Category:Pranava - omkara
Theme Analysis
The transcendental sound vibration known as praṇava or oṁkāra is the absolute foundation of all Vedic knowledge and the direct sound incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Through this extensive category, Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that oṁkāra is not a formless or material vibration, but the eternal, literal representation of Kṛṣṇa. While impersonalists improperly elevate secondary statements like tat tvam asi, true Vaiṣṇavas recognize praṇava as the complete seed of spiritual realization, which must be chanted with reverence and dedicated devotion.
- The Seed of Vedic Knowledge: The original syllable oṁkāra is the divine substance and primeval root from which all hymns, mantras, and scriptures expand, holding the complete meaning of the Vedas.
- The Direct Sound Representation: Far from being a void or impersonal energy, praṇava is the identical sound form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva.
- Identification with Kṛṣṇa: As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa declares Himself to be the syllable om in all Vedic mantras, confirming that chanting praṇava is directly associating with the Lord.
- Defeating Impersonalism: The vibration oṁkāra is the true mahā-mantra of the Vedas, whereas impersonal philosophers falsely attempt to elevate partial truths like tat tvam asi to the highest position.
- The Yogic Process of Meditation: For those practicing mystic yoga, the mechanical chanting of praṇava coupled with breath control (prāṇāyāma) serves as the method to spiritualize the mind and focus on the limbs of Viṣṇu.
- Vaiṣṇava Application: Although caste brāhmaṇas may restrict its chanting, sincere Vaiṣṇavas are fully authorized to vibrate praṇava, as seen in the primary mantra om namo bhagavate vasudevaya.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Understanding Praṇava Oṁkāra as the Supreme Lord.
Pages in category "Pranava - omkara"
The following 48 pages are in this category, out of 48 total.
I
- If a person accepts the Vaisnava mantra or Vaisnava way of worshiping the Deity, he is allowed to chant the pranava mantra
- In all the Vedic mantras the word om, called pranava, is a transcendental sound vibration and is also Krsna. BG 1972 purports
- In Bhagavad-gita Krsna says that He is pranavah sarva-vedesu, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras. In transcendental knowledge, the Lord is addressed as pranava, omkara, which is a symbolic representation of the Lord in sound
- In India, the caste brahmanas object greatly when persons from other castes, who are not born in brahmana families, recite this pranava mantra
- In the Bhagavad-gita (BG 8.13) the glories of omkara are described as follows: omkara, or pranava, is a direct representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore if at the time of death one simply remembers omkara, he remembers the SPG
- In the Bhagavad-gita, the pranava (omkara) has been accepted as the direct, literal representation of the Supreme Absolute Truth
- In the material world, Brahma is the complete representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and transcendental sound, pranava, comes from him
- In the Satya-yuga, the first millennium, all the Vedic mantras were included in one mantra-pranava, the root of all Vedic mantras. In other words, the Atharva Veda alone was the source of all Vedic knowledge
O
- Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya is known as the dvadasaksara-mantra. This mantra is chanted by Vaisnava devotees, and it begins with pranava, or omkara
- Omkara (pranava) is the symbolic sound representation of the SPG. Om tat sad iti nirdeso brahmanas tri-vidhah smrtah: the three words om tat sat immediately invoke the Supreme Person. Therefore Krsna says that He is omkara in all the Vedic mantras
- Omkara, or the pranava, is the seed of transcendental realization, and it is composed of the three transcendental letters a-u-m
- One who is not able to chant directly the holy name of the Lord, as recommended above, can easily chant the pranava - omkara
- Otherwise (if God's body was not different from ours), meditation beginning from the pranava (omkara) up to the limbs of the personal body of Visnu would not have been recommended by Sukadeva Gosvami for the attainment of complete spiritual perfection
P
- Pranava (om), or the omkara in the Vedas, is the primeval hymn. This transcendental sound is identical with the form of the Lord. All the Vedic hymns are based on this pranava omkara
- Pranava (omkara) is the maha-vakya (maha-mantra) in the Vedas. Sankaracarya's followers cover this to stress without authority the mantra tat tvam asi
- Pranava or the omkara transcendental sound used in the beginning of every Vedic hymn to address the Supreme Lord also emanates from Him. BG 1972 purports
- Pranava, or omkara, is the chief vibration found in the Vedic hymns, and omkara is considered to be the sound form of the Supreme Lord
- Pranava, or omkara, is the divine substance of all the Vedas. Omkara is further explained in the gayatri mantra exactly as it was explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam
- Pranava, or the omkara transcendental sound in the beginning of every Vedic hymn, addresses the Supreme Lord
T
- Tat tvam asi is accepted as the primary vibration by one who does not accept pranava, the transcendental sound incarnation of the holy name of the Lord, as the chief principle in the Vedic literature
- The chanting of omkara is recommended because in the beginning of transcendental realization, instead of chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, one may chant omkara - pranava
- The first process of spiritualizing the mind by mechanical chanting of the pranava (omkara) and by control of the breathing system is technically called the mystic or yogic process of pranayama, or fully controlling the breathing air
- The Gosvamis declare that pranava (omkara) is the complete representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they have analyzed omkara in terms of its alphabetical constituents
- The import of Vedic knowledge, the original word pranava, has been explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam. The conclusion is that the Brahma-sutra is explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam
- The King, (Dusmanta) who knew the laws of marriage, immediately married her (Sakuntala) by chanting the Vedic pranava (omkara), in accordance with the marriage ceremony as performed among the Gandharvas
- The Lord (Krsna) says in Bhagavad-gita, pranavah sarva-vedesu: "I am the syllable om in all the Vedic mantras." Vedic knowledge begins with the vibration of the transcendental sound pranava, omkara
- The mantra tat tvam asi indicates only a partial understanding of the Vedas, unlike omkara, which represents the full understanding of the Vedas. Therefore the transcendental sound that includes all Vedic knowledge is omkara (pranava)
- The Mayavadi philosophers stress the statements tat tvam asi, so ’ham, etc., but they do not stress the real maha-mantra, pranava
- The neophytes are trained to the practice of self-realization by this mechanical process of regulating the breathing function and simultaneously repeating the pranava (omkara) within the mind
- The omkara, pranava, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead represented by letters. Bhagavad-gita says that the letters a-u-m, combined together as om, represent the Supreme Lord
- The principal word in the Vedas, pranava omkara, is the sound representation of the Supreme Lord. Therefore omkara should be considered the supreme sound. However, Sankaracarya has falsely preached that tat tvam asi are the supreme vibrations
- The science of logical argument, the Vedic goals of life, and also law and order, moral codes, and the celebrated hymns bhuh, bhuvah and svah all became manifested from the mouths of Brahma, and the pranava omkara was manifested from his heart
- The SPG is situated in pure goodness (suddha-sattva), & therefore He is eka-varna - the omkara (pranava). Because the Lord is beyond the cosmic manifestation, which is considered to be darkness, He is not visible to material eyes
- The Vedic mantra omkara, or pranava, consisting of the letters a-u-m, can call each of these three methods (of getting a son by semen, by initiation or by yajna) into existence
- The Vedic mantra pranava is the bow, the pure living entity himself is the arrow, and the target is the Supreme Being
- The Vedic mantras mostly begin with pranava omkara and it requires some training to pronounce the metrical accent, without which the mantras cannot be successfully chanted
- Then (after giving up his bodily conception of life) he takes the arrow of his purified life, and with the help of the bow - the transcendental chanting of pranava, or the Hare Krsna mantra - he throws himself toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- Then concentrate upon pranava omkara or the limbs of the body of Visnu, as recommended herein (in SB 2.1.19) by Sukadeva Gosvami, the great authority
- There are four verses written in this connection (Pranava, or omkara), and these are explained to Brahma by Lord Krsna Himself. In his turn, Brahma explains them to Narada, and Narada explains them to Vyasadeva
- There is an injunction that those who are not brahmanas cannot pronounce the pranava mantra
- There is no difference between the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva, and omkara (pranava). We should be careful to understand that omkara does not indicate anything nirakara, or formless
- This is a Vedic hymn or mantra beginning with omkara pranava, and thus the mantra is established by the transcendental chanting process, namely, om namo dhimahi, etc