The Story of OṂ: Sacred Sound and the Vedic Roots of Yoga

The first module provides an introduction to the oldest Sanskrit texts, the Vedas, which were composed orally, memorized, and passed on by word of mouth. We will discuss the mythology of the goddess of Speech (vāc), who inspires poets and creates the cosmos through sound, and learn about sacrifice (yajña), in which Brahmin priests chant mantras, make offerings, and drink a psychoactive beverage called soma. This module will also consider the different kinds of Vedic mantras (poetic verses, melodic chants, and prose formulas), focusing on how these elements come together in performance.

This module explores the early history of OṂ in the Vedas, with attention to the many different ways the syllable is chanted in sacrifice and how Vedic thinkers interpret its significance. We will trace OṂ’s first appearance in Vedic mantra collections (ca. 1000 BCE) and subsequent emergence as the quintessential sacred syllable (praṇava) of the Brāhmaṇas and Upaniṣads. We will also conduct a case study on the division of OṂ into its constituent phonemes (A-U-M) and ponder the enduring influence of this sonic analysis.

The next module excavates the Vedic roots of early Yoga by examining OṂ’s importance as an instrument of liberation. Drawing on the later Upaniṣads and the Bhagavad Gītā, students will learn about meditation on OṂ at the moment of death, a mantra-based practice that permits the practitioner to ascend to the sun and attain immortality. We will also discuss various forms of personal recitation (svādhyāya) and mantra meditation (japa) with OṂ, taking stock of their influence on Patañjali’s Yogasūtra and other canonical Yoga texts.

The final module engages the dynamic development of OṂ in Yoga and Tantra, where subtle sound levels and the use of script become central. In these early medieval contexts, OṂ comes into its own as a seed syllable (bīja); it is also incorporated into elaborate practices of breath control (prāṇāyāma) and visualization. By examining Tantric innovations in the A-U-M analysis, we will appreciate how the syllable relates to emerging discourses about kuṇḍalinī energy and the practitioner’s embodiment of deities like Śiva. We conclude by considering the possible origins of OṂ’s distinctive glyph (ॐ) and surveying representations of the sacred syllable in the modern world, from yoga studios to social media.