# Cc. Ādi 7.128 ## Text > 'praṇava' se mahāvākya—vedera nidāna > īśvara-svarūpa praṇava sarva-viśva-dhāma ## Synonyms *praṇava*—the *oṁkāra*; *se*—that; *mahā*-*vākya*—transcendental sound vibration; *vedera*—of the *Vedas*; *nidāna*—basic principle; *īśvara*-*svarūpa*—direct representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; *praṇava*—*oṁkāra*; *sarva*-*viśva*—of all universes; *dhāma*—is the reservoir. ## Translation **"The Vedic sound vibration oṁkāra, the principal word in the Vedic scriptures, is the basis of all Vedic vibrations. Therefore one should accept oṁkāra as the sound representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the reservoir of the cosmic manifestation.** **PURPORT** In the *Bhagavad-gītā* [[bg/8/13|(Bg. 8.13)]] the glories of *oṁkāra* are described as follows: > oṁ ity ekākṣaraṁ brahma > vyāharan mām anusmaran > yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṁ > sa yāti paramāṁ gatim This verse indicates that *oṁkāra,* or *praṇava,* is a direct representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore if at the time of death one simply remembers *oṁkāra,* he remembers the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is therefore immediately transferred to the spiritual world. *Oṁkāra* is the basic principle of all Vedic *mantras,* for it is a representation of Lord Kṛṣṇa, understanding of whom is the ultimate goal of the *Vedas,* as stated in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (*vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ*). Māyāvādī philosophers cannot understand these simple facts explained in the *Bhagavad-gītā,* and yet they are very proud of being Vedāntīs. Sometimes, therefore, we refer to the Vedāntī philosophers as Vidantīs, those who have no teeth (*vi* means "without," and *dantī* means "possessing teeth"). The statements of the Śaṅkara philosophy, which are the teeth of the Māyāvādī philosopher, are always broken by the strong arguments of Vaiṣṇava philosophers such as the great *ācāryas,* especially Rāmānujācārya. Śrīpāda Rāmānujācārya and Madhvācārya break the teeth of the Māyāvādī philosophers, who can therefore be called Vidantīs, "toothless." The transcendental vibration *oṁkāra* is explained in the *Bhagavad-gītā,* Chapter Eight, verse thirteen: > oṁ ity ekākṣaraṁ brahma > vyāharan mām anusmaran > yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṁ > sa yāti paramāṁ gatim "After being situated in this *yoga* practice and vibrating the sacred syllable *oṁ,* the supreme combination of letters, if one thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and quits his body, he will certainly reach the spiritual planets." If one actually understands that *oṁkāra* is the sound representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whether he chants *oṁkāra* or the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra,* the result is certainly the same. The transcendental vibration of *oṁkāra* is further explained in the *Bhagavad-gītā,* Chapter Nine, verse seventeen: > pitāham asya jagato > mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ > vedyaṁ pavitram oṁkāra > ṛk sāma yajur eva ca "I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support, and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable *oṁ.* I am also the *Ṛg,* the *Sāma* and the *Yajur Vedas.*" Similarly, the transcendental sound *oṁ* is further explained in the *Bhagavad-gītā,* Chapter Seventeen, verse twenty-three: > oṁ tat sad iti nirdeśo > brahmaṇas tri-vidhaḥ smṛtaḥ > brāhmaṇās tena vedāś ca > yajñāś ca vihitāḥ purā "From the beginning of creation, the three syllables *oṁ tat sat* have been used to indicate the Supreme Absolute Truth [Brahman]. They were uttered by *brāhmaṇas* while chanting Vedic hymns and during sacrifices for the satisfaction of the Supreme." Throughout all the Vedic scriptures the glories of *oṁkāra* are specifically mentioned. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, in his thesis *Bhagavat-sandarbha,* says that in the Vedic literature *oṁkāra* is considered to be the sound vibration of the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Only this vibration of transcendental sound can deliver a conditioned soul from the clutches of *māyā.* Sometimes *oṁkāra* is also called the deliverer (*tāra*). *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* begins with the *oṁkāra* vibration: *oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya.* Therefore *oṁkāra* has been described by the great commentator Śrīdhara Svāmī as *tārāṅkura,* the seed of deliverance from the material world. Since the Supreme Godhead is absolute, His holy name and His sound vibration *oṁkāra* are as good as He Himself. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that the holy name, or *oṁkāra,* the transcendental representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has all the potencies of the Personality of Godhead. > nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis > tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ All potencies are invested in the holy vibration of the holy name of the Lord. There is no doubt that the holy name of the Lord, or *oṁkāra,* is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. In other words, anyone who chants *oṁkāra* and the holy name of the Lord, Hare Kṛṣṇa, immediately meets the Supreme Lord directly in His sound form. In the *Nārada-pañcarātra* it is clearly said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Nārāyaṇa personally appears before the chanter who engages in chanting the *aṣṭākṣara,* or eight-syllable *mantra, oṁ namo nārāyaṇāya.* A similar statement in the *Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad* declares that whatever one sees in the spiritual world is all an expansion of the spiritual potency of *oṁkāra.* On the basis of all the *Upaniṣads,* Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that *oṁkāra* is the Supreme Absolute Truth and is accepted as such by all the *ācāryas* and authorities. *Oṁkāra* is beginningless, changeless, supreme and free from deterioration and external contamination. *Oṁkāra* is the origin, middle and end of everything, and any living entity who thus understands *oṁkāra* attains the perfection of spiritual identity in *oṁkāra. Oṁkāra,* being situated in everyone's heart, is *īśvara,* the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed in the *Bhagavad-gītā* [[bg/18/61|(Bg. 18.61)]]/ *īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati. Oṁkāra* is as good as Viṣṇu because *oṁkāra* is as all-pervasive as Viṣṇu. One who knows *oṁkāra* and Lord Viṣṇu to be identical no longer has to lament or hanker. One who chants *oṁkāra* no longer remains a *śūdra* but immediately comes to the position of a *brāhmaṇa.* Simply by chanting *oṁkāra* one can understand the whole creation to be one unit, or an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Lord/ *idaṁ hi viśvaṁ bhagavān ivetaro yato jagat-sthāna-nirodha-sambhavāḥ.* "The Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead is Himself this cosmos, and still He is aloof from it. From Him only this cosmic manifestation has emanated, in Him it rests, and unto Him it enters after annihilation." [[sb/1/5:20|(Bhāg. 1.5.20)]] Although one who does not understand concludes otherwise, *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* states that the entire cosmic manifestation is but an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Lord. Realization of this is possible simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord, *oṁkāra.* One should not, however, foolishly conclude that because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is omnipotent, we have manufactured a combination of letters-*a, u* and *m*-to represent Him. Factually the transcendental sound *oṁkāra,* although a combination of the three letters *a, u* and *m,* has transcendental potency, and one who chants *oṁkāra* will very soon realize *oṁkāra* and Lord Viṣṇu to be nondifferent. Kṛṣṇa declares, *praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu:* "I am the syllable *oṁ* in the Vedic *mantras.*"[[bg/7/8|(Bg. 7.8)]] One should therefore conclude that among the many incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, *oṁkāra* is the sound incarnation. All the *Vedas* accept this thesis. One should always remember that the holy name of the Lord and the Lord Himself are always identical (*abhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ*). Since *oṁkāra* is the basic principle of all Vedic knowledge, it is uttered before one begins to chant any Vedic hymn. Without *oṁkāra,* no Vedic *mantra* is successful. The Gosvāmīs therefore declare that *praṇava* (*oṁkāra*) is the complete representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they have analyzed *oṁkāra* in terms of its alphabetical constituents as follows: > a-kāreṇocyate kṛṣṇaḥ > sarva-lokaika-nāyakaḥ > u-kāreṇocyate rādhā > ma-kāro jīva-vācakaḥ Oṁkāra is a combination of the letters *a, u* and *m. A-kāreṇocyate kṛṣṇaḥ:* the letter *a* (*a-kāra*) refers to Kṛṣṇa, who is *sarva-lokaika-nāyakaḥ,* the master of all living entities and planets, material and spiritual. *Nāyaka* means "leader." He is the supreme leader (*nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām*). The letter *u* (*u-kāra*) indicates Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa, and *m* (*ma-kāra*) indicates the living entities (*jīvas*). Thus *oṁ* is the complete combination of Kṛṣṇa, His potency and His eternal servitors. In other words, *oṁkāra* represents Kṛṣṇa, His name, fame, pastimes, entourage, expansions, devotees, potencies and everything else pertaining to Him. As Caitanya Mahāprabhu states in the present verse of *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, sarva-viśva-dhāma:oṁkāra* is the resting place of everything, just as Kṛṣṇa is the resting place of everything (*brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham*). The Māyāvādī philosophers consider many Vedic *mantras* to be the *mahā-vākya,* or principal Vedic *mantra,* such as *tat tvam asi* (*Chāndogya Upaniṣad* 6.8.7), *idaṁ sarvaṁ yad ayam ātmā* and *brahmedaṁ sarvam* (*Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad* 2.5.1), *ātmaivedaṁ sarvam* (*Chāndogya Upaniṣad* 7.25.2) and *neha nānāsti kiñcana* (*Kaṭha Upaniṣad* 2.1.11). That is a great mistake. Only *oṁkāra* is the *mahā-vākya.* All these other *mantras* that the Māyāvādīs accept as the *mahā-vākya* are only incidental. They cannot be taken as the *mahā-vākya,* or *mahā-mantra.* The *mantra tat tvam asi* indicates only a partial understanding of the *Vedas,* unlike *oṁkāra,* which represents the full understanding of the *Vedas.* Therefore the transcendental sound that includes all Vedic knowledge is *oṁkāra* (*praṇava*). Aside from *oṁkāra,* none of the words uttered by the followers of Śaṅkarācārya can be considered the *mahā-vākya.* They are merely passing remarks. Śaṅkarācārya, however, has never stressed chanting of the *mahā-vākya oṁkāra;* he has accepted only *tat tvam asi* as the *mahā-vākya.* Imagining the living entity to be God, he has misrepresented all the *mantras* of the *Vedānta-sūtra* with the motive of proving that there is no separate existence of the living entities and the Supreme Absolute Truth. This is similar to the politician's attempt to prove nonviolence from the *Bhagavad-gītā.* Kṛṣṇa is violent to demons, and to attempt to prove that Kṛṣṇa is not violent is ultimately to deny Kṛṣṇa. As such explanations of the *Bhagavad-gītā* are absurd, so also is Śaṅkarācārya's explanation of the *Vedānta-sūtra,* and no sane and reasonable man will accept it. At present, however, the *Vedānta-sūtra* is misrepresented not only by the so-called Vedāntis but also by other unscrupulous persons who are so degraded that they even recommend that *sannyāsīs* eat meat, fish and eggs. In this way Śaṅkara's so-called followers, the impersonalist Māyāvādīs, are sinking lower and lower. How can these degraded men explain the *Vedānta-sūtra,* which is the essence of all Vedic literature? Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has declared, *māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa:* "Anyone who hears commentary on the *Vedānta-sūtra* from the Māyāvāda school is completely doomed." As explained in the *Bhagavad-gītā* [[bg/15/15|(Bg. 15.15)]], *vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ:* all Vedic literature aims to understand Kṛṣṇa. Māyāvāda philosophy, however, has deviated everyone from Kṛṣṇa. Therefore there is a great need for the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all over the world to save the world from degradation. Every intelligent and sane man must abandon the philosophical explanation of the Māyāvādīs and accept the explanation of Vaiṣṇava *ācāryas.* One should read *Bhagavad-gītā As It Is* to try to understand the real purpose of the *Vedas.*