Adi-lila, Chapter 7 125

One should not, however, foolishly conclude that because the Supreme Person-
ality of Godhead is omnipotent, we have manufactured a combination of letters—
a, u and m—to represent Him. Factually the transcendental sound omkara, although
a combination of the three letters a, u and m, has transcendental potency, and one
who chants omkara will very soon realize omkara and Lord Visnu to be nondifferent.
Krsna declares, pranavah sarva-vedesu: ‘‘| am the syllable om in the Vedic mantras.”
(Bg. 7.8) One should therefore conclude that among the many incarnations of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, omkara 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 (abhinnatvan nama-naminoh). Since omkara
is the basic principle of all Vedic knowledge, it is uttered before one begins to chant
any Vedic hymn. Without omkara, no Vedic mantra is successful. The Gosvamis
therefore declare that pranava (omkara) is the complete representation of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they have analyzed omkara in terms of its
alphabetical constituents as follows:

a-karenocyate krsnah
sarva-lokaika-nayakah
u-karenocyate radha
ma-karo jiva-vacakah
Omkara is a combination of the letters a, vu and m. A-karenocyate krsnah: the letter
a (a-kara) refers to Krsna, who is sarva-lokaika-nayakah, the master of all living enti-
ties and planets, material and spiritual. Nayaka means “‘leader.’’ He is the supreme
leader (nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam). The letter u (u-kara) indicates Srimati
Radharani, the pleasure potency of Krsna, and m (ma-kara) indicates the living enti-
ties (j7vas). Thus om is the complete combination of Krsna, His potency and His
eternal servitors. In other words, omkara represents Krsna, His name, fame, pastimes,
entourage, expansions, devotees, potencies and everything else pertaining to Him.
Sarva-visva-dhama: omkara is the resting place of everything, just as Krsna is the
resting place of everything (brahmano hi pratisthaham).

The Mayavadi philosophers consider many Vedic mantras to be the maha-vakya,
or principal Vedic mantra, such as tattvamasi (Chandogya Upanisad, 6.8.7), idarm
sarvarn yad ayam atma and brahmedarn sarvam (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad, 2.5.1),
atmaivedam sarvam (Chandogya Upanisad, 7.25.2) and neha nanasti kificana (Katha
Upanisad, 2.1.11). That is a great mistake. Only omkara is the maha-vakya. All these
other mantras which the Mayavadis accept as the maha-vakya are only incidental.
They cannot be taken as the maha-vakya, or maha-mantra. The mantra tattvamasi
indicates only a partial understanding of the Vedas, unlike omkara, which repre-
sents the full understanding of the Vedas. Therefore the transcendental sound which
includes all Vedic knowledge is ormmkara (pranava).

Aside from ornkara, none of the words uttered by the followers of Sankaracarya
can be considered the maha-vakya. They are merely passing remarks. Sankaracarya,
however, has never stressed chanting of the maha-vakya omkara; he has accepted
only tattvamasi as the maha-vakya. Imagining the living entity to be God, he has
