Om - AUM - Its glory and significance

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OM or AUM and Its significance or glory

 

Sarve veda yatpadam amananti

Tapamsi sarvani cha yadvadanti

Yadicchanto brahmacharyam charanti

Tatte padam sangrahena bravimyomityetat

 

" I tell you briefly of that goal, which all the Vedas with one voice propound,

which all the austerities speak and wishing for which people practise

Brahmacharya. It is this, viz., AUM.

 

Katha Upanishad : Aumkara is the essence of all the Vedas.

 

Taittriya Upanishad : The AUM that is the most exalted in the Vedas, that

pervades all wrods, and that emerged from the immortal Vedas as their

quintessence, may he (AUM that is Indra), the supreme Lord, gratify me with

intellegience. O Lord, may I be the receptable of immortality. May my body be

fit; may my tongue be surpassingly sweet; may I hear much through the ears "

 

Mandukya Upanish : All this world is the syllable AUM. Its further explanation

is this: the past, the present, the future everything is just AUM. And whatever

transcends the three visions of time, that too is just AUM.

 

Maitrayanupanishad : AUM is the sound form of the ultimate Brahman. Genderwise,

A, U and M stand for the female, male and neuter genders. Among the shining ones

they are Fire, Air and the Sun. Among the Lords, AUM stands for Brahma, Rudra

and Vishnu, among the fires (receivers of oblations) Garhapatya, Dakshinagni,

and Ahavaniya. By chanting AUM, one extols, worships and dedicates to all the

Gods.

 

AUM in Gita VI/8:

 

Rasohamapsu kauteya prabhasmi sasisuryayoh

Pranavah sarvavedeshu sabdah khe paurusham nrushu

 

I am the sapidity in water, O son of Kunti; I am, the radiance in moon and sun;

I am the syllable AUM in all the Vedas; sound in ether and manliness in man.

 

VII/11:

 

Yadaksharam vedavido vadanti vishanti yadyatayo veetaragah

Yadchchanto brahmacharyan charanti tatte padam sangrahena pravakshye

 

Persons larned in the Vedas, who utter Aum-kara and who are great sages in the

renounced order, enter into Brahman. Desiring such perfection, one practices

celibacy. I shall now explain to you this process by which one may attain

salvation.

 

VII/13:

 

Aumityekaaksharam Brahma vyaaharanmaamanusmaran

Yah prayati tyajandeham sa yati praramaamgatim

 

After being situated in this Yoga practice and vibrating the sacared syllable

'AUM', 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.

 

IX/17:

 

Pitahamasya jagato mata dhata pitamahah

Vedyam pavitram aumkara ruksama yajurevacha

 

I am the Father of this wrold, the Mother, the Dispenser and the Grandfather; I

am the knowable, the Purifier, the syllable AUM and also the Rik, the Saman and

the Yajus.

 

X/25:

 

Maharshinaam bhruguraham giraamasmyekam aksaram

Yajnaanaam yapayajnosmi sthaavraanaam himalayah

 

Of the great Rishis, I am Bhrigu, of utterances I am the monosyllable " AUM " , of

Yajnas I am japayajna and of unmoving things, the Himalaya.

 

XVII/23:

 

Aum tat sad iti nirdeso brahmanas trividhah smratah

Brahmanas tena vedas cha yajnas cha vihitah pura

 

" AUM Tat Sat " this has been delcared to be the triple designation of Brahman. By

that were made of the Brahmanas, the Vedas and the Yajnas.

 

XVII/24:

 

Tasmad aum ity udahrtya yajna dana tapah kriyah

Pravartante vidhanoktah satatam brahmavadinam

 

Therefore, with the utterance of " AUM " , are the acts of sacrifice, gift and

austerity, as enjoined in the scriptures, always undertaken by the followers of

the Vedas.

 

Bhagavata Purana : Whatever is promised by uttering the sacred syllable " AUM " ,

is the truth and whatever is denied bny expresing a 'No' is untruth.

 

Garuda Purana prescribing the daily routine for the aspirant, says " Let him then

recite the Gayatri mantra prefixed with the mystic syllable AUM. This mantra is

the mother of all Vedic mantras.

 

Narada Purana commends the aspirant to fix the syllable AUM in the heart while

meditating. It also prescribes uttering the syllable AUM as an accompaniment to

Pranayama or breath control.

 

Agni Purana describes Pranava variously as Brahma Bija and Hrid Bija signifying

that the Aumkara dwells in teh heart of the Sadhaka and that it forms the root

of supreme energy (Brahman) . The Syllable AUM expresses Brahma, Vishnu and

Sadasiva.

 

Vayu Purana describes AUM is the Brahman hidden in the cavity of the heart. AUM

is the triad of the 3 vedas, 3 worlds, 3 fires, 3 spaces of Vishnu and the Rk,

Sama and Yajur mantras. He who understands properly and meditates upon the

imperishable supreme Brahman with Aumkara, leaves off the cycle of worldly

existence. The Aumkara is the holiest of h oliness. Aumkara eulogises the Lord,

and yagna eulogises Aumkara.

 

Padma Purana describes Pranava as purifying, very meritorious, the knowner of

the Vedas, the abode of Veda, the support of learning and of existence. AUM is

the emanicipator of all beings drowning in the ocean of the worldly existence.

 

Swami Vivekananda : AUM is the basis of all sounds. A is theroot sound, the key,

pronounced without touching any part of he tongue or palate; M represents the

last sound in the series, being produced by the closed lips, and the U rolls

from the very root to the end of the sounding board of the mouth. Thus, AUM

represents the whole phenomena of sound-producing. As such, it must be the

natural symbol, the matrix of all the various sounds.

 

Sri Ramakrishna : The sound AUM is Brahman.

 

Source: 'AUM' The Essence of the Vedas: A Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan,

Kanyapumari.

 

The first manifestation of the infinite Spirit was throught he cosmic sund

vibration. The closest utterable approximation oft his creative sound is OM. At

the very root of the universe is the creative energy or holy vibration

identified as OM. The opening of the gospel according to St. John says: " In the

beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. All things were made through

HIM ... " In the Vedas, this has been called Shabda Brahman. OM as the sound

symbol of the Absolute is also called Anahata, which means that the creative

word vibration was not produced on account of any friction. It is self-created,

a total field of energy, neither blind, nor mechanical but profoundly

intelligent. Scientists contemplate this as the quantum event, infinitely

interconnected, self-organising and profoundly intelligent to be the central

idea, the blueprint, and the element of the universe. The cosmic sound as the

ocean of energetic vibrations produces a unique rhythm in all objects and

creatures, which makes them distinctly different despite an essential inherent

unity. Chanting and meditating on OM tunes us with divine vibration and divine

light and elevates our encased consciousness to the level of ultimate existence

beyond all dualities of delusion. ( Source: Sri Ramana Jyothi, September 2006

issue)