Re: the meaning of pranavam
From the Bhakti List Archives
• May 3, 2003
-SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA. Please find here some information on pranavam. Any mis-interpretation is entirely mine and may be pardoned. Omkara – upasana was the very basis of upanishadic-shAram. According to AruNyupanishad, a sanyasin is supposed to chant the Upanishad mantra "OM hi OM hi OM hi" while seeking bhikshA. That is his yangyOpavitham. (verse 5) In Katohpanishad, Yama explains NachikEtas the importance of OM. NachikEtas asks Yama (Ka – 2.14) to unveil what he (Yama) sees as beyond dharma & adharma, cause & effect and the created & the yet to be created ones. Yama's answer is "OM" (Ka 2.15 & 2.16) "Let me explain you in brief that which is glorified by all vEdas, sought after by all tapas and to attain which brahmacharyam is followed. It is OM. This akshara is Brahmam. This alone is para-brahmam. This belongs to the one who desires for it." Yama continues to extol the greatness of this akshara and relates it to Brahman in the succeeding verses. NarayanOpanishad expresses the similar view , " Brahma purusham pranava swaroopam / akAra ukArO makAra ithi / tha anEkadha samabhavat thadOmithi yamukthwa muchyathE yOgI janma samsara bhandhanAt/ (Na Up 5) The meditation on Om relieves one from the cycle of rebirth. When a person anchors pranvam in his Atman and continues the meditation, he can see the paramAtman, so says BrahmOpanishad. (AtmAnamaraNim kruthwa pranavanchOthraraNim.. 18) KaivalyOpanishad expresses the similar view to weed off pApam. (Brah up- 1.11) SvEthaswatara upanishad echoes the same in verse 1.14 as a means to see God. But a scientific definition of Brahman as Om has been given by Taiittriya upanishad while the working of Pranava is detailed in MAndukya upanishad. In verse 1.8, Taii upanishad claims that OM symbolises `acceptance' of whatever we do by chanting OM in the beginning. It symbolises that you are being listened to when you chant OM and begin any activity. It is Brahmam. It is sarvam. But what happens when we chant OM and meditate on other devatas - like OM ganEshaya namaha, Om Shivaya namaha etc? The answer can be found in the teachings of PippalAdha in Prashna Upanishad. Without mincing words the sage says that the upAsakA reaches the abode of the Lord meditated by OM. It is herein the logic is derived that the one meditating on Narayana with Omkar (ashtAkshara manthra) reaches moksha / Brahman. But those mediatating on, say, Shiva (Om shivaya namaha) reaches the abode of Shiva and so on. The derivation of Omkar found in Mumukshuppadi (MP)can be said to be traced (in my opinion) to the prakaran 1 of Mandukya upanishad wherein kArikai 24 to 29 explain Omkar as the kAraNathwa of entire creation thereby holding Brahman / Narayana as the karanthwam and rakshkathwam –something expounded in depth by MP. The characteristics associated with a, u and m have already been discussed in the list and fellow devotees may also be aware of MP explanation of the same (akAra with piratti sambhandam as rakshakathwam, makAra as the 25th letter signifying jiva and ukAra as signifying that the jiva is subservient to Lord.) Hence I am not going into the details of the same and instead confine myself to the discussion on what Mandukya says. An individual experiences the gross world through three states of mind, viz, the waking, the dream and the deep sleep state. In the deep sleep state the body is causal. OM represents the Turiya state of conscience. It is the fourth apart from the three states of Waking (Jagrat) Dream (Swapna) and deep Sleep (Sushupti) which have no independent existence. OM is the essence of all the vEdas and represents the super consciousness, the Bliss and the Brahman. (Moondru thazhiyilE (MP) and `aaichiyar matthinaal vOsaippaduttha.." (Thiruppavai) The relevance of these in this context is omitted here on the assumption that readers are already aware of this. ) The three factors of gross body earth, water and fire constitute the waking state and is represented by `a'. This is the visva (microcosm) and virat(macrocosm) The sound ceases when `m' is uttered which represents the deep sleep state where the individual is in union with Brahman. It is Prajne in the individual level and Isvara at the cosmic level. The intermediate `u' represents the dream state when ego, the mind functions the role of both the subject and the object. The mind creates its own universe. The total subtle body of the universe is known as Hiranyagarbha and Taijasa at the individual level. The combined utterance of the 3 sounds is OM. The sound ultimately gradually calms into stillness or silence. In this state the individual has transcended the 3 states of gross level and experiences absolute bliss and resides in the transcendental self. The combined OM sysmbolises the subtle Brahman from which all sound forms emnate. This is the 4th stage of the mind, the Turiya state which is the characteristic feature of the Atman. In all these three states the objects are limited by the space., time and cause and the Turiya is beyond 3 states where the atman is divested of all its ignorance and becomes aware of the perpetual identity with the Brahman. It is by constant practice an aspirant endowed with faith, devotion and having overcome the senses and anger attains perfect absorption with the Brahman. The opening verse of Chandogya upa claims (1.1.1) that the syllable OM is the closest to Brahman and it should be recited aloud. The sound has its origin in the naval (Pashyanti) heart (Madhyama) and speech ( vaikhari) The three forms of sound are related to Prana, manas and Buddhi. The fire that exists in the pores of woods manifests itself through the vigourous friction as spark. Similarly, the Paramatman which lies in the spinal column with the Prana manifests itself in the vaikhari form of sound (Uddhva Gita –vii 18) OM is discovered by the upanishadic seers to represent Brahman in sound form –Nada Brahman. The a, u & m represent creation, protection & dissolution ( the controversy on vishnu in this context is needless as the idea propounded is that all these 3 jobs are based on the substratunm called Brahman) Om also represents the three gunas. Finally, Ishavasyam declares (verse 17) that the `Lord who is OmkAra swaroopi, sankalpa swaroopi and agni swaroopi would think of me (the jiva) and of my actions when my body is reduced to ashes.' A reciprocative view of this is found in BG 8.12 &13, wherein the Lord says that the one who leaves the body by chanting OM attains His abode. In essence, the Lord who is the Omkara swaroopi thinks of the Jiva at the time of his death (Isha up) and the jiva must meditate on the Lord as OmkAr at the time of his death (Gita). Either way it is OM that is the route to salvation!! Jayasree Sarnathan. In bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com, "balajiv_54"wrote: > friends, > > i have been thinking of the meaning of the manthra ohm. > we use it with all gods names. say om namo narayana,om namasivaya,om > sakthi, om muruga etc. if we are not to worship other than vishnu who > is paramapurusha then why is this ohm attached with other gods.is > this ohm denote the parabrahmam which has no form. i shall be grate > ful if any one can enlighten me on this. > > balaji -- In bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com, "balajiv_54" wrote: > friends, > > i have been thinking of the meaning of the manthra ohm. > we use it with all gods names. say om namo narayana,om namasivaya,om > sakthi, om muruga etc. if we are not to worship other than vishnu who > is paramapurusha then why is this ohm attached with other gods.is > this ohm denote the parabrahmam which has no form. i shall be grate > ful if any one can enlighten me on this. > > balaji -------------------------------------------------------------- - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH - To Post a message, send it to: bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com Group Home: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
- Next message: Narasimhan KP: "Significance of Pranavam."
- Previous message: Madhavakkannan V: "PeriyAzhwAr Thirumozhi 4.3-bhAgawathas [dAsabhUthar] have right to sell us even."
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ]