Om <--> Amen

[N. Ganesan]

*Also in early Upanisads "Om" means just "yes," equivalent to
*"tathaa." Is it possible that it could have first just been an
*affirmative  particle that later gained its cosmic signifcance
*and was not fabricated from the vowel tables of the Sanskrit
*alphabet?

  Please see the important publication establishing
  'Om' to be of Dravidian origin:

Parpola, Asko, 1981. On the primary meaning and etymology of the
sacred syllable ôm. Pp. 195-213 in: Asko Parpola (ed.), Proceedings
of the Nordic South Asia Conference held in Helsinki, June 10-12,
1980. (Studia Orientalia, 50). Helsinki: The Finnish Oriental Society.

Summary of the main theses:
Original meaning: Om in the Vedic ritual = 'yes', om = tathâ = 'yes'
also in ordinary conversation, and in the Chandogya Upanishad ôm is
expressly said to be a word expressing agreement.
Etymology: < Dravidian âm < âkum 'yes' < 'it is (fitting, suitable)',
â labialized by the following m as Jaffna Tamil ôm < âm.

Regards,
N. Ganesan





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