temples, monasteries, and spiritual retreats in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.[15][16] As a syllable, it is often chanted either independently or before a spiritual recitation and during meditation in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.[17][18] The syllable Om is also referred to as Onkara (Omkara) and Pranava among many other names.[19][20] Common names and synonymsThe syllable Om is referred to by many names, including:
Origin and spiritual significanceThe etymological origins of ōm (aum) have long been discussed and disputed, with even the Upanishads having proposed multiple Sanskrit etymologies for aum, including: from "ām" (आम्; "yes"), from "ávam" (आवम्; "that, thus, yes"), and from the Sanskrit roots "āv-" (अव्; "to urge") or "āp-" (आप्; "to attain").[28][A] In 1889, Maurice Bloomfield proposed an origin from a Proto-Indo-European introductory particle "*au" with a function similar to the Sanskrit particle "atha" (अथ).[28] However, contemporary Indologist Asko Parpola proposes a borrowing from Dravidian "*ām" meaning "'it is so', 'let it be so', 'yes'", a contraction of "*ākum", cognate with modern Tamil "ām" (ஆம்) meaning "yes".[28][29] In the Jaffna Tamil dialect spoken in Sri Lanka, aum' is the word for yes.[citation needed] Om emerged in the Vedic corpus and is said to be an encapsulated form of Samavedic chants or songs.[1][10] The Samaveda, the poetical Veda, orthographically maps Om to the audible, the musical truths in its numerous variations (Oum, Aum, Ovā Ovā Ovā Um, etc.) and then attempts to extract musical meters from it.[9] The Aitareya Brahmana of Rig Veda, in section 5.32, suggests that the three phonetic components of Om (a + u + m) correspond to the three stages of cosmic creation, and when it is read or said, it celebrates the creative powers of the universe.[9][30] However, regardless of its original meaning, the syllable Om evolves to mean many abstract ideas even in the earliest Upanishads. Max Müller and other scholars state that these philosophical texts recommend Om as a basic tool for meditation[11] and explain the various meanings that the syllable may hold in the mind of one meditating, ranging from "artificial and senseless" to the "highest concepts such as the cause of the Universe, essence of life, Brahman, Atman, and Self-knowledge".[31][32] In the Aranyaka and the Brahmana layers of Vedic texts, the syllable is so widespread and linked to knowledge, that it stands for the "whole of Veda".[9] The Brahmana layer of Vedic texts equates Om with bhur-bhuvah-svah, which symbolizes "the whole Veda". They offer various shades of meaning to Om, such as it being "the universe beyond the sun", or that which is "mysterious and inexhaustible", or "the infinite language, the infinite knowledge", or "essence of breath, life, everything that exists", or that "with which one is liberated".[9] The symbolic foundations of Om are repeatedly discussed in the oldest layers of the early Upanishads.[33][34] In the Upanishads, it has been associated with various concepts, such as "cosmic sound", "mystical syllable", "affirmation to something divine", or as symbolism for abstract spiritual concepts.[9] However, in the eight anuvaka of the Taittiriya Upanishad, which consensus research indicates was formulated around the same time or preceding Aitareya Brahmana, the sound Aum is attributed to reflecting the inner part of the word Brahman. Put another way, it is the Brahman, in the form of a word.[35] PronunciationWhen occurring within spoken Classical Sanskrit, the syllable is subject to the normal rules of sandhi in Sanskrit grammar, with the additional peculiarity that the initial o of "Om" is the guṇa vowel grade of u, not the vṛddhi grade, and is therefore pronounced as a monophthong with a long vowel ([oː]), i.e. ōm not aum.[B][36] Furthermore, the final m is often assimilated into the preceding vowel as nasalisation (raṅga). As a result, Om is regularly pronounced [õː] in the context of Sanskrit. However, this o reflects the older Vedic Sanskrit diphthong au, which at that stage in the language's history had not yet monophthongised to o. This being so, the syllable Om is often archaically considered as consisting of three phonemes: "a-u-m".[37][38][39][40] Accordingly, some denominations maintain the archaic diphthong au viewing it to be more authentic and closer to the language of the Vedas. In the context of the Vedas, particularly the Vedic Brahmanas, the vowel is often pluta ("three times as long"), indicating a length of three morae (trimātra), that is, the time it takes to say three light syllables. Additionally, a diphthong becomes pluta with the prolongation of its first vowel.[36] When e and o undergo pluti they typically revert to the original diphthongs with the initial a prolonged,[41] realised as an overlong open back unrounded vowel (ā̄um or a3um [ɑːːum]). This extended duration is emphasised by denominations who regard it as more authentically Vedic, such as Arya Samaj. However, Om is also attested in the Upanishads without pluta,[C] and many languages related to or influenced by Classical Sanskrit, such as Hindustani, share its pronunciation of Om ([õː] or [oːm]). Written representationsSouth Asia Nagari or Devanagari representations are found epigraphically on sculpture dating from Medieval India and on ancient coins in regional scripts throughout South Asia. Om is represented in Devanagari as ओम्, composed of four elements: the vowel letter अ (a), the vowel diacritic ो (o), the consonant letter म (m), and the virama stroke ् which indicates the absence of an implied final vowel. Historically, the combination ओ represented a diphthong, often transcribed as au, but it now represents a long vowel, ō. (See above.) The syllable is sometimes written ओ३म्, where ३ (i.e., the digit "3") explicitly indicates pluta ('three times as long') which is otherwise only implied. For this same reason Om may also be written ओऽम् in languages such as Hindi, with the avagraha (ऽ) being used to indicate prolonging the vowel sound. (However, this differs from the usage of the avagraha in Sanskrit, where it would instead indicate the prodelision of the initial vowel.) Om may also be written ओं, with an anusvāra reflecting the pronunciation of [õː] in languages such as Hindi. In languages such as Urdu and Sindhi Om may be written اوم in Arabic script, although speakers of these languages may also use Devanagari representations. The commonly seen representation of the syllable Om, ॐ, is a cursive ligature in Devanagari, combining अ (a) with उ (u) and the chandrabindu (ँ, ṃ). In Unicode, the symbol is encoded at U+0950 ॐ DEVANAGARI OM and at U+1F549 🕉 OM SYMBOL as a "generic symbol independent of Devanagari font".[43] In some South Asian writing systems, the Om symbol has been simplified further. In Bengali and Assamese Om is written simply as ওঁ without an additional curl. In languages such as Bengali differences in pronunciation compared to Sanskrit have made the addition of a curl for u redundant. Although the spelling is simpler, the pronunciation remains [õː]. Similarly, in Odia Om is written as ଓଁ without an additional diacritic. In Tamil, Om is written as ௐ, a ligature of ஓ (ō) and ம் (m), while in Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam, Om is written simply as the letter for ō followed by anusvāra (ಓಂ, ఓం, and ഓം, respectively). There have been proposals that the Om syllable may already have had written representations in Brahmi script, dating to before the Common Era. A proposal by Deb (1921) held that the swastika is a monogrammatic representation of the syllable Om, wherein two Brahmi /o/ characters (U+11011 𑀑 BRAHMI LETTER O) were superposed crosswise and the 'm' was represented by dot.[44] A commentary in Nature (1922) considers this theory questionable and unproven.[45] A. B. Walawalkar (1951) proposed that Om was represented using the Brahmi symbols for "A", "U", and "M" (𑀅𑀉𑀫), and that this may have influenced the unusual epigraphical features of the symbol ॐ for Om.[46][47] Parker (1909) wrote that an "Aum monogram", distinct from the swastika, is found among Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions in Sri Lanka,[48] including Anuradhapura era coins, dated from the 1st to 4th centuries CE, which are embossed with Om along with other symbols.[49] East and Southeast AsiaThe Om symbol, with epigraphical variations, is also found in many Southeast Asian countries. In Southeast Asia, the Om symbol is widely conflated with that of the unalome; originally a representation of the Buddha's urna curl and later a symbol of the path to nirvana, it is a popular yantra in Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia and Thailand. It frequently appears in sak yant religious tattoos, and has been a part of various flags and official emblems such as in the Thong Chom Klao of King Rama IV (r. 1851–1868)[50] and the present-day royal arms of Cambodia.[51] The Khmer adopted the symbol since the 1st century during the Kingdom of Funan, where it is also seen on artefacts from Angkor Borei, once the capital of Funan. The symbol is seen on numerous Khmer statues from Chenla to Khmer Empire periods and still in used until the present day.[52][53][better source needed] In Chinese characters, Om is typically transliterated as either 唵 (pinyin: ǎn) or 嗡 (pinyin: wēng). Representation in various scriptsNorthern Brahmic
Southern Brahmic
Non-Brahmic
Hinduism
In Hinduism, Om is one of the most important spiritual sounds.[3] The syllable is often found at the beginning and the end of chapters in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Hindu texts,[9] and is often chanted either independently or before a mantra, as a sacred spiritual incantation made before and during the recitation of spiritual texts, during puja and private prayers, in ceremonies of rites of passages (sanskara) such as weddings, and during meditative and spiritual activities such as yoga.[13][14] It is the most sacred syllable symbol and mantra of Brahman,[54] which is the ultimate reality, consciousness or Atman (Self within).[7][8][4][5][55] It is called the Shabda Brahman (Brahman as sound) and believed to be the primordial sound (pranava) of the universe.[56] VedasOm came to be used as a standard utterance at the beginning of mantras, chants or citations taken from the Vedas. For example, the Gayatri mantra, which consists of a verse from the Rigveda Samhita (RV 3.62.10), is prefixed not just by Om but by Om followed by the formula bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ.[57] Such recitations continue to be in use in Hinduism, with many major incantations and ceremonial functions beginning and ending with Om.[18] BrahmanasAitareya BrahmanaThe Aitareya Brahmana (7.18.13) explains Om as "an acknowledgment, melodic confirmation, something that gives momentum and energy to a hymn".[3]
— Aitareya Brahmana, 7.18.13[3] Upanishads Chandogya UpanishadThe Chandogya Upanishad is one of the oldest Upanishads of Hinduism. It opens with the recommendation that " |
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