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Orthography of Om
:-
(the system of spelling in languages)Om with
its respect to its name and utterance is
called Omkara,that is the nasal ‘Om’ in combination with the adjunct ‘kara’
.
Omkara is the root of all sounds. Manu calls it a letter
“This
one letter is the emblem of the Most High”.
Can a conjunct
vowel or consonant be styled a single letter or not. Om is used to signify
its written form which corresponds
with the Greek ‘Omega’,the omikron which is equal to the English ‘O’ and
Persian ‘Ono’and likens to the Sanskrit Bindu ‘O’ which is another name
for ‘Om’ The syllable ‘Om’ in
sanskrit is formed by the union of two dots or cyphers (O bindu) like
Omega (greek)
of two Omikrons and the English ‘W’ of two ‘U’s.
It is the union of two circlets as the Gayathri Mantra says “Omkaro Brahma
bindurbindudvaya vinirmitah” One circlet being the symbol of ones own
divinity and the other that of Brahma. This character by itself is regarded
with high veneration as an emblem of the infinite, independent of its
meaning or utterance and is marked on the forehead of every devotee in
the form of a spot or crescent.
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