=1 "Om"
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Om
A young Sanskrit pandit was travelling in a country boat on the holy Ganga from Monghyr to Bhagalpur. As the boat passed a group of marshy islands, under one shady tree an old hermit was sitting, chanting in a broken voice, Om... Om... Om...
What a pity, the young pandit thought to himself, that he doesn't pronounce the holy syllable correctly. There will be no merit in this senseless repetition. Perhaps I should help the poor man, who in this way will become old and die without any benefits from his japa. Hadn't his teacher told him that the brahmin pandit must teach the poor people their ignorance? He ordered the boat to stop and walked back to the tree. Hailing the old man he told him about the etymology of the holy pranava and outlined its seven hands, its five roots, its four horns, its three feet, its two heads, and the anuswara. He elaborated about the nineteen bindu, and insisted on the all important three and a half mora
a-u-m
He explained also the grammatical rules as he had heard them from his master, commenting on the lokas and how Om can be connected with a masculine, a feminine or even a neuter adjective. He emphasized that it remained the same in all casibus and numeribus, and summarized his dissertation by quoting word by word the whole Pranava Upanishad.
After delivering his lecture he returned to his boat satisfied, thinking how he had saved the holy syllable from degradation and remember what his teacher had told about the rishis of olden times who got all the powers they needed simply by repeating the most sacred of all mantras. Well, he mused, you might even walk over the water simply by repeating Aum.
As the boat was gliding off to the quiet evening he listened, trying to hear if his lessons had born fruit.
Suddenly he saw the old fellow running toward him, gesticulating with his arms. “Om!” he cried, – “Om!” – still in the wrong way. . . The young brahmin gasped and then held his breath – the old hermit was walking above the water towards the boat. “Sir!” he cried out when he came near, “Sir, please repeat to me how to pronounce the holy Om. I am old and I have forgotten what you told me.”
See also