OM: The forgotten syllable

[Arjuna Haridas]

In Vaishnavism, we never hear about OM. This is why I call it the "forgotten syllable". It's very important. OM is the most Holy syllable in the world, aside from the Name of Vishnu Himself, but yet we never even utter the word.

 

However, is this the right way to go? Does Vishnu recommend any other mantra above OM? He recommends mantras other than OM (such as Brahma Who is Vishnu, recommend Hari Krishna/Hari Rama, for example), but does He ever say in any way that these mantras are above OM?

 

First, let's look at the importance of OM. We need not look further than the Upanishads. Aside from the fact that every Upanishad starts with "OM", look at this verse:

 

LET a man meditate on the syllable Om, called the udgîtha; for the udgîtha (a portion of the Sâma-veda) is sung, beginning with Om. (Khandogya Upanishad 1.1.1)

 

Now let's look at the nature of OM. It's nature is clearly stated in the Bhagavad Gita.

 

"I am the taste within water, the radiance of the Moon and Sun, I am OM in all the Vedas, Sound in aether, manhood in men." (Bhagavad Gita 7:8)

"Of great Rishis, I am Brighu; of words, I am the one-syllable OM; of Yajnas, the Japa Yajna; of immovables, the Himalayas." (Bhagavad Gita 10:25)

It is clear from these verses that the Nature of OM is Vishnu Himself. The meaning of OM is very simple. The meaning of OM is "Vishnu". Repeating OM thus agrees with this verse:

 

"O ye who wish to gain realization of the supreme truth, utter the name of Vishnu at least once in the steadfast faith that it will lead you to such realization." (Rig Veda V.I.15b.3)

Bhagavad Gita 10:25 also raises another good point. By Lord Vishnu as Lord Krishna saying that He is the Japa Yajna (repetition of a mantra as an offering) of Yajnas (sacrifices/offerings), this proves that the greatest offering is the repetition of a mantra. Later in my post, I'll show that the Bhagavad Gita recommends reciting OM, which proves that repeating "OM" as an offering to Vishnu is the greatest offering.

 

The Bhagavad Gita states that a person should meditate using OM. It is clearly stated:

 

"Uttering OM, the syllable that is God, and intent on Me, departing thus from his body, he then attains the Goal Supreme." (Bhagavad Gita 8:13)

This verse in the Bhagavad Gita I consider the 2nd most important verse of yoga (as in, a verse that talks about how to gain moksha), second only to

Bhagavad Gita 18:66 (a verse telling us to surrender to Vishnu).

 

So, combining all of the verses together, we can further prove that the Bhagavad Gita is the essence of the Vedas since there is no contradiction between the Vedas recommended uttering the Name of Vishnu as the greatest way to moksha and Lord Vishnu saying that uttering OM (the syllable that means "Vishnu") as the greatest way to moksha.

 

Also by combining all the verses together, we can conclude that the greatest offering to Lord Vishnu is the meditate on Him using the mantra "OM".

 

Remember that meditating on OM is part of Bhakti (meditation is part of Bhakti). So, if we meditate on Vishnu using the mantra "OM", and also devote ourselves to Him constantly, then we will reach Him without a doubt. This was not hidden, nor is it a secret. The way to liberation is to meditate on Vishnu using OM as the mantra and to devote ourselves to Him.

[Guruvani]

 

Obviously, you are not that familiar with the Gaudiya siddhanta.

Many mantras of the Gaudiyas start with OM.

 

Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.

 

 

Mantra prayer to A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

 

nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale

 

srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine

 

 

namas te saraswate deve gaura-vani-pracarine

 

nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine

 

I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krishna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet. Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Chaitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.

 

OM is found many times throughout the Gaudiya shastra and pranam mantras.

[Murali_Mohan_das]

The Math Logo of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math features Om most prominently:

 

 

Here's what it means:

http://www.scsmath.com/docs/logo.html

 

 

<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="98%"><tbody><tr><td>This is a short explanation of the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math logo, taken from Chapter 5 of Golden Reflections, a book by Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj that was published in 1992 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee or 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Sri Nabadwip Dham, West Bengal, by Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj: </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="98%"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="45"></td> <td> Srila Guru Maharaj composed the following verse, and only he was able to:

 

gayatri muralista-kirtana-dhanam radhapadam dhimahi

 

I have never seen in any book from Mahaprabhu's time right up to Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's time the type of explanation of Gayatri as given by Srila Guru Maharaj. Actually, Mahaprabhu is our parent, and the seeds came from Krishna. Madhavendra Puri was the sprout of those seeds, Mahaprabhu was the actual tree, and the fruits are Rupa Goswami, Sanatan Goswami, and others. Srila Guru Maharaj is also in the line of the fruits. It is not that the persons are the fruits, but what they gave are the fruits of Mahaprabhu's conception. Om is the very gist of Gayatri, and from that Om come merciful rays like the rays of the sun. Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, where always Sankirtan is going on, is inside the flute of Krishna, and from there comes this sound Om. Om, the meaning of Gayatri, is coming from Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, and from here the explanation of Gayatri has been given by Srila Guru Maharaj: gayatri muralista-kirtana-dhanam radhapadam dhimahi.

 

The position of Srila Guru Maharaj is like the water; the servitors of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math are like lotuses; and the position of the worshipful Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Divine Form of Radha-Krishna-Om. Everything is within Om. Om is coming from the flute of Krishna, and the meaning of Om, of Gayatri, is: gayatri muralista-kirtana-dhanam radhapadam dhimahi. Krishna's flute does not make any other tune except the glorification of Srimati Radharani, and that is the real meaning and gist of the Gayatri Mantram. The sun's merciful rays give nourishment to the lotus, but if there is no water then the lotus will be burnt by the rays of the sun.

 

The flute is the special symbol of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Before we adopted the flute as our symbol, it was not to be found anywhere. Now many others also have copied this, but it first came from here, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. What is the song of the flute? It is the glorification of Srimati Radharani by Sri Krishna -- and this is depicted in the logo of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

</td></tr></tbody></table>

[Guruvani]

 

The Math Logo of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math features Om most prominently:

 

 

Here's what it means:

http://www.scsmath.com/docs/logo.html

 

 

That message about the flute strikes me very profoundly.

 

When I first joined the temple in L.A. I got very sick within a few days of living in the ashram.

I have never felt so close to death.

I was running a very high fever and I could not even get up out of my sleeping bag.

I thought I might die there in the brahmachary ashram.

 

During that period I was sleeping one night and while I was sleeping I heard the most wonderful and marvelous flute music. The flute music came to me it seemed like the whole night while I slept.

There was never a refrain or a repeat musical verse.

It was an endless flow of ever new notes flowing without repetition or pattern.

 

Then, as I lay there on the verge of death, Danavir Maharaja returned from the Mayapura festival after having a personal meeting with Srila Prabhupada.

As I lay their so weak I could not even get up, Danavir prabhu gave me a few drops of Ganga water that he had brought back in a bottle.

 

The next morning when I woke up I was over my illness and was feeling much better.

 

But, I can never forget the flute music I heard during the night I almost died from high fever.

 

I didn't realize till years later that the flute music was from the flute of Lord Krishna who was just a few yards away in the temple room.

[Arjuna Haridas]

The importance of OM is acknowledged, but it is never put into practice. To be honest. I've never seen (figuratively speaking) a Vaishnava meditate on OM. No need to be defensive at all; I'm not "attacking" a certain sampradaya or something like that (all the sampradayas are bona-fide, so why attack them?).

[Guruvani]

 

The importance of OM is acknowledged, but it is never put into practice. To be honest. I've never seen (figuratively speaking) a Vaishnava meditate on OM. No need to be defensive at all; I'm not "attacking" a certain sampradaya or something like that (all the sampradayas are bona-fide, so why attack them?).

 

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 

 

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.13

 

oḿ ity ekākṣaraḿ brahma

vyāharan mām anusmaran

yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaḿ

sa yāti paramāḿ gatim

 

SYNONYMS

 

 

oḿ — the combination of letters oḿ (oḿkāra); iti — thus; eka-akṣaram — the one syllable; brahma — absolute; vyāharan — vibrating; mām — Me (Kṛṣṇa); anusmaran — remembering; yaḥ — anyone who; prayāti — leaves; tyajan — quitting; deham — this body; saḥ — he; yāti — achieves; paramām — the supreme; gatim — destination.

 

 

TRANSLATION

After being situated in this yoga practice and vibrating the sacred syllable oḿ, the supreme combination of letters, if one thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and quits his body, he will certainly reach the spiritual planets.

 

 

PURPORT

It is clearly stated here that oḿ, Brahman and Lord Kṛṣṇa are not different. The impersonal sound of Kṛṣṇa is oḿ, but the sound Hare Kṛṣṇa contains oḿ. The chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is clearly recommended for this age. So if one quits his body at the end of life chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, he certainly reaches one of the spiritual planets, according to the mode of his practice. The devotees of Kṛṣṇa enter the Kṛṣṇa planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana. For the personalists there are also innumerable other planets, known as Vaikuṇṭha planets, in the spiritual sky, whereas the impersonalists remain in the brahmajyoti.

 

 

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 9.17

 

pitāham asya jagato

mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ

vedyaḿ pavitram oḿkāra

ṛk sāma yajur eva ca

 

SYNONYMS

pitā — father; aham — I; asya — of this; jagataḥ — universe; mātā — mother; dhātā — supporter; pitāmahaḥ — grandfather; vedyam — what is to be known; pavitram — that which purifies; oḿ-kāra — the syllable oḿ; ṛk — the Ṛg Veda; sāma — the Sāma Veda; yajuḥ — the Yajur Veda; eva — certainly; ca — and.

 

 

TRANSLATION

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.

 

 

PURPORT

The entire cosmic manifestations, moving and nonmoving, are manifested by different activities of Kṛṣṇa's energy. In the material existence we create different relationships with different living entities who are nothing but Kṛṣṇa's marginal energy; under the creation of prakṛti some of them appear as our father, mother, grandfather, creator, etc., but actually they are parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa. As such, these living entities who appear to be our father, mother, etc., are nothing but Kṛṣṇa. In this verse the word dhātā means "creator." Not only are our father and mother parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa, but the creator, grandmother and grandfather, etc., are also Kṛṣṇa. Actually any living entity, being part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, is Kṛṣṇa. All the Vedas, therefore, aim only toward Kṛṣṇa. Whatever we want to know through the Vedas is but a progressive step toward understanding Kṛṣṇa. That subject matter which helps us purify our constitutional position is especially Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, the living entity who is inquisitive to understand all Vedic principles is also part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa and as such is also Kṛṣṇa. In all the Vedic mantras the word oḿ, called praṇava, is a transcendental sound vibration and is also Kṛṣṇa. And because in all the hymns of the four Vedas — Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg and Atharva — the praṇava, or oḿkāra, is very prominent, it is understood to be Kṛṣṇa.

 

 

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 17.23

 

oḿ tat sad iti nirdeśo

brahmaṇas tri-vidhaḥ smṛtaḥ

brāhmaṇās tena vedāś ca

yajñāś ca vihitāḥ purā

 

SYNONYMS

oḿ — indication of the Supreme; tat — that; sat — eternal; iti — thus; nirdeśaḥ — indication; brahmaṇaḥ — of the Supreme; tri-vidhaḥ — threefold; smṛtaḥ — is considered; brāhmaṇāḥ — the brāhmaṇas; tena — with that; vedāḥ — the Vedic literature; ca — also; yajñāḥ — sacrifice; ca — also; vihitāḥ — used; purā — formerly.

 

 

TRANSLATION

From the beginning of creation, the three words oḿ tat sat were used to indicate the Supreme Absolute Truth. These three symbolic representations were used by brāhmaṇas while chanting the hymns of the Vedas and during sacrifices for the satisfaction of the Supreme.

 

 

PURPORT

It has been explained that penance, sacrifice, charity and foods are divided into three categories: the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. But whether first class, second class or third class, they are all conditioned, contaminated by the material modes of nature. When they are aimed at the Supreme — oḿ tat sat, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the eternal — they become means for spiritual elevation. In the scriptural injunctions such an objective is indicated. These three words, oḿ tat sat, particularly indicate the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Vedic hymns, the word oḿ is always found.

One who acts without following the regulations of the scriptures will not attain the Absolute Truth. He will get some temporary result, but not the ultimate end of life. The conclusion is that the performance of charity, sacrifice and penance must be done in the mode of goodness. Performed in the mode of passion or ignorance, they are certainly inferior in quality. The three words oḿ tat sat are uttered in conjunction with the holy name of the Supreme Lord, e.g., oḿ tad viṣṇoḥ. Whenever a Vedic hymn or the holy name of the Supreme Lord is uttered, oḿ is added. This is the indication of Vedic literature. These three words are taken from Vedic hymns. Oḿ ity etad brahmaṇo nediṣṭhaḿ nāma (Ṛg Veda) indicates the first goal. Then tat tvam asi (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.8.7) indicates the second goal. And sad eva saumya (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.1) indicates the third goal. Combined they become oḿ tat sat. Formerly when Brahmā, the first created living entity, performed sacrifices, he indicated by these three words the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the same principle has always been followed by disciplic succession. So this hymn has great significance. Bhagavad-gītā recommends, therefore, that any work done should be done for oḿ tat sat, or for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When one performs penance, charity and sacrifice with these three words, he is acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a scientific execution of transcendental activities which enables one to return home, back to Godhead. There is no loss of energy in acting in such a transcendental way.

 

 

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 17.24

 

tasmād oḿ ity udāhṛtya

yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-kriyāḥ

pravartante vidhānoktāḥ

satataḿ brahma-vādinām

 

SYNONYMS

tasmāt — therefore; oḿ — beginning with oḿ; iti — thus; udāhṛtya — indicating; yajña — of sacrifice; dāna — charity; tapaḥ — and penance; kriyāḥ — performances; pravartante — begin; vidhāna-uktāḥ — according to scriptural regulation; satatam — always; brahma-vādinām — of the transcendentalists.

 

 

TRANSLATION

Therefore, transcendentalists undertaking performances of sacrifice, charity and penance in accordance with scriptural regulations begin always with oḿ, to attain the Supreme.

 

 

PURPORT

Oḿ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaḿ padam (Ṛg Veda 1.22.20). The lotus feet of Viṣṇu are the supreme devotional platform. The performance of everything on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead assures the perfection of all activity.

 

[Murali_Mohan_das]

 

The importance of OM is acknowledged, but it is never put into practice. To be honest. I've never seen (figuratively speaking) a Vaishnava meditate on OM. No need to be defensive at all; I'm not "attacking" a certain sampradaya or something like that (all the sampradayas are bona-fide, so why attack them?).

 

It is said that Maha-Mantra contains all other mantras (including Om?).

 

It's interesting to note that my severely-depressed father was able to chant Om with me a few months back when he could not bring himself to chant the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra.

 

In general, Om represents the effulgence of the Lord, does it not? As such, monists tend to be more drawn to it. Vaishnavas have all regard for Omkara, but feel irresistably drawn to the sweetness of the Maha-Mantra.

[Murali_Mohan_das]

If I had read Guruvani's scriptural citations first, I could have dropped the question mark.

 

 

It is said that Maha-Mantra contains all other mantras (including Om?).