om

om ind. (√ av, Uṇ. i, 141 ; originally oṃ = āṃ, which may be derived from ā, BRD. ), a word of solemn affirmation and respectful assent, sometimes translated by ‘yes, verily, so be it’ (and in this sense compared with Amen; it is placed at the commencement of most Hindū works, and as a sacred exclamation may be uttered [but not so as to be heard by ears profane] at the beginning and end of a reading of the Veda s or previously to any prayer; it is also regarded as a particle of auspicious salutation [Hail!]; om appears first in the Upaniṣad s as a mystic monosyllable, and is there set forth as the object of profound religious meditation, the highest spiritual efficacy being attributed not only to the whole word but also to the three sounds a, u, m, of which it consists; in later times om is the mystic name for the Hindū triad, and represents the union of the three gods, viz. a ( Viṣṇu ), u ( Śiva ), m ( Brahmā ); it may also be typical of the three Veda s; om is usually called praṇava, more rarely akṣara, or ekākṣara, and only in later times oṃkāra), VS. ; ŚBr. ; ChUp. &c.

(Buddhists place om at the beginning of their vidyāṣaḍakṣarī or mystical formulary in six syllables [ viz. ommaṇipadmehūṃ]; according to T. om may be used in the following senses: praṇave, ārambhe, svīkāre, anumatau, apA kftO , asvīkāre, maṅgale, śubhe, jñeye, brahmaṇi; with preceding a or ā, the o of om does not form Vṛddhi (au), but Guṇa (o), Pāṇ. vi, 1, 95. )