A Comprehensive Study of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Srimad Bhagavad Gita Om

Aphorism (Sutra) twenty-seventh of Samadhi Pada, the first chapter of Yoga Sutra says as under: Tasya Vachakah Pranavah - Of that the signifier is Om.

- Murarilal Dhanuka

Swami Vivekananda says every idea that you have in the mind has a counterpart in a word, the word and the thought are inseparable. The external part of one thing is what we call word and the internal part is what we call thought. No man can by analysis separate thought from the word. Commentators of Patanjali Yoga Sutra say the manifesting word of God is Om. Some Rishis say Om is the first sound of the universe. In making a sound we use the larynx (the area at the top of the throat that contains the vocal cords and voice board) and the palate (the top part of the inside of the mouth) as a sounding board. Om (Aum) is such a sound, the basis of all sounds. The first letter ‘A’ is the root sound, the key pronounced without touching any part of the tongue or palate. ‘M’ represents the last sound in the series being produced by closed lips. And the ‘U’ rolls from very root to the end of the sounding board of the mouth.

To quote Swami Vivekananda again, ‘