Mystic Syllable Om

Author(s): A N Jain
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Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/250221/1

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The Mystic Syllable Om Dr. A. N. Jain mantra. Thus the sanctity or the sacredness was granted to Om. The mystic syllable Om occupies a prominent and auspicious place in the field or Sadhana (spir- itual practics) whether it may be in the line of Hindu, Buddha or Jain religion. The antiquity of this syllable is traced back to the Vedas. It occurs for the first time in the Vajasaneyi Samhita of the Yajurveda (2.13, 40.17 etc.) The word Pranava is found in 19.25. The four matras of Om became five, presided over by five gods - Brahma, Visnu, Rudra, Isana and Sarva. This seems to be precursor of later Saivism The Satapathabrahmana developed it as essence of the Vedas and of the universe. The Pratisakhya of the Yajurveda (8, 9, 11) lays down the recitation of Om in the beginning of study, and before chanting a Vedic mantra. It also mentions that Om is the name of Brahma (Omiti namanirdeso Brahmanah. Thus it identified. Om with Brahma. The Aitareya brahmana (V 3.2) gives its three componants 37, 3, 7 for the first time. These three componants are derived from the three Vyahrtis : To: and Fa: from the three Vedas, viz. the Rigveda, the Yajurveda and the Sama Veda; from the three gods - agni, Vayu and Aditya and from the three worlds - Prthivi, Antariksha, and Vayu respectively. The Gopathabrahmana gives two accounts Thereof and presents full development of Om. . According to first account, Brahma created Brahma on the lotus-leaf. The latter created two letters with four matras : 3it and From 317 transformed into 7 were The Baudhayana sutra (4.1 gives further mystic character to Om by stating that it is papanasaka (destroyer of sin). This idea is elaborated in the later Sannyasopanisad as follow : yastu dvAdazasAhasraM praNavaM jpte'nvhm| tasya dvAdazabhirmAsaiH paraM brahma prkaashte|| sarveSAmeva pApAnAM saMghAte smupsthite| tAraM dvAdaza sAhasramabhyasecchedanaM hi tt|| It also describes it as the best mantra which is sacred, purifying, bringing piety and fulfilling all desires and identifies it with Brahma. mAMgalyaM pAvanaM dhayaM srvkaamprsaadhnm| oMkAraM paramaM brahma sarvamantreSu naaykm|| This idea is also corroborated in the Yogatatvopanisad : sarvavighnaharo mantraH praNavaH srvdossh| evamabhyAsayogena siddhisrmbhsNbhvaa|| The Yajurveda Kalpasutra gives reason for its sacred character : oMkArazcAtha zabdazca dvAveto brahmaNaH puraa| kaNThaM bhittvA viniryAtau tsmaanmaaNglikaavbhau| produced water, moon, the Atharvaveda, Om, the Vyahrti Janah and the metre anustubh etc. From ware created the Itihasa, Puranas, gita, nrtya and vidhya From the HF were produced the three Vyahrtis, three deities, three Vedas, three worlds and three metres - Gayatri, Tristubh and Jagati. The second account says that the gods got victory by Om. Consequently they gave boon to it that it will be recited in the beginning of every Vedic

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YATEENDRASURI SMARAK GRANTH - The regular full treatment of this sacred sylla- . The method of reaching the Brahma through ble is found in the earlier Upanisads. The seed meditation is discribed in the Mundakopanised :sown in the Gopatha brahmana is seen sprouting "3. Taking as a bow the great weapon of the here. Thus the Chandogyopanisad which identified udgitha with Om says : Upanishad, one should put upon it an arrow sharp ened by meditation. Stretching it with a thought di"1. Om one should reverence the Udgitha (Loud rected to the essence of That, Penetrate That Chant) as this syllable, for one sings the loud Impenrishable as the mark, my friend. chant (ud + gi) beginning) with Om'.. 4. The mystic syllable Om (pranava) is the The further explanation thereof (is as follows): bow. the arrow is the soul (atman). 2. The essence of things here is the earth. Brahma is said to be the mark (laksya). The essence of the earth is water. By the undistracted man is it to be penetrated. The essence of water is plants One should come to be in It, as the arrow (in The essence of plants is a person (purusa) the mark) The essence of a person is speech. The Mandukyopanisad (9-12) gives further The essence of speech is the Rig (hymn') detailed description of the four matras of Om : The essence of the Rig is the Saman ( charnt") The essence of the Saman is the Udgitha It identifies the four matras of Om as follows: (loud singing') Pada Matra State Designation of Self In other place it gives the gradual origin of First Om and identifies it with everything. Waking. Vaisvanara Second 3 dream Taijasa "2 (3). Prajapati brooded upon the worlds. From them, when they had been brooded upon, Third deep Prajna - issued forth the threefold knowledge. He brooded sleep upon this. From it, when it had been brooded upon, Fourth matraless Fourth Advaita issued forth these syllables : bhur, bhuvah, svar. In the Tantrasastra he fourth matra is called 3(4) He brooded upon them. From them, ardhamatra and is identified with the female godhead. when they had been brooded upon, issued forth It is described as one which cannot be recited of the syllable Om. As all leaves are held together by ardhamAtrA sthitA nityA, yA'nuccAryA vizeSataH / a spike, so all speech is held togethe by Om. Verily, Om is the world-all. Verily, Om is this world-all." tvameva sA tvaM, sAvitrI tvaM devI jananI praay|| - durgAsaptazatI The Prasnopanisad (V. 2) identifies Om with Puspadanta in his Sivamahimnah Stotra the higher and the lower brahma - elaborates this idea clearly and succinctly :: "To him then he said : "Verily, O Satyakama, "The triad (of Vedas), the three vrttis (states that which is the syllable Om is both the higher and of waking, sleeping, deep sleep), the three worlds the lower Brahma. and also the three gods (Brahma, Visnu, Rudra), naming these with the three letters a etc. (a, u, m) Therefore with this support, in truth, a knower and also that which is beyond differentiation, the reaches one or the other." (II.2.4) fourth state, your domain, enclosed by subtle sounds (all this constituting), You, O refuge-giver, inirinimiinirinin incontri indiriminin 32 svimentinin inciminimin insanin iris I

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YATEENDRASURI SMARAK GRANTH complete and in your parts, the word om de Kathopanisad (2.15) which says that Om is a scribes." word which all the Vedas speak, of which all the penances also speak, with a view to atThus put in a tabular form the Om expresses taining it (the Sadhakas) observe celibacy. I following things with its three component letters: shall tell you it in brief. It is Om. Letter Veda Stages Gunas Worlds Gods yadakSaraM vedavido vadanti vizanti yadyalayo viitraagaaH| Rgveda Waking Sattva Bhur Brahma yadicchanto brahmacaryaM caranti tatte padaM saMgraheNa pravakSye // . Yajurveda dreaming rajas Bhuvah, Visnu One who departs leaving the body (at the time of death, reciting the letter Om, the one Samaveda deep, tamas Svar Siva lottered Brahma, and thinking of me, one gets sleep the highest state (moksa) (8.13). . The half matra speaks of the fourth stage The Yogasastra and the Tantrasastra identify which is enclosed by its subtle sounds. This stage Om, from adhibhautika point of view, with the procis inexplicable. Only the accomplished yogis can ess of breathing. During 24 hours one breaths experience it in their brain as a feeling that an ant in moving there. 21,600 times. While inhaling the sound is pro duced and while exhaling the sound is produced. The mystic power of Om is felt also by the By omitting the consonants and from this one Bauddha and Jain Sadhakas. The mantra of gets the sound Om. Avalokitesvara Buddha is famous. It begins with Om as "Om Manipadme hum" In this manner, Om represents Parabrhama from the Adhyatmika point of view; three gods viz. The Jain philosophers derive it from the sa Brahma, visnu and siva the Adhidaivika point of cred and mystic Navakara mantra and identify it view and the So ham or the Ajapamantra from the with five Paramesthins. Adhibhautika point of view. arihantA asarIrA Ayariya - uvjjhaay-munninno| It is therefore rightly called the mantra-raja or paMcakkharanipphano oMkAro paMcaparamiThThIya the king of all the mantras. The five Paramesthins are - 3767, FHS, 3R, Upasana of Om upAdhyAya and sAdhu Now the word siddha is replaced by azarIrI and sAdhu by muni. Then taking initial letter of Now this mantra which according to the sage Patanjali, is expressive of the god, can be attended these words viz a + a + A and A + u + ma give by ... : upon in three ways:joining with each other the letter Om. Sri Simhatilaka Suri in his Srimantrar ahasya says : 1. It can be recited orally with one or two or three matras. This sort of recitation of Om in short, arhadadehAcAryopAdhyAya munIndra puurvvrnnotthH| long and prolonged (pluta) form cures one from dispraNavaH sarvatrAdau jJeyaH parameSThasaMsmRtyaiya eases. Srimadbhagavadgita also extols Om in sev- 2. It can be meditated upon. For this its popueral places : lar form is drawn as 3. But eariler, it was written in 1. It is spoken as a vibhuti of the Lord Sri Krsna - manuscripts as 3, the form which is adopted by the Jains, Sriharsa in his Naisadhiyacaritam gives praNavaH sarvavedeSu a still earlier form as 3. It is also represent it as. 2. It reiterates in (8.11) the mantra of the

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To achieve different results, various colours are also associated with it. Sri Samantabhadracarya in his Omkarastotra says. zvete zAntikapuSTayA khyA'navadhAdikarAya ca / pIte lakSmIkarAyApi oMkArAya namo namaH // rakte vazyakarAyApi kRSNe zatrukSayakRte / dhUmravarNe stambhanAya oMkArAya namo namaH / / YATEENDRASURI SMARAK GRANTH For peace and nourishment while coloured; for obtaining wealth the yellow coloured, for subjugation the red-coloured, for annihilation of enemies the black-coloured and for stagnation the smokecoloured om, should be meditated upon. (3) By identification: The meditation of Om should better be done for getting emancipation or eternal bliss. This can best be done by identifying it with the process of breathing alongwith medition or by identifying one self with the three gods, whom it represents. I end this article with the most popular mantra accepted by all the three streams of Indian Sadhana viz. Arya, Bauddha and Jain. oMkAraM bindusaMyuktaM nityaM dhyAyanti yoginaH / kAmadaM mokSadaM caiva oMkArAya namo namaH // The yogis constantly meditate upon Omkara with a bindu, as it fulfills all the desires and bestows highest beatitude. My obeisance to (that) Omkara. Erbvamevo[ 34 ]ordmonovid

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References and notes 1. Albert Einstein, Ideas and opinions, Calcutta, 1979, p. 271. 2. Gommatasara of Namicandra Siddhantacakravart, vols. 1-4, Bhartiya Jana Pitha, New Delhi, 1978-81. 3. The Ganitasara samgraha of Mahaviracarya, ed. and trans. by L.C. Jain, Sholapur, 1963. 4. A recent article short in the Ganita Bharati, vol. 9 (1987), numbers 1-4 p. 54-56, by Ganitanand, Ranchi, has appeared on the date of Sridhara. His remarks are worth mentioning here, S.B.Dixit (1896) had found a reference to sridhara by name in an old manuscript of Mahavira's Ganitasara samgraha (ca. 85), and So put the former before the later. ................Royal Asiatic Society, Bombay Rs. 230 of GSS also ends with the words (ABORI? Vol. 31, p. 268) the Satkhandagama and their commentaries which might have been before them. As the modieval Jaina writers have been writing Jina and Siva for the same daity, some scribe might have got it changed under certain unknown circumstances. It does not seem possible that sridhara could have availed the opportunity of the Jaina source material as a non-Jaina, and he must have compiled the work as a Jaina. It also seems possible that under certain circumstances he might have adopted Saivism.but whether he wrote two such manuscripts after his conversion is doubtful. Thus looking into the needs of the digambara Jaina School of Mathematics in the South India, for their theory of Karma, it seems now most probable that both took help from the same source material of the south, and both were Jainas in the Digambara Jaina Schools of Mathematics for this purpose of convincing argument one may see the project work on the Labdhisara of Namicandra Siddhantacakravarti, Indian National Science Academy, 1984-87, by L.C. Jain. The similarity of several rules and of may other fea tures between the works of sridhara and mahavira is accepted by scholars. Both may have drawn from a thirrd and common source which is not known nor likely to be known. But most of the scholars considered Mahavira as borrower (he himself named his work as a collection"). 5. Mention has been made by N.C. Jain while he was at Arrah Jaina Siddhant Bhavana, and this manuscript is not available now. 6. Vide The Section on Mathematics in the Sci ence and Civilization in China vol. 3., by J. Needham and W.Ling, Cambridge, 1959. The date circa 799 A.D. was assigned to sridhara by N.C. Jain, by equating him to the Jaina author of Jyotir Jnanavidhi (799). And to reconcile salutations Sivam' and Jinam' of the different manuscripts it has been suggested that the same sridhara, after writing mathematical works, may have turned a Jains toward the end of his life. The above note also gives the opinion of B.Dutta and A.N. Singh as 750 A.D. as the probable date of Sridhara. It appears that the common source material for both of the above math - ematicians have been the Kasayapahuda and 7. These texts are in several volume and have gone out of print. New editions of the former are now coming out of the press. Satkhandagama of Acarya Puspadanta and Bhutabali, Books 116, Amaraoti, Vidisha, 1939-1959. Cf. also, Kashaya Pahuda of Gunabhadracarya, alongwith the Jayadhavals commentary of Virsenacarya and Jinasenacarya, yol. 1-13, and the following Mathura, 1944... 8. For the texts of the Svetambara Jaina School, cf. the exhaustive article, The Jaina School of infrontoisensacioncronominaroni 35 hominio infiintarinio oririi

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- YATEENDRASURI SMARAK GRANTH - Mathematics, by B.B. Dutta, Bul, Cal..Math. 12:Cf the project referred in 4. Soc., vol. xxi, no. 2, 1929, pp. 115-145. 13.Cf. the ref. 8. 9. For details, see the Jaina Astronomy by Dr. S.S. Lishk, (1978), Doctoral thesis approved by the 14.Singh, A.N.,? Mathematics of Dhavala, (Patiala) Punjabi University, 1987, Vidyasagara Satkhandagama, book 4 loc., cit., Amaraoti, Publications, Delhi. Cf. also Jain, L.C., * (1976). 1942, pp. i-xxiv. Datta, B.B., and Singh, A.N., History of Hindu Mathematics, Bombay. 1962. On the Spiro-elliptic Motion of the Sun implicit in the Tiloyapannatti, IJHS, vol. 13, no. 1, 1978, 15. Cf. ref. 4 for details. pp. 42-49. 16. Cf. Jain, G.R., Cosmology, old and new, Gwalior, . 10.Jain, L.C., System Theory in Jaina School of 1942. Mathematics, IJHS, vol. 14, no. 1, 1979, pp. 2963. 17.Cf. ref. 4 for the project on the Labdhisara. 11. The Trilokasara of Nemicandra Siddhan 18.Cf. ref. 9. tacakravarti, Sri Mahavirji, 1976. Cf. also Jain, 19. Cf Jain. L.C: Tilovapannattika Ganita in introL.C.? Divergent sequences locating Transfinite duction to the Jambudiva pannatti Samgaho, Sets in Trilokasars, IJHS, vol. 12, no. 1, 1977, Sholapur, 1958, pp. 1-109.. pp. 57-75. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Amgasuttani - 1, Jaina Visva Bharati, Ladanun, 7. Mahavira Carita Mimansa (Guj.) pt. 1, pt. D. D. ed. Ist.1974. . Malavania, Ramesh Malavania, 8, Opera So2. Acaranga Curni, Jinadasa Gani, R. K. S.S. ciety, Ahmedabad - 7 ed. 1st, 1992. Ratlam (M.P.), ed. Ist, 1941. 8. Niryukti - Samgraha - ed. Vijayanemisuri, Harsa Puspamrta Jaina Granthamala (189), 3. Acaranga Tika (Ist Srutaskandha), Siddhacakra Lakhabaval, Santipuri, Maharastra, ed. 1st, Sahitya Pracaraka Samiti Surat, ed. Ist, 1934. 1989. 4 Avaro - Comment., Ed. & trans by Yuvacarya. 9. Sutrakrtanga-Tika pt. 1; Agamodaya Samiti; Mahap rajna, Jain Cononical Text Series, Jaina Bombay, 1919. * Visva Bharati Ladanum ed. 1st 1981. 10. Sthananga - Tika - Seth Maneklal Cunni tal, 5. Bhagavatisutra - Tika, Agamodaya Samiti, Ahamadabad, ed. 1st, 1937. Bombay, ed. Ist 1918. 11.Vyavahara Bhasya Tika, Vakil Kesavalal 6. Jaina Sutras - Jacobi Hermann, Premchand, Ahmedabad, ed. 1st. 1926. (S.B.E.S. Vol. XXII, pt. 1), M.L.B.D., Delhi, Rep.ed. 1964. R inorrason waren wovon mir