Om in Kaṭhopaniṣad
In Kaṭhopaniṣad, Lord Yama presents Om as the answer to Naciketā’s questions. He defines Om as the goal propounded by the Vedas, and proclaims that anyone who meditates on the syllable Om can attain Brahman.
sarve vedā yatpadam āmananti,
tapāṃsi sarvāṇi ca yad-vadanti |
yadicchanto brahmacaryaṃ caranti,
tat te padaṃ saṅgraheṇa bravīmi ||
om-ityetat||
- Ka.Up.-I.2.15
Tr.: I will tell you briefly, that goal, which all the Vedas propound in one voice, which all the austerities speak of, and wishing for which, people practice brahmacarya. Indeed, it is Om. - Ka.Up.-I.2.15
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In the next two mantras, Kaṭhopaniṣad extols Om as the highest goal of all religious striving by affirming it to be the imperishable support and the best means for resting the mind. Ka.Up.-I.2.16 and 17
etadhyevākṣaraṃ brahma, etadhyevākṣaraṃ param |
etadhyevākṣaraṃ jïātvā yo yad-icchati tasya tat ||
- Ka.Up.-I.2.16
Tr.: This letter Om represents the Saguṇa Brahman (Hiraṇyagarbha), and this letter Om, is indeed the Nirguṇa Brahman. Knowing Om, one gains whichever one meditates upon. - Ka.Up.-I.2.16
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And again,
etad-ālamanaṃ śreṣṭham, etad-ālambanaṃ param |
etad-ālambanaṃ jñātvā, brahmaloke mahīyate ||
- Ka.Up.-I.2.17
Tr.: This is the best medium, this medium is the supreme. One who meditates on this medium, becomes adorable in the world of Brahman. - Ka.Up.-I.2.17
For those aspirants who are at the beginning of their spiritual journey, Om has been indicated both as a means (for meditation on), and a symbol (for worship) of the Self, which is devoid of all attributes, and which was inquired about in ‘Tell me of that thing, which you see as different from virtue’, etc. (Ka.Up.-I.2.14). It has also been presented similarly, for similar aspirants, who wish to know the conditioned Brahman.
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Om in Muṇdakopaniṣad
Through an imagery borrowed from archery, Muṇdakopaniṣad indicates how the articulation Om was integrated into the practice of meditation is accordance with Indian thought. It says (II.2.4) that Om is the bow, and Brahman is the target. One must bend towards the target without diverting the mind. One must make oneself identical to the arrow.[i]
praṇavo dhanuḥ śarohyātmā, brahma tal-lakṣyam-ucyate |
apramattena veddhavyaṃ, śaravat-tanmayo bhavet ||
- Muṇ.Up.-II.2.4
Tr.: Om is the bow, ātmā is the arrow, Brahman is the target. An unerring person should shoot at the said target, Brahman. After hitting the target, one should identify with Brahman, like the arrow. - Muṇ.Up.-II.2.4
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Muṇ- dakopani 7779;ad further asks the aspirant to meditate upon ātmā as Om,
arā iva rathanābhau saṃhatā yatra nādyaḥ |
sa eṣo’ntaścarate bahudhā jāyamānaḥ ||
omityevaṃ dhyāyatha ātmānam |
svasti vaḥ parāya tamasaḥ parastāt ||
- Muṇ.Up.-II.2.6
Tr.: The nerves that are fixed in the heart, like the spokes that are fixed on the hub of a chariot wheel, moves this Self by becoming multifold, as it were. In order to go to the other shore beyond darkness without obstacles, meditate on the Self with the help of Om. - Muṇ.Up.-II.2.6
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Om in Praśnopaniṣad
The subject matter in the Praśnopaniṣad is in form of questions and answers by Ṛṣi Pippalāda.
Three Upaniṣads where Om has been dealt with Māṇdukya, Muṇdaka, and Praśna are in the Gopatha-Brāhmaṇa of Atharvaveda - Paippalāda Śākhā. The fifth praśna - question in Praśnopaniṣad expands the meditation stated in the verse ‘Om is the bow’ etc. of Muṇ.Up.-II.2.4
Satyakāma and five others approach Ṛṣi Pippalāda. Satyakāma asked about the fate of the person after leaving the body, while chanting Om. Pippalāda answers that the person chanting Om while leaving his body, would reach the highest abode, from where he would have a vision of the infinity. Pippalāda then, explains in detail, the three mātrās of Om as a, u, and m comparing them to the three Vedas. He concluded saying, ‘I know about Brahman, only thus far.’
atha hainaṃ śaibyaḥ satyakāmaḥ papraccha| sa yo ha vai tad-bhagavan! manuṣyeṣu prāyaṇāntam-oṃkāram-abh- idhyā yéta| katamaṃ vāva sa tena lokaṃ jayatīti ||
- Pr.Up.-V.1
Tr.: Next Satyakāma, the son of Śibi asked him (Pippalāda), ‘O Venerable Sir! Which world will that person conquer, who among people, intently meditates on Om in that wonderful manner until death (for the whole life)?’ - Pr.Up.-V.1
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Praśnopani- ad identifies Oṃkāra with Para-Brahman (Nirguṇa) and Apara-Brahman (Saguṇa), and considers it as the only āyatana, resting place or support to attain either of the above two aspects of Brahman.
tasmai sa hovāca | etad vai satyakāma! paraṃ ca aparaṃ ca brahma yad omkāraḥ |
tasmād-vidvān-etena-eva-- yatanena-ekataram anveti || - Pr.Up.-V.2
Tr.: To him (Satyakāma) he (Pippalāda) replied, O Satyakāma! This very Brahman that is known as Absolute (para) or conditioned (apara) is indeed this Om. Therefore, the enlightened person attains either of the two (param or aparam) through this means (Om) alone. - Pr.Up.-V.2
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sa yadi-ekamātram-abhidhyāyīta- , sa tenaiva saàveditas-tūrnam-eva jagatyām-abhisampadyate | tamṛco manuṣyalokam-upanayante, sa tatra tapasā
brahmacaryeṇa śraddhayā sampanno mahimānam-anubhavati |
- Pr.Up.-V.3
Tr.: Should he meditate on Om as consisting of one letter, he becomes enlightened even by that, and very quickly attains a human birth on the earth. The Ṛk-mantras lead him to human birth; being endowed there with self-control, continence, and faith, he experiences greatness. - Pr.Up.-V.3
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atha yadi dvimātreṇa manasi sampadyate, so’ntarikṣaṃ yajurbhir-unnīyate,
sa somaloke vibhūtim-anubhūya punar-āvartate |
- Pr.Up.-V.4
Tr.: Now again, if he meditates on Om with the help of the second letter (u), he becomes identified with the mind (of which the Moon is the presiding deity). By the Yajur-mantras he is lifted to the intermediate space (between heaven and earth), the world of the Moon. Having experienced greatness in the lunar-world, he turns round again (towards the human world). - Pr.Up.-V.4
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Further, it states that, one who meditates with the help of it (Om) until departure is relieved of his wrong-deeds, just as a snake is relieved of its slough, and is lifted to the highest.
yaḥ punar-etaṃ trimātreṇa-om-iti-anena-eva- -akṣareṇa paraṃ-puruṣam-abhidhyāyī- ta, sa tejasi surye sampannaḥ | yathā pādodaras-tvacā vinir-mucyata, evam ha vai sa pāpmanā vinirmuktaḥ; sa sāmabhir-unnīyate brahmalokam | sa etasmāt-jīvaghanāt-parāt-p- araṃ puriśayaṃ puruṣam-īkṣate|tad-etau ślokau bhavataḥ |
- Pr.Up.-V.5
Tr.: Again, anyone who meditates on this (Om), as the supreme Puruṣa with the help of this very syllable Om, possessed of three letters (a, u, m), becomes unified in the Sun (does not return from the Sun), consisting of light. As a snake is freed from its slough, the dead skin, similarly, the person becomes free from sin, and is lifted up to the brahmaloka (region of Hiraṇyagrabha) by Sāma-mantras. From this total mass of beings (that Hiraṇyagarbha is), he (this enlightened person) sees the Puruṣa who has entered all the beings, and is higher than the higher One (viz. Hiraṇyagarbha). Based on this, there are two verses. - Pr.Up.-V.5
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tisro mātrā mṛtyumatyaḥ prayuktā anyonyasaktā anaviprayuktāḥ, kriyāsu bāhyābhyantara-madhyamāsu samyak prayuktāsu na kampate jñaḥ |
- Pr.Up.-V.6
Tr.: The three letters (a, u, m) (by themselves) are within the range of death. But if they are closely joined (in meditation on the Self), one to another, are not divergently applied to different objects, and are applied to the three courses of action - external, internal and intermediate - that are properly resorted to, then the enlightened person does not quiver (i.e. remains unperturbed). - Pr.Up.-V.6
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The last verse of the section sums up all the foregoing concepts,
ṛgbhir-etaṃ yajurbhir-antarikṣaṃ sāmabhir-yat tat kavayo vedayante, tam-omkāreṇa-eva-āyatanena- -anveti vidvān yat tac-chāntam-ajaram-amṛtam-a- bhayaṃ paraṃ ceti |
- Pr.Up.-V.7
Tr.: The intelligent persons know this world that is attainable by Ṛk-mantras, the intermediate space is achievable by the Yajur-mantras, and that which is reached by the Sāma-mantras. The enlightened person attains that (three-fold) world (of Hiraṇyagarbha) through Om alone; and through Om as the aid, he reaches that also, which is the Absolute Reality that is quiet, and beyond old-age, death and fear.
- Pr.Up.-V.7
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Swāminī- Ātmaprajñānanda Saraswatī is a Vedāntācāryā and Vyākaraṇācāryā. She teaches Vedānta and Pāṇini at Ārsha Vidyā Vikāś Kendra in Bhubaneswar. She is the author of three published books - Nomenclature of the Vedas , Ṛṣikās of the Ṛgveda and Om: The Sound Symbol.
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[i] The same imagery is reportedly found in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa.
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