The Origins of OM or Omkar - A Hypothesis

[Vaidix]

Dear list members,

The syllable Om is said to be same as uthgItha (chandogya upaniSat).

uthgItha is the last portion of inhalation when free and unconstrained
inhalation takes place (as per comparision of breathing cycle with other
cycles described therein, such as rain, seasons etc.  uthgItha is the last
portion of ArohaNA.

The meditation on last portion of inhalation sounds like Om.

It can be concluded that meditation regarding uthgItha is superior to spelling
out the word 'OM' because meditation is superior to rite as per zaGkarA's
commentary.

uthgItha represents the leadership within.

If we consider uthgItha is a brick, all the vedic gods such as indra,
brhaspati, viSNu &c are made up of this brick.  They are all different forms
of uthgItha.

Hope this helps.
Bhadraiah Mallampalli