Further Talks With Prakasananda 193

Although He (Omkara) has no material Form, He is unlimitedly expanded,
and has unlimited Form. By understanding the Omkara one can become free
from the duality of the material world and be placed in Absolute Knowledge.
Therefore, Omkara is the most auspicious representation of the Supreme Lord.
Such is the description of the Mandukya Upanishad. One should not foolishly
interpret such a description of the Upanishad, and say that because the Supreme
Personality of Godhead “cannot” appear Himself in this material world in
His own Form, therefore the sound representation Omkara is here. By such
a false interpretation, Omkara comes to be considered as something material,
and the eulogizing of Omkara is misunderstood as simply an exhibition of His
value. Actually, Omkara is as good as other incarnations of the Supreme Lord.

The Lord has innumerable incarnations, and Omkara is one of them,
as an incarnation of the alphabet. As stated in the Bhagavad Gita: “Amongst
the letters I am Omkara”. This means that Omkara is non-different from
Krishna—that is the right interpretation. The impersonalist, however, gives
more importance to the Omkara than to the Personality of Godhead, Krishna.
In fact, however, any representational incarnation of the Supreme Lord is
non-different from Him. Such an incarnation or representation is as good
spiritually as the Supreme Lord. Omkara is therefore the ultimate representa-
tion of all the Vedas. The Vedic Mantras or hymns have transcendental value
because they are prefixed by the pronoun Omkara. The Vaishnavas, however,
interpret Omkara as follows: By the letter O, Krishna the Supreme Personality
of Godhead is indicated; by the letter U, Krishna’s eternal consort Srimati
Radharani is indicated; and by the letter M, the eternal servitor of the Supreme
Lord, the living entity, is indicated. Sankara has not given so much importance
to the Omkara. It is found, however, in the Vedas and in the Ramayana and
in the Puranas and in the Mahabarata, from the beginning to the end, and in
the middle—everywhere. Thus the glories of the Supreme Lord, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, are declared.

Thus Lord Chaitanya condemned the attempt at indirect interpretation
of the Vedanta Sutra, and the Sannyasis present were all struck with wonder
by His explanation. After hearing the direct interpretation of the Vedanta
Sutra from Lord Chaitanya, one of the Sannyasis in the meeting immediately
declared, “O Sripad Chaitanya, whatever You have explained by condemning
the indirect interpretation of Omkara is not at all a useless argument. Only
the fortunate persons can accept Your interpretation as the right one. Actually,
every one of us now knows that the interpretations given by Sankara are all
