Editing Om (section)

== Origin and spiritual significance ==
The etymological origins of ''ōm'' ''(aum)'' have long been discussed and disputed, with even the [[Upanishads]] having proposed multiple [[Sanskrit]] etymologies for ''aum'', including: from "''ām''" ({{lang|sa|आम्}}; "yes"), from "''ávam''" ({{lang|sa|आवम्}}; "that, thus, yes"), and from the Sanskrit roots "''āv-''" ({{lang|sa|अव्}}; "to urge") or "''āp-''" ({{lang|sa|आप्}}; "to attain").<ref name="PSSOM">{{Cite journal |last=Parpola |first=Asko |date=1981 |title=On the Primary Meaning and Etymology of the Sacred Syllable ōm |url=https://journal.fi/store/article/view/49902 |journal=Studia Orientalia Electronica |language=en |volume=50 |pages=195–214 |issn=2323-5209}}</ref>{{efn-ua|Praṇava Upaniṣad in [[Gopatha Brahmana|Gopatha Brāhmaṇa]] 1.1.26 and Uṇādisūtra 1.141/1.142}} In 1889, [[Maurice Bloomfield]] proposed an origin from a [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] introductory [[Grammatical particle|particle]] "''*au''" with a function similar to the Sanskrit particle "atha" ({{lang|sa|अथ}}).<ref name=PSSOM/> However, contemporary [[Indology|Indologist]] [[Asko Parpola]] proposes a borrowing from [[Proto-Dravidian language|Dravidian]] "''*ām''" meaning "'it is so', 'let it be so', 'yes'", a contraction of "''*ākum''", cognate with modern [[Tamil language|Tamil]] "''ām''" ({{lang|ta|ஆம்}}) meaning "yes".<ref name=PSSOM/><ref name="PRoH">{{Cite book |last=Parpola |first=Asko |title=The Roots of Hinduism : the Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization |date=2015 |isbn=9780190226909 |location=New York}}</ref> In the [[Jaffna Tamil dialect]] spoken  in Sri Lanka, ''aum''' is the word for yes.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Regardless of its original meaning, the syllable ''Om'' evolves to mean many abstract ideas even in the earliest Upanishads. [[Max Müller]] and other scholars state that these philosophical texts recommend ''Om'' as a basic tool for meditation<ref name=":3" /> and explain the various meanings that the syllable may hold in the mind of one meditating, ranging from "artificial and senseless" to the "highest concepts such as the cause of the Universe, essence of life, [[Brahman]], [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]], and Self-knowledge".<ref>[[Max Muller]], [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/n111/mode/2up ''Chandogya Upanishad''], Oxford University Press, pages 1-21</ref><ref name="deussenmeaningofom">Paul Deussen, ''Sixty Upanishads of the Veda'', Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, pages 67-85, 227, 284, 308, 318, 361-366, 468, 600-601, 667, 772</ref>

The syllable ''Om'' is first mentioned in the Upanishads. It has been associated with various concepts, such as "cosmic sound", "mystical syllable", "affirmation to something divine", or as symbolism for abstract spiritual concepts in the Upanishads.<ref name="annette2"/> In the [[Aranyaka]] and the [[Brahmana]] layers of Vedic texts, the syllable is so widespread and linked to knowledge, that it stands for the "whole of Veda".<ref name="annette2"/> The symbolic foundations of ''Om'' are repeatedly discussed in the oldest layers of the early Upanishads.<ref>Paul Deussen, ''Sixty Upanishads of the Veda'', Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, page 207</ref><ref>John Grimes (1995), ''Ganapati: The Song of Self'', State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791424391}}, pages 78-80 and 201 footnote 34</ref> The [[Aitareya Brahmana]] of Rig Veda, in section 5.32, suggests that the three phonetic components of ''Om'' (''a'' + ''u'' + ''m'') correspond to the three stages of cosmic creation, and when it is read or said, it celebrates the creative powers of the universe.<ref name="annette2"/><ref>[http://www.wilbourhall.org/pdfs/vedas/aitereya/the_aitareya_brahmanam_of_the_rigveda__s.pdf Aitareya Brahmana 5.32], Rig Veda, pages 139-140 (Sanskrit); for English translation: See {{Cite book |last=Arthur Berriedale Keith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DSgYAAAAYAAJ |title=The Aitareya and Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1920 |page=256}}</ref> However, in the eight anuvaka of the Taittiriya Upanishad, which consensus research indicates was formulated around the same time or preceding Aitareya Brahmana, the sound Aum is attributed to reflecting the inner part of the word Brahman. Put another way, it is the Brahman, in the form of a word.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/AitareyataittiriyaUpanishadsWithShankaraBhashya-English/page/n87/mode/2up?view=theater | title=Aitareya &Taittiriya Upanishads with Shankara Bhashya - English }}</ref> The Brahmana layer of Vedic texts equates ''Om'' with ''bhur-bhuvah-svah'', which symbolizes "the whole Veda". They offer various shades of meaning to ''Om'', such as it being "the universe beyond the sun", or that which is "mysterious and inexhaustible", or "the infinite language, the infinite knowledge", or "essence of breath, life, everything that exists", or that "with which one is liberated".<ref name="annette2"/> The [[Samaveda]], the poetical Veda, orthographically maps ''Om'' to the audible, the musical truths in its numerous variations (''Oum'', ''Aum'', ''Ovā Ovā Ovā Um'', etc.) and then attempts to extract [[Tala (music)|musical meters]] from it.<ref name="annette2"/>