Hinduism - About Ohm

The supreme combination of letters, denotes the supreme entities Sri Sri Radha-Krsna and indicates the acme of spiritual tendency inherent in all jiva souls. Although om is known and recognized widely in most spiritual cultures of Eastern philosophy from the Buddhists of Tibet to the Vedantists of Benares to the Theosophists of Los Angeles, at present only Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his sampradaya have actually understood the full transcendental meaning of om given in the Vedas, the Upanisads, the Vedanta, and the Srimad-Bhagavatam. In the Rg-Veda we find the following information:

om ity etad brahmano nedistam nama yasmad uccaryamdna eva samsara-bhayat tarayati tasmad-ucyate tara iti om asya jananto nama cid-viviktan mahaste visno sumatim bhajamahe on tat sat tato 'bhut trivrd-omkaro yo 'vyakta prabhavah svardt yat tal-lingam bhagavato brahmanah paramatmdnah



"One who chants OM, which is the closest form of Brahman, approaches Brahman. This liberates one from the fear of the material world; therefore, it is known as tarak brahman. O Visnu, your self-manifest name, om, is the eternal form of cognizance. Even if my knowledge about the glories of reciting this name is incomplete, still, by the practice of reciting this name I will achieve perfect knowledge. He who has unmanifested potencies and is fully independent manifests the vibration omkara, which indicates himself. Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan are the three forms He manifests."

OM is described throughout the Vedic literature and by the acaryas, great spiritual masters, as the seed conception of theism. In the words of Srila Sridhara Maharaja, "OM means 'Yes.' Always, wherever we cast our glance to search, in one word the answer is 'yes.' Yes, what you are searching for, is. You are searching for happiness, pleasure, joy, fulfillment. You are in want, and in one word--yes--fulfillment is there. OM, takes the form of gayatri, then the Vedas and Vedanta-sutra, then it takes the shape of Srimad-Bhagavatam and the lila, the divine pastimes, of the Lord.



As a tree or fruit-bearing creeper begins with a seed, so everything begins with OM; the gayatri mantra begins with OM; the Vedas begin with OM; the Upanisads begin with OM; the Vedanta begins with OM, and the Srimad Bhagvatam begins with OM. Therefore, it can safely be said that our search for Sri Krsna begins with OM. OM is the seed of theism, nonetheless, there is a class of philosophers known as mayavadis who suggest that OM denotes Brahman, or the impersonal aspect of the absolute truth. This, however, does not correspond with the conclusion of the Vedas or the statements of the Supreme Brahman Himself. In Bhagavad-gita, Krsna Himself says, vedyam pavitram omkara. "I am the syllable OM." As such, OM is known as the maha vakya (mahamantra) in the Vedas.

OM clearly denotes Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the Vedantra-sutra begins with OM, yet the mayavadi philosophers stress the mantra tat tvam asi, which they interpret to mean "I am that," or "I am God", and they try to give less importance to OM.

OM should never be thought of as impersonal. That is perhaps the greatest misconception among many philosophers of transcendence since the time of Sankaracarya. The impersonal misconception of OM has become so popular that even personalist philosophers at the stage of practice are sometimes found to have developed an aversion to OM thinking it a means to impersonal realization.

OM for that matter is nondifferent than the sound of Krsna's flute. OM is never impersonal at any time--all that can be impersonal about OM is the misconception that one chooses to attach to it. The Gopala-tapani Upanisad (text 41 & 42) discusses OM, and clearly establishes its nondifference from the Supreme Personality of Godhead:

catuhsabdo bhavedeko hyomkarah samudahrtah tamaddevah paro rajas eti so-ahamityavvad haryatmanam gopalo- ahamiti bhavayet



"The sound vibration OM denotes the catur-vyuha-tattva of Sri Balarama, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, and Sri Krsna. As OM transcends the three qualities of material nature, so also one should know oneself to be beyond the identification with the material body. 'I am the eternal sevitor of Gopala (Sri Krsna the cowherd boy at Vrndavana)'--this consciousness must be maintained at all times."

The Gopala-tapani Upanisad (text 55 & 56) further enlightens us that from the devanagri script of OM we find the conjunct of four sounds to form one sound--A U M:

rohinitaanayo ramo akaraksara sambhavah taijasatmakah pradyumna ukaraksarasambhavah prajnatmako aniruddho vai makaraksarasambhavah ardha-matratmakah krsno yasmin vivam pratisthitam

"The letter 'A' denotes Balarama, the son of Rohini who is the substratum of the entire universe. The letter 'U' denotes Pradyumna, who is the Supersoul of the universe. The letter 'M' denotes Aniruddha, who is the Supersoul of each individual being in the universe. And the dot above the 'M' denotes Sri Krsna, the fountainhead of all Visnu incarnations."



Meditation on OM begins in this way, and one who has realized knowledge knows OM to be identical with Krsna, vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabhad. Such a great soul is very rare and can be understood to be the true knower of the Vedas. Yet a further enlightened idea found in the Gopala-tapani Upanisad (text 58) establishes the conception of OM as connotative of the supreme entities Sri Sri Radha-Krsna:

pranavatvena prakrtim vadanti brahmavadinah tasmad omkarasambhuto gopalo visvasambhuvah "The wise and enlightened sages declare that the svarupa-sakti of Bhagavan, Sri Radha, being the prime mula-praktri, is nondifferent from OM. Gopala, Sri Krsna, who is the creator, sustainer and destroyer of the universe, is also nondifferent from OM."

To emphasize that the seed of lila, or eternal pastimes, is inherent in the seed mantra OM, the next verse of Gopala-tapani (text 59) states that OM and the kama-bija-mantra, 'klim,' are also nondifferent.

Klim-aum-karasyaikyatvam pathyate brahavadibhih mathurayam visesna mam dhyayan moksam asnute "The brahmavadhis, men of transcendal wisdom, know it for certain that the kama-bija-mantra, klim, and the monosyllable OM are one and the same. One who goes to Mathura Puri and meditates on Vraja Gopala, by uttering either klim or OM, attains the ultimate destination of the soul after giving up this present material body."

Since OM and klim have been established by the Upanisads as nondifferent, we can thus examine the nature of the klim mantra to better understand the conception of the rasa-tattva, divine mellows, in OM. OM is complete with rasa, mellows, but it is in a seed form. It is also a fact that mantras such as the Gopala-mantra and the Kama-gayatri-mantra both begin with klim and are properly chanted by first uttering OM.



If one chants OM remembering the words of Gopala-tapani Upanisad and the words of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, then one can attain all spiritual perfection. But if one insists on considering OM as a manifestation of the impersonal Brahman, then one certainly cheats oneself of the chance of being reinstated as an eternal servant of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna. The impersonal conception as is preached by many of the so-called followers of Sankaracarya has simply caused a great confusion in the spritual field and his way of thinking should be strictly avoided by all aspiring devotees. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has personally said, mayavadi-bhasya sunile haya sarvanasa. "Anyone who hears the impersonal commentary of the mayavada school is completely doomed."

If one comes under the sway of the impersonal conception, one certainly becomes no better than an atheist. Where is the question of theism if one says that God has no form or that he is God? Theism means that there is God, his pleasure potency, Sri Radha, and their eternal servants, the jiva souls. Srila Prabhupada once said, "The sound of OM in the beginning of every Vedic hymn addresses the Supreme Lord. Because the impersonalists are very much afraid of addressing the Supreme Lord Krsna by His innumerable names, they prefer to vibrate the transcendental sound omkara. But they do not realize that omkara is the sound representation of Krsna. The jurisdiction of Krsna consciousness extends everwhere and one who knows Krsna consciousness is blessed. Those who do not know Krsna are in illusion, and so knowledge of Krsna is liberation, and ignorance of Him is bondage."

The goal of meditation on OM is never to give up one's individual identity and merge with the Supreme. That is inherent in the mantra as I have stated in my opening paragraph. The inherent identity of the jiva soul as the eternal servant of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna is included in the OM mantra. This is given support by Srila Jiva Goswami in his description of the alphabetical constituents of the manta as follows:

a-karenocyate krsnah sarva-lokaika-nayakah u-karenocyate radha ma-karo jiva-vacakah



"OM is a comination of letters, A, U, M. The letter 'A' refers to Krsna. The letter 'U' refers to Radha, and the letter 'M' refers to the jiva soul."

Thus, according to Jiva Goswami the inherent position of the jiva soul in the OM mantra is that of a maidservant of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna. Now one may ask the question that if even the service of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna is inherent in OM as in klim, that what need is there to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra?

Krsna-mantra haite habe samsara-mocana Krsna-nama haite pabe krsnera carana

"The Krsna gayatri mantra, or OM, liberates one from repeated birth and death in this world: the holy name of Krsna gives one shelter at the lotus feet of Krsna." (Cc Adi 7.73)

pancama purusartha sei prema-mahadhana krsnera madhurya-rasa karaya asvadana

"Love of Godhead is so exalted that it is considered to be the fifth goal of human life. By awakening one's love of Godhead, one can attain the platform of conjugal love, tasting it even during the present span of life." (Cc Adi 7.144)

The gayatri mantra or OM, helps us up to the stage of liberation, and then the mantra retires. The holy name of Krsna, however, continues even after liberation. In fact it is the holy name of Krsna that enables us to develop spontaneous love of Krnsa.

OM is consedered the bija, or seed, whereas Krsna nama is considered the phalam, or fruit. The fruit, which is seed and palatable to our taste, has the seed within. Thus OM is considered to be present in Krsna nama. One can say that Krsna nama is also present in OM. That is true, but one cannot taste the sweetness of Krsna nama in OM. Chewing the seed is not comparable to chewing the fruits. The juice of the fruit of the holy name of Krsna is the sweet taste of pure love of Godhead.



OM emanates from the flute of Sri Krsna; it then manifests as gayatri, then as the Vedas, then as Vedanta, then as Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the last verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam recommends the chanting of the holy names.

nama-sankirtanam-yasya sarva-papa-pranasanam pranamo duhkha-samanas tam namami harim param

"Krsna's holy name can relieve us from all undesirable sinfulness, all filthy characteristics, and all miseries. Chant the name of Krsna! Do this; nothing else is necessary. Take this! Chant the holy name of Krsna and begin your real life in this dark age with the most broad and wide theistic conception. Let us all bow down to Him."

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to pass his days and nights ta Jagannatha Puri in the company of his intimate devotees tasting the unlimited mellow sweetness of love of Godhead by constantly chanting the holy names:

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has composed the Siksastaka, eight essential verses, in which he describes the complete development of pure devotion from beginning to end. From these verses we can fully understand the necessity for chanting the maha-mantra. In the first verse of Siksataka, the Lord says:

ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-mahadavagni-nirvapanam sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidyavadhu-jivanam anadambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam

"The holy name of Krsna cleanses the mirror of the heart and extinguises the fire of misery in the forest of birth and death. As the evening lotus blooms in the moon's cooling rays, the heart begins to blossom in the nectar of the name. And at last the soul awakens to its real treasure--a life of love with Krsna. Again and again tasting nectar, the soul dives and surfaces in the ever-increasing ocean of ecstatic joy. All phases of the self of which we may conceive are fully satisfied and purified and at last conquered by the all-auspicious influence of the holy name of Krsna.

In the Golden Volcano of Divine Love, Srila Sridhara Maharaja lists seven transcendental glories of chanting Krsna nama which are contained in this first verse of Siksastaka. He lists them as follows:



1.Krsna nama cleanses the mirror of the heart.
2....extinguishes the fire of material existence.
3....bestows the supreme goal of life
4....prepares us for wholesale surrender in madhurya-rasa.
5....gives a tase of the infinite ocean of ecstasy.
6....fully satisfies and purifies all phases of the self.
7....is the essential ingredient in all devotional service.


In the subsequent verses of the Siksastaka, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu describes the processes of devotional service, namely:

1.sadhu-sanga 2.bhajana-kriya, 3.anartha-nivrtti 4.mistha 5.ruci 6.asakti 7.bhava 8.vipralambra-prema 9.prema-bhajana--vipralambha-sambhoga

Those who have realized knowledge of the holy name of Krsna, by the grace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, know the Siksastaka to be a description of chanting the holy name.
The Hare Krsna maha-mantra is actually madhurya-mantra. It is filled with the most inconceivably sweet nectar of the madhurya-rasa. The madhurya-rasa means the sweetest rasa in which all other rasas are accommodated. The madhurya-rasa is called the mukhya-rasa, or the chief rasa. It is the sweetest and most acommodating rasa.

Srila Prabhupada often used to say that everything is there in the maha-mantra. Yes, that is a fact, Not only is OM present in the maha-mantra, but the twenty-four hour lila of Radha-Krsna, known as astakaliya-lila, is also nondifferent from the maha-mantra. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura has explained this in his Bhajan-rahasya with reference to the Siksastaka prayers: "In the sixteen word Hare Krsna mantra there are eight pairs of names. Corresponding to these eight pairs, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has recited the eight verses of Siksastaka.



The first pair of names--Hare Krsna--signifies the subduer of ignorance and performance of nama-sankirtana with faith.

The second pair--Hare Krsna--means Krsna's names are invested with all potencies. One should have attachment for bhajana by taking shelter of the holy names in the association of sadhus. Gradually by performing bhajana, anarthas (unwanted contamination) are destroyed. As anarthas are removed, nistha (firm faith) develops.

The third pair--Krsna Krsna--indicates the company of pure deovtees and becoming fixed in firm faith throughout the day and night.

By the fourth pair--Hare Hare--unmotivated devotion is awakened along with a taste for nama-sankirtana.

The fifth pair--Hare Rama--represents the tate for pure service along with remembrance of the holy names as prescribed in the Siksastaka.

In the sixth pair--Hara Rama--chanting in the beginning stage of transcendental emotion leads to material detachment and complete attachment to Krsna.

The seventh pair--Rama Rama--awakens attachment for the mellow of conjugal rasa, the shelter of Sri Radha's lotus feet, and feelings of separation.

The eighth pair--Hare Hare--leads to attainment of the goal of life--loving service to Radha-Krsna following in the mood of the gopis of Vrndavana throughout the eight divisions of day and night pastimes, astakaliya-lila."


The conclusion is that one who knows the meaning of OM is a real student of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and one who knows the meaning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam certainly chants the Hare Krsna maha-mantra as directed by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in His Siksastka.