OM(AUM)- Secrets, Symbolism, Significance & Sound

Transcript

Over the last couple of videos, we looked
at various ayurvedic concepts, the seven chakras, the science of tantra, and so on. If you look closer, you'll see that there
is a common word, that sprouts across all these topics.prANa. A very closely related word, is praNava. Also known as OmkAraH and EkAksharam, praNavaH
is the source, and controller of life, as we know it, and therefore, is also known as
the sound of the Divine, or the Divinity itself. In this video we are going to take a deeper
look at the origin, significance, symbolism and the right pronunciation, of praNava. The Sanskrit Channel is an effort to explore
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below. Let me ask you something. What is your definition of God ? Different
People might have different beliefs as to the shape, form and name of God, but all of
them, have a single founding principle. What is generally referred to, as God, is
that which is the Source of Creation. Now, Where is this source of creation. If you look closely at a plant sprout, or
an person grow, while the raw material for it, is being gathered from outside, the process
of creation itself, seems to be happening from within. So there is something which is created, and
the creator, is within the created. This is the beauty of all of it.All of creation,
animate or inanimate, is in some stage of creation, maintenance or destruction, all
happening from within. Now, this means, the source of creation, is
within every single thing that is created.Among all of creation, it is the human creature,
which is endowed with the capability of being conscious of this tremendous phenomenon.It
is ofcourse, a different matter that most of us, live and die, either ignoring, or denying
this possibility. While all of this may seem very puzzling at
first, there is a tremendous possibility here. The possibility of accessing the source of
creation within. Accessing Divinity within. Becoming Divine. This is all every God, Guide, or Guru has
been trying to help us with. Empowering our own capabilities, to access
the source of creation that is within ourselves. This is all every scripture on spirituality
is trying to help us with. To give us a process of turning inward, because
that is where Divinity lies. We know that the most obvious signal of life
within the body, is the breath. The sanskrit name for this, is prANa vAyu.
prANa, can be roughly translated, as life. The source of life, prANa, is praNava. This life force manifests itself, as the aspects
of creation, maintenance and destruction within the human body. The sounds attached with these are aa, uuu,
and mmm. These sounds are manifest inside the human
body, just below the navel, at the chest and above the throat. One need not go so far as to have an experiential
realization of these sounds inside the body. Just uttering these sounds out loud enough
will create a reverberation at these very specific body parts. Even phonetically, the sounds are in the order
of fully open mouth, partially closed mouth and a completely closed mouth So the sound of praNava, is a combination
of aaa, uuu, and mmm. There are whole systems of yOga, that make
use of these three sounds, in varying proportions to activate those particular locations, and
the corresponding chakras inside the human body. These three sounds when uttered together,
form the sound OM. This process is called as gUNa sandhi in Sanskrit
grammar. The sounds aa and uu when mixed together form
the sound O. It is not because there is a grammar rule,
that you need to pronounce it this way. It is natural for the mouth to produce the
sound "O", when mixing aa and uu together.It is because the mouth is physiologically arranged
that way, these grammar rules came about. When the sound aa, mixes with the sound ii,
it becomes ee. When it mixes with uu, it becomes O, you can
try these out for yourself as a fun exercise. So yes, it is pronounced OM, when you are
using praNava, as a word. A word to address the divine. This is why you see that almost all mantras
in Sanskrit, start with OM. And yes, it is a comination of the sounds
aaa, uuu and mmm. You chant them one after the other, if your
intentions are work on each particular chakra associated with the sound. The duration of the chant of each syllable
is based on what chakra you want to activate more. Some processes make use of just aaa, while
some make use of only mmmm. The best way to chant for general well-being,
is to utter all three, in equal measure. If you are still not convinced about this,
there's one final un-doubtable proof. Just look at the symbol for Om. It is a perfect comination of A, UU and MM
in the Devnagari script.Some say these are the sounds of brahma vishnu, and maheshwara. Some say this symbol is representative of
the face of gAnapati. Some say it represents the body of divine
mother, shakti. All of these arguments are true because this
is the sound of the divine, that reverberates within the human body, and in the same way,
across all creation. The significance of praNava, has been mentioned
in so many scriptures, from Patanjali Yoga Sutras, to Bhagavad Gita, and Upanishads. Lord Krishna says this repeatedly in Bhagavad
Gita. In the 7th chapter, He says aham praNavaH
sarva vEdEshu, I am praNava, among all knowledge. In the 9th chapter, he repeats, aham vEdyam
pavitram OmkAraH, I am the pure sound OM, that is to be realized. In 10th chapter he says it again, giRAmasmyEkamaksharam
: Among sounds, I am the single understroyable sound, which is Omkaara. In His Yoga Sutras, Patanjali says tasya vAchakaH
praNavaH(27), meaning the sound that denotes God, or Ishvara is praNava. Continuous meditation on the sound, and meaning
OM, one of the ways of doing Ishvara pranidhAna, is seen as an effective way of achieving the
objective of Yoga. Taittiriya upanishad says :
ओमिति ब्रह्म। ओमितीद्ँ सर्वम्
Om is the divine, Om is everything that exists. mAndukya upanishad says : Om-ity-etad-aksharam-idam
sarvam Om is the sound which is, everything that
is manifest. This same knowledge is expressed in various
ways in chandogya upanishad, brihadaranyaka upanishad, svetAsvatara upanishad and many
many others. Infact, atharvashikhA upanishad describes
each individual sound inside Om in so much detail, that it needs to be covered in a video
of it's own! Many cultures have tried to express this in
their own terminology. They had their own ways, laid down by masters,
who mastered this capability of accessing divinity within. This same sound, is what is being chanted
as Ameen in Islam, and Amen, in Christianity. So, if there are many version of this sound,
what makes the Sanskrit way of pronouncing it right ?
It is because of the significance of what happened in the land protected between the
Himalayas, and the Indian Ocean. It is the number of masters this protected
culture produced. We had so many people who became fully capable
of accessing the divinity within, We crafted language, arts, dance, music, math and medicine,
all of it focused on one thing. Enhancing the human capability of turning
inward and accessing divinity within. We even called our land bhAratam, and ourselves
bhAratIyAH, the land that revels in light of existence, and the people who are in tune
with it. That is exactly why sanskrit holds such a
treasure of invaluable information. I hope you enjoyed watching this video. If you wish to support the production of more
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where we explore hidden gems, in the Vast world of diverse sanskrit literature. See you in the next video, namaskaram