ॐॐॐ
The 27th Sutra is a very famous, well-known sutra and very important sutra that Maharishi Patanjali brings out in the Yoga Sutras, Samādhipāda of the Yoga Darśana. A very, very important sutra. The sutra is said as most important for the sādhanā of the citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ.
And the sutra is
त॒स्य वा॒चकः प्र॒णवः॑ ॥ १.२७॥
Tasya vācakaḥ praṇavaḥ ॥ 1.27 ॥
Tasya vācakaḥ praṇavaḥ - Very important word, very important sutra and it says that tasyavācakaḥ, tasya It's that Īśvara, Īśvara. Vācakaḥ verbal expression vācakaḥ means symbolic expression of a sound. It's very important symbolic expression of sound. That is vācakaḥ. Praṇavaḥ, praṇavaḥ it is said. Generally we understand praṇava is ॐ oṁkāram. ॐ is called as praṇavaḥ.
So the meaning of the sutra is very simple tasyavācakaḥ praṇavaḥ. The Īśvara's name are expressed in sound form as praṇavaḥ. Īśvara is expressed in sound form as praṇavaḥ. Little bit more simple is Īśvara's name is praṇavaḥ. Very subtle meanings have to be taken from this, ॐ or praṇavaḥ, Pra–Na–Va it is Pra–Na–Va. Pra is prakāśana. Na is from Nūyate iti na. Nu nūyate iti nu nu - na means to praise and avati iti ava. So Pra–Na–Va prakāśana na for to praise, avati that is ava is favour. So praṇavaḥ means intense praying. A powerful instrument which leads to the goal very rapidly. So praṇavaḥ works in both these aspects. And we all know that a sound, a thought are inseparable. Every sound is an expression of a thought. That is sound is external part of the thought. And thought is an internal part of the sound.
There may be many sounds, many śabdas. They may not have any scripts. Scriptless sounds that is possible. Suppose I make a sound .....(some sound).... There is no script for it. You cannot write. Scriptless sounds are possible. But we should remember it is an expression. So the word and thought are inseparable.
It is not necessary that same thought requires to have same word and sound. Please note, it is very important. Same thought need not be expressed, may not be able to be expressed in a same word and same sound. But the thought will be expressed by a sound and a word. That means a thought can be expressed in many ways. Many sounds and many words. Thought may be the same but language may differ. Sounds may differ. Like suppose water. We call it as jala, sound is different. aqua, sound is different. pāni, sound is different. Nīru, sound is different. The language is different. But the thought is same.
The point here is a word is needed to express a thought. But these words may have different sounds. Words and sounds may vary at different places, different languages, different nations. Correct thought and correct sound that is a representation by a symbol. This is another important point. An exact thought to be conveyed with an exact sound without forgetting that there can be different sounds and different words. But how do we represent it? That representation has to be by a symbol. So that is how symbols were evolved. That is how letters have been evolved.
So the significance of a thought, its expression, word, sound and symbol. There is a natural internal connection between all this. And that is the important dimension. So when the word vācakaḥ is used, it is not just the name of the god. It is the sound form of the Īśvara. And that sound form of the Īśvara is ॐ, praṇava.
So we see so many ways of writing ॐ. The way a bengali writes ॐ is different. The way a tamilian writes ॐ is different. The way a malayali writes ॐ is different. The way a punjabi person writes ॐ is different. The way hindi people write ॐ is different. The way of writing is different. But when they make a sound of what they have written. The sound is same. Or what should be the correct sound? How do we express it in the correct symbol? That is the exact representation of the ॐ. The symbolic representation of the ॐ.
So what we understand now is ॐ has no form, it is the sound form of the Īśvara. But again the representation of the sound has a symbol. So it has a form. Sound represented in the form of a symbol. And that is an important dimension. There is a fixed relation between nāma and rūpa, śabda and rūpa. There cannot be a form without a sound or a name. There cannot be a name without a śabda or a rūpa, not possible. Whatever ideas come in the mind thoughts come in the mind. They will have shapes, rūpa but to express that rūpa outside, there must be a sound or maybe in the form of a paint. But still when it has to be expressed Sound form. That is the symbol of the thought.
So to establish the contact, the only contact with Īśvara is through ॐ. ॐ is the only means of worship of Īśvara. Because there is a fixed relation between the expression and what it expresses. So Īśvara and ॐ are same. ॐ is the expression of the Īśvara. And that is how the importance of ॐ came into the picture. Especially in the Yoga tradition. And whenever we chant any mantra, we keep on chanting ॐ, the importance of the ॐ.
Thus ॐ is to be looked upon as a manifestation of divinity in the sound form and the direct means through which Īśvara can be understood and contacted directly. And how does it works, how it is to be done. The next Sutra explains that, another very important Sutra. Let us see that.
Om Śānti Śānti Śānti.
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः||
To Be Continued.. ----------------------------------------
These are transcription of session delivered by Vice-President of Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra, Sri M. Hanumantha Rao Ji.Audio Link - https://youtu.be/ZWCEkmfQu9g?si=vIGf_INoCfsSNPqK
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मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्धयसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥
Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26
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