praNavamantram

By Udayabhanu Panickar


The primal sound that existed before the very first of creations, the sound which shall exist even after the mahaapraLayam, the sound that shall never be silent, or which will even sound in the silence of the whole, the sound that has a silence incorporated in it, the form of sound which is and was the first manifestation of the parabrhmam, that nAtharoopam of the Supreme Luminance, the sound “AUM” is praNavam. All in existence are the sum of the pulsing energy, in their most essential level of their vibration. praNavam is the “un-struck’ sound, the sound that is not made by two or more striking elements. The sound that is the sound of the primal energy is actually the sound of the universe it self. No it is not just the sound, but it is the universe it self. It is the Absolute, the Ultimate. Every thing in this universe is the manifestation of it, IT is the parabrhmam.

“AUM”, the praNavam consists of four elements. They include the sounds of “A”, “U”, and “M”. These three sounds along with the silence that follows them create the praNavam. “A”, pronounced some what like the sound of ‘AH’ which should resonate in the middle of the mouth, resembling to the sound of in the word father, after the ‘F’ sound. This sound represents the normal waking state of consciousness. At this stage the subject and the object, the knowledge and the knower, exists as separate entities. In this stage, matter exists in a gross level and it is stable and very slow to change.

The second element is the sound of “U”. This sound is equal to the ending sound in the word ‘who’. Here the sound should transfer the sense of the vibration to the back of the mouth and we shall feel the vibration mostly on the upper part of the mouth. This stage represents the dream consciousness. At this stage the subject and object are intertwined in awareness. Both are with in us and matter becomes more fluid and rapidly changing. This is the realm of dreams, divinities and the inner world.

The third element, the sound of “M” represents the realm of the deep sleep, the one with out dreams, the perfect sleep. In this state there shall be no object to be observed nor there shall be an observer. There shall only be one, which represents all, All are one, and there shall be no second. That is Adwitham. At this state only pure consciousness shall exist. That shall be unseen, pristine, and latent and it shall be covered in darkness, which is the combination of all colors.

The fourth part is the silence after the sound. This is the stage where we try to join with the source of our consciousness, which is the parabrhmam. This joining of the ‘self’, the jeevathman with the ‘Self’, the paramathman, which is the brahman, is what “yogah” is. It is the merger of the individual consciousness with the Absolute consciousness. Dhyaanam done with praNavamantram can lead us to that stage.

As we do “dhyaanam” or meditation as we may call it, chant the first part the sound of “A” of this praNava mantram, fill the mind with the physical beings, all of them but do not hold on to it. Just let your mind go through the objects of the world and go beyond them. Just be aware of that stage. This is the stage where we are awake.

As you move on the second part, the sound of “U” just be aware of the existence of all the subtle or astral realm. This may include all that we might intuit. Here again we must not hold on to them. This is the stage of the dream, the dreaming consciousness. Just be aware that they are there and go beyond them to the next stage. That is the third part, the sound of “M”. At this stage let us be aware of the casual, the stillness from which all originated and to which all shall go back to. At the end of the sound of the “M” the great silence is observed. This may not be that easy. Just imagine the blank screen in a movie theatre and the same screen while the move is projected. This may help us to do it. Let the mind travel between the two. It is very difficult to separate the two, last of the humming sound of “M” in “AUM” and the silence. Because the layer separating the last of the humming sound of “M” and the silence is very thin and our discriminative listening ability is also very tiny. Here is where the practice has to concentrate. Once we achieve this, The knowledge, the knower and the known all becomes one.

The chanting of praNavamantram, if practiced with dedication and accuracy, shall create a vibration within our own “self” which is in tune with the cosmic vibration, which is the Absolute and ultimately we shall merge with IT. As we progress in this process, the mind shall move between the silence and the sound and if successful shall end the sound and only the silence shall remain. At this stage there shall be no other thought. The mind and the intellect are transcended as the individual self, the jeevathman merges with the paramathman. That is the aim of human life. And that is the ultimate goal every life form in this universe. Our ancestry has given us enough tools in the form of aathmavidya or brahmajnaanam for the attainment of that goal.

There are great riSiHs in our ancestry who attained this stage within their life time. Two of them Shree Narayana Guru and Chattampi Swamikal blessed us with their life and work just before our time in our land of origin. They like all other RiSiHs, who came before them have definitely used the praNava mantram to reach where they reached. May be we can learn from what they left for us to learn and practice.

The upaniShad says, “The syllable ‘AUM” is indeed ‘brahman’. This is the highest. Whosoever knows this syllable obtains all that he desires.” (Katha Upanishad -I - ii - 16).”

“The visible form of fire, when latent in its source is not seen and yet its source is not perceived, yet there is no destruction in its subtle form. That fire can be brought out by means of persistent rubbing of the wood, the source of the fire. Like wise, aatman, which exists in two states, manifested and un-manifested like the fire in the two peaces of wood can be grasped in this very body by the means of “AUM”. (Svetasvatara Upanishad 1-13)

By making the body the lower piece of the wood and the ‘AUM’ the upper piece, and through the constant practice of the friction of dhyaanam (meditation), one perceives the luminous Self (Parabrhmam) hidden like the fire in the wood. .(Svetasvatara Upanishad 1-14).

As oil [exists] in the sesame seeds, butter in the milk, water in river-beds, and fire in wood, so the Self is realized as [existing] within the self, when a man looks for IT by means of truthfulness and austerity—when he looks for the Self which pervades all things as butter pervades milk, and whose roots are Self-Knowledge and austerity. That is the brahman taught by the Upanishad. (Svetasvatara Upanishad 1-15-16).