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OM / The Praṇava (Auṃ)

One syllable held to contain all reality — and the silence after it points beyond.

OM (more precisely Auṃ) is the most sacred sound in the Hindu tradition — chanted at the opening of recitation, meditation, and worship. Far more than a syllable, it is treated as the sonic form of the absolute itself. The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad analyzes its three letters as the three states of consciousness, with the silence that follows pointing to the transcendent fourth. It is both a meditation object and a symbol of the whole.

How it traveled

  1. Chāndogya Upaniṣad
    Kuru-Pañcāla region · -700
    explains

Key passages(18)

Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Very high

Bhagavad-gītā · Vyāsa (Yoga-bhāṣya commentator)

Very high

Chāndogya Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Very high

Chāndogya Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Very high

Praśna Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Very high

Kaṭha Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Very high

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Upadeśasāhasrī · Ādi Śaṅkara

High

Vijñāna-bhairava · Anonymous (Bhairava Āgama / Tantra)

High

Gheraṇḍa-saṃhitā · (attributed to Gheraṇḍa)

High

Gheraṇḍa-saṃhitā · (attributed to Gheraṇḍa)

High

Upadeśasāhasrī · Ādi Śaṅkara

High

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

Moderate

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

Moderate

Īśā Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Moderate