II. Orthography of Om.
1. The letter ॐकारः Firstly: Om with respect, to its name and utterance is called Onkára, that is, the nasal On in combination with the adjunct kára (signifying a sound) and meaning the letter On. For all sounds whether vocal (स्वरबर्ण) or sonant (व्यञ्जन), nasal (सानुनासिक) or not-nasal (निरनुनासिक), articulate (ब्यक्तस्फुट) or onomatopoeia (अब्यक्तास्फुट), are denominated letters; as the letters a &c. (अकारादि) are called vowels, the letters Ka &c. (ककारादि) consonants; so the nasals Án, in (आं इँ) &c., as also the inarticulate ones (फङ्कार) &c., are all letters; but the Onkára is the root of all; thus ॐकारेण सर्ब्बबाक् सस्तणोति । माण्डुक्योपनिषद् । Manu calls it a letter in the passage:—“This one letter is the emblem of the Most High”. II.83. Vide Dr. Mitra’s Ch’hánd Up, p. 4.
2. A conjunct Letter युक्ताक्षरः But here a question is raised as to whether a conjunct vowel or consonant may with propriety be styled a single letter or not. To this says Dr. R. L. Mitra in a foot-note to his translation of the Ch’hándogya Upanishad that—“It is true that this emblem conveys two sounds, that of O and m, nevertheless it is held to be one letter in the above sense; and we meet with instances even in the ancient and modern languages of Europe that can justify such privileges, such as xi and psi, reckoned single letters in Greek, and Q. W. X. in English and others.” (Ch 1. Sec. 1. p. 4). So is lámálif in Persian &c. The Sanskrit conjunct ksha (क्ष) is considered a single consonant, when they say, ककारादि क्षकारान्तं ब्यञ्जनं परिकीर्त्तितं ।
3. The Syllable Om ओमक्षरं । It is also like every other single or conjoint letter of the alphabet (युक्तायुक्त बर्ण) termed an akshara (अक्षर) or syllable, which forms either a word by itself when standing alone, or part of a word followed by an adjunct as ॐ, ॐकार, ओमक्षर &c.; where the first is a word of one syllable or monosyllabic term एकाक्षर, and the others as dissyllabic and trisyllabic words (द्ब्यक्षर, त्र्यक्षर शब्द), according as they are uttered by the help of one or more articulations of the voice. Om akshara apart from its other signification of the Imperishable and the like, and its symbolism of the Supreme Spirit, is also used in the sense of a syllable in the original writings and their translations. Thus says the Kathopanishad; एतद्ध्येबाक्षरंब्रह्म एतद्ध्येबाक्षरंपरं । एतद्ध्येबाक्षरं ज्ञात्वा ब्रह्मलोकेमहीयते ।
Manu says:—“That which passeth not away is declared to be the syllable om, thence called akshara.” He calls it also a triliteral monosyllable. II. 84. So says Mon. Wm: “Om is a most sacred monosyllable significant of the Supreme Being.” (Indian Wisdom p. 103 note 1).
4. The character Om ॐकार ।Omkára likewise indicates the written character Om, because the suffix Kára like Ákára is used to signify its written form or sign (आकार चिह्न), and in this sense the Bengali ও, corresponds with Greek character w omega the inverted ও, or the Omikron = English O, and Oao Persian, and likens to the Sanskrit bindu O, which is but another name of Om (ओंकारः ब्रह्मबिन्दुः). But the ও is formed by the union of two dots or cyphers (O bindu) like Greek Omega of two omicrons and the English w of two u’s. So says the Gáyatrí Tantra, ॐकारो ब्रह्म बिन्दुर्बिन्दुद्वय बिनिर्म्मतः । अधोर्द्ध बिन्दुरित्यादि । And again: समनुः परमाराध्या संयुक्ता ब्रह्म बिन्दुना. “It is the union of two circlets, one being the symbol of one’s own divinity and the other that of Brahma.” This character by itself is regarded with high veneration as an emblem of the Infinite, independent of its meaning or utterance, and is marked on the forehead of every devotee in the form of a spot or crescent.
5. The Symbol ॐ बिन्दुः । The symbolical Om is represented by four cyphers as placed over one another अधोर्द्धबिन्दु चतुष्टयं, and each designated by a different name in the aforesaid Tantra, and supposed to form the cavities of the heart and mouth of Brahm, चतुर्वर्ग प्रदा बिद्या चतुर्बिन्द्वात्मिकासदा । आद्यन्ते प्रणवंदत्वा गायत्रीं प्रजपेद्दिज । बामाधर्म्म प्रदा बिन्दुर्ज्येष्ठा अर्थ प्रदा तथा । रौद्रीकाम प्रदाबिन्दुः श्रीबिन्दुः मोक्षदायिनी ॥ महेश्वर बदनं बिन्दुः श्रीबिष्णोः हृदयंतथा ॥ मोक्षदाताच श्रीबिन्दुः चतुर्बिन्दु बिनिर्णयः ॥ These bindus or cyphers are differently named in the Vedánta, as we shall shortly come to see under the denominations of omkára. (No. IV).
6. Symbolized as Jagannátha.
The best representation of Om is the image of the god Jagannátha, which is said to be an incarnation of the mystic syllable प्रणबाबतार, or made in the form of Om, and not in that of Buddha, as some of our antiquarians have erroneously supposed it to be. There is a learned dissertation on the subject of Jagannátha’s representation of Onkára to be found in one of the early articles of the Asiatic Society’s Researches, where the reader will get much more light on this mysterious subject.
7. Comparison of om and on. It will further be found on comparison that ॐ bears not only a great resemblance to the Greek on written as ȣ with the nasal above the O, but their perfect agreement with each other in sense will leave no ground of suspecting their identity with one another, as it will be fully treated of afterwards.
III. The Ortheopy Or Analysis of Om.
1. A Monad. We have already seen that the circular form of the letter O in Om, called a bindu dot or cypher, was used like a geometrical point to denote a monad without parts, and represent the Supreme Being subsisting as the central point of the great circle of Universe, and filling the infinity of its circumference with his own life and light. The Vedas and the early theology of the Upanishads invariably understood the Om as synonymous with One, and expressive of the unity of the God-head; as in the motto ओमेकमेबाद्वितीयं ब्रह्म । ओमेकामेवैतत् । of the Vedantists, corresponding with the monotheistic creed of Christians and Mahomedans “God is one” and “without an equal” “Wahed Ho la Sharik laho” “The unity of the God-head is the dictum of the Koran and Vedánta.” (Mon. Wm’s. Hindu Wisd. p. XLI. 1).
The Manduka and similar Upanishads describe the majesty of the one. (Weber, p. 161). “That one breathed breathless by itself” &c. Max Müller’s A. S. Lit. p. 560.
2. Om a Duad. Formerly the letter O of om, on, and One was considered a pure and simple sound, and made to represent a monad or Unity; but in course of time and with the progress of language it was found out to be a compound letter (सन्ध्यक्षर), formed by the union of a + u = o (अ + उ = ओ), and two o’s in w omega or two u’s in w. (See. S. Gr. & Baine’s grs). Then the perfect figure of the great circle was considered to be composed of two semicircles which the w = उ was made to represent. This gave rise to the conception of a duality in the divine person, and hence grew the theory of the male and female पुरुष प्रकृति in the original androgyne of the Sankhya and Hara Gauri (हर गौरी and उमा महेश्वर) of the Tantra. Hence it is said; अनइत्यक्षरं ब्रह्म शब्द प्रकृति कुण्डली । अनन्यं हिबिनाब्रह्मनास्ति कुत्रापि सुन्दरि । इति गायत्री तन्त्रं ।
The syllable ov = on is a word for Brahma (God), and the other cypher represents nature (the world). There is no Brahma, but ov = ॐ or ओम् । The dualism of Sankhya yoga is too well known to require an explanation.
3. Om a Triad. At a later period and posterior to the dualistic doctrines of the aforesaid Tantra and Pátanjala yoga systems, the Om branched out into a Triad by the union of the nasal letter m or n with the उ or w, and forming the conjoined character ॐ and wn in Sanskrit and Greek. Henceforward Onkára is regarded as a triliteral word composed of a+u+m to represent a triplicate deity. Thus says Monier Williams:—
“Om is supposed to be composed of three letters A, U, M, which form a most sacred monosyllable (एकाक्षर), significant of the Supreme Being as developing himself in the Triad of gods, Brahmá, Vishnu and Siva” (Indian Wisdom p. 103 note I). So we have in Manu II. 83 and 84:—
अकारञ्चाप्युकारञ्च मकारञ्च प्रजापतिः ।
बेवदत्रयाग्निरुदहत भूर्भुबः स्वरितीति ॥
अकारो विष्णुरुद्दिष्टः उकारस्तु महेश्वरः ।
मकारउच्यते ब्रह्मा प्रणबेन त्रयोमतः ॥
So also the Bhagavad Gitá. VIII. 13.
Here the two halves of the circle उ comprise Vishnu and Siva as joined in the bipartite body of Hari Hara alias Hara Hari, adored by the dualists called द्वैतवादिनः, or more fully as हरिहराद्वैतवादिनः and Brahmá the god of Manu, is placed in the circlet above the great circle of his created world. We need but hint to our readers in this place, to observe how the original word Om or Ov and One developed itself into the existing faith of trinity. The Tántrica Sivites however place their god Siva in the upper semicirclet formed by म = m the initial of Maheswara (महेश्वर), and say:—
ॐकारपूर्ब्बमुद्धृत्य ब्रह्मबिष्णुशिबात्मकं ।
अधोबिन्दु ब्रह्मबिष्णुरुर्द्धबिन्दु शिबात्मकं ॥
This is more reasonable to believe from both the letter m’s and its god Siva’s amalgamation with the early Aryan duality to form the present faith of triality at a much later period.
4. Om the Tetrad. We next see a further progress of Om in its development from the triliteral to a quadriliteral form, by its assumption of a crescent or half circlet (कुण्डली) according to the Tantra, or a half Mátrá (अर्द्ध मात्रा) of the Vedánta. The Tantra says तदूर्द्ध कुण्डलीकारा शक्तिः । The Maitrí Upanishad mentions only of the three Mátrás of Om (Ch. vi Sec. 3).
“But the Mundak Upanishad” says Weber, “refers to the half Mátrá (mora), to which the word Om here appearing in its full glory, is entitled in addition to its three Mátrás (morae) a. u. m. This is evidently a later addition by some one who did not like to miss the mention of the subject in the Atharvana Upanishad in which it occurs.” p. 160. Again says he—“The Mándukya Upanishad which treats of the three and half Mátrás of the word Om, is to be looked upon as the real Mándukya, all the rest is the work of the Gaudapáda, whose pupil Govinda was the teacher of Sankaráchárya about the seventh century A. D.”
5. Om the Pentad. We find next a quinquiliteral figure of Om in its component parts of the three mátrás, m, and the bindu or चन्द्र बिन्दु the fifth.
6. Om the Hexad. And then again with a sextuple or Hexaliteral Om composed of the sixth member of Náda (नाद) over and above the aforesaid five parts.
7. Om the Heptad. The septuple Om is described in the Ramatápaniya upanishad as consisting of अ, उ, म, नाद, बिन्दु, शक्ति and नम । Weber’s A. S. Lit. p. 312.
8. Om the Octad. This consists of the aforesaid seven parts, which together with Sánti called in Persian Sákat complete the number, Weber. Id. p. 315.