Om, ie, Omkar

With God’s grace I am attempting to trace the origin OM and deliberate on it. It is said that OM existed from the beginning and  in modern theory it may be sound and vibrations when universe came into existence when Big Bang occurred. It is a resonating sound  associated with its uniqueness which in Hindu religion known as Sanatan Dharm , is a symbol of worshiping the Universal God which belongs to all
irrespective of faith.

OM is an imperishable word. Om is the Universe. Every thing is Om.  All present, past and future is Om. All that can exist beyond bounds of time is OM, whether inert or living.That is our concept of All mighty GOD. In Short the symbol is OM. Also known as Omkar.

It is therefore very surprising that  we do not find its mention in  Rig Veda described as first Veda out of the four Vedas which  were assorted by Rishi Ved Vyas from Shruties which were visioned and heard by ancient Rishies and each shruti is named after the Rishi who visualized it while meditating and transferred it to his disciples  orally and so on. For example Gayatri Mantra  was visualized by Rishi Vishwamitra. And OM, though it was from eternity, was only brought to knowledge by Lord Vishnu. It is first mentioned In  Yajurveda and also many Upnishads such as Chandogya Upanishad, Katho Upnishad and Taitarya Upnishad and is prevalent in Som Veda and Atharva Ved. Atharva Veda specifically mentions that there is only ONE God and not two or three or four or five and so on. So this ONE God is nothing else but OM.

Now we observe that popular Mantras were initially mentioned as Namo Shivai,  Ganpati Namah (Yajur Veda), Bhur bhuvah swah tatsavitur varenium bhargodevasya dhi mahi dhiyo yonah prochodiyat (Rig Veda) etc are now modified as Om namo Shivai,Om Ganpati Namah, and Om Bhur bhuvah swah tatsavitur varenium bhargodevasya dhi mahi dhiyo yonah prochodiyat by adding Om as prefix showing that we are actually worshiping only ONE God.

Now we encounter various names in Vedas and Upnishads. These names are only qualities of ONE GOD which are now separately worshiped as gods and goddesses themselves. Creator, provider and destroyer are qualities of the ONE GOD too but treated separately as different gods (Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh) and we think that in Hinduism there are many gods and goddesses - that we do not believe in one God.This is totally baseless and shows our ignorance. The One
God OM is only seer or drista and he does not perform any work of creator, provider or destroyer.These names (gods and godesses) are his energies known as Maya (Para and Apara) shaktis inherent in him; but due to ignorance, we consider them as different entities which appear to be different from the ONE God.

But, there is nothing else in this world except One Almighty God  - the God of universe, nothing but OM. Even all living beings including human beings and all inert things are but a manifestation of him which we realize when we are aware of ourselves and when we are enlightened and liberated. We are only a minutest part of him and this becomes clear only when we realize ourselves as his ansh and are one with him as is a drop of water with the ocean. His inherent Shaktis or energies are in whole are known as Maya, i.e. Illusion, and it is of two kinds Para Prakriti and Apara Prakriti or  nature. It is through All mighty GOD’s power that nature works and it is because of illusion that we do not realize him as we cannot feel or see him through our five senses.

As somebody said, the three letters of GOD stand for Generator (Creator), Operator (Provider) and Destroyer,  that is the same as Brahma,Vishnu And Mahesh who as trinity or Iswar are responsible for the running of this World and Universe. The Almighty God gives them power and is the seer of all this. After we realize ourselves the illusion gets dissolved and we see OM the Almighty God stands as existence, consciousness and bliss.

So, "Om is the imperishable word.Om is the universe and this is the exposition          of OM. The past, present and the future - all that was, all that is and all that will be is OM. Likewise all else that may exist beyond the bounds of time is OM." says Mandooka upnishad.

First drista of OM was Vishnu himself. Now the word OM has spread all over the world as result of the spread of yoga, as the cosmic word is chanted with cosmic vibrations before the beginning of yogic exercises all over the world. We pray  to OM to give mindfulness awakening and devotion and find love so that we realize ourselves to be same as he.

Om shanty,shanty,shanty.

- Avdhesh Mathur