Om
A sacred sound and syllable in Hinduism, chanted at the start and end of prayers and recitations.
Meaning
Om, also written Aum, is regarded by Hindus as a sacred sound. It opens and closes the recitation of prayers and mantras, and it is also sacred in Buddhism and Jainism. The Himalayan Academy, of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery, gives its sound in three parts: aw as in law, oo as in zoo, and mm. The word also has a plain meaning. Monier-Williams’s Sanskrit dictionary of 1899 calls it a word of solemn assent, sometimes translated “yes, verily, so be it”, and compares it with Amen.
Origin and history
Om appears in the Upanishads. Monier-Williams notes that it is first set forth there as a mystic syllable and an object of meditation, with spiritual power given to the whole word and to each of its three sounds, a, u and m. The short Mandukya Upanishad is built on it. In Robert Ernest Hume’s translation of 1921 it opens by saying that past, present and future, and whatever lies beyond them, are all the word Om. It then gives each sound a state of the self: a is waking, u is dreaming and m is deep sleep. A fourth state lies beyond the three, and the Upanishad says it “is without an element”: the silence after the sounds. Later readings gave the sounds to the gods. Monier-Williams writes that om became the mystic name of the Hindu triad, with a for Vishnu, u for Shiva and m for Brahma.
What do the parts of the Om symbol mean?
Written in Devanagari, ॐ has a small crescent with a dot above it. Monier-Williams names that mark candrabindu, “moon-like spot”, the sign for a nasal sound. The Himalayan Academy reads the syllable through the body and the gods. Its first sound, aa, the Academy says, vibrates in the chakra at the base of the spine, where Ganesha sits; oo in the throat and chest, which the Academy gives to Murugan; and mm in the head, where the Supreme God reigns. The dot is the Soundless Sound, Paranāda, and the three letters are the three worlds and the powers of creation, preservation and destruction.
Om before other mantras
The Himalayan Academy calls Om the primary mantra, one that often comes before others. Om namah shivaya, “adoration to Shiva”, is the one its glossary calls the supreme mantra of Shaivism, the Panchakshara or “five syllables”. In om shanti, shanti is peace: Monier-Williams gives “tranquillity, peace, quiet” and the threefold “śānti! śānti! śānti!”, “may the three kinds of pain be averted!”. The opening invocation of the Taittiriya Upanishad ends, in Hume’s translation, “Om! Peace! Peace! Peace!”
Buddhists use the syllable too. Monier-Williams notes that they put om at the start of their six-syllable formula, om mani padme hum, which Lion’s Roar translates “OM the Jewel in the Lotus HUM” and describes as a call on Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara), the bodhisattva of compassion. See the lotus.
Om in yoga
In Charles Johnston’s translation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the 27th sutra of the first book says of the Master, “His word is OM”, and the next asks for “soundless repetition of OM and meditation thereon”. The Himalayan Academy writes that the mantra may be safely used for chanting and japa, repeated recitation, by anyone of any religion.
Read next
- Next in Hindu symbolsSri YantraA diagram of nine interlocking triangles around a central dot, surrounded by circles and petals. In the Sri Vidya tradition it is the form of the goddess Lalita Tripurasundari, and is worshipped as such.
- In Hindu deities and their symbolsShivaShiva is the Supreme Being of Saivism, the Hindu tradition devoted to him. He is known by his trident with a small drum tied to it, the crescent moon at his brow, the snakes in his matted hair, and Nandi, the white bull he rides.
See also
Trishula, Damaru, Shankha, Sudarshana Chakra, Padma, Kalasha.
Sources
- Om, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Article text, paragraphs 1–3
- Sacred Symbols, Himalayan Academy
- Dancing with Śiva: glossary (Aum), Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Himalayan Academy, Glossary, “Aum”
- Dancing with Śiva: glossary (Namaḥ Śivāya), Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Himalayan Academy, Glossary, “Namaḥ Śivāya”
- Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899): om, Monier Monier-Williams, p. 235, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries, University of Cologne
- Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899): candrabindu, Monier Monier-Williams, p. 387, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries, University of Cologne
- Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899): śānti, Monier Monier-Williams, p. 1064, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries, University of Cologne
- The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (Hume translation), Robert Ernest Hume, 1921, Oxford University Press, Mandukya Upanishad 1, 9–12; Taittiriya Upanishad 1.1
- The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Johnston translation), Charles Johnston, Project Gutenberg, Book I, sutras 27–28
- What is the Meaning of the Lotus in Buddhism?, Lion’s Roar
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from curves and waves.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 3, 2026. How we research
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