Om
object · 3 works · 3 mentions · 8 anchored passages
praṇava · OM · Oṃ · akṣara · oṃ · the half-mora · the single syllable · the syllable
in the texts
Sāṃkhyatattvavivecana
The sacred syllable Oṃ (praṇava), analyzed into three ordinary morae plus a fourth 'half-mora' identified with the sphoṭa/supreme brahman.
having declared that the three morae of the praṇava (Oṃ), in the forms a, u, and m, consist of the triad of deities beginning with Brahmā, the śrutis teach a fourth mora of the praṇava, consisting of the supreme brahman that transcends the triad of deities.
"the half-mora abides, eternal, which is in particular not [separately] utterable.
] When the praṇava is uttered, the particular tone that arises—like the sound of a conch or a flute—is the nāda;
Brahmabindūpaniṣad
The sacred syllable OM, used as the audible support for meditation leading toward the soundless supreme.
One should join [the practice of] yoga by means of the audible [syllable, OM];
praṇava / oṃ (the sacred syllable OM).
The akṣara (the imperishable;
Manusmṛti
The mystical monosyllable considered the essence of the Veda and identified with Brahma.
but the syllable (`Om`) should be known as imperishable, for it is Brahma and Prajāpati himself.
Prajāpati drew forth from the three Vedas the letter A, the letter U, and the letter M, and also the mystical utterances (*bhūr, bhuvaḥ, svar*).
A Brāhmaṇa who knows the Veda, by reciting this syllable (`Om`) and this *Savitri* verse, preceded by the *vyāhṛtis*, at both twilights, becomes endowed with the merit of the Veda.