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BHAKTI-YOGA
formed state. That is to say, if all the peculiarities which distinguish one word from another be removed, then what remains will be the Sphota; therefore this Sphota is called the TCH (Nâda-Brahma), the Sound-Brahman. Now, as every word-symbol intended to express the inexpressible Sphota will so particularise it that it will no longer be the Sphota, that symbol which particularises it the least and at the same time most approximately expresses its nature, will be the truest symbol thereof; and this is the Om, and the Om only; because these three letters
# (A.U.M.), pronounced in combination as Om, may well be the generalised symbol of all possible sounds. The letter (A) is the least differentiated of all sounds, therefore Krishna says in the Gita, YATO Tristan --"I am A among the letters." Again, all articulate sounds are produced in the space within the mouth beginning with the root of the tongue and ending in the lips the throat sound is A, and M is the last lip sound; and the U exactly represents the rolling forward of the impulse which begins at the root of the tongue till it ends in the lips. If properly pronounced, this Om will represent the whole phenomenon of sound-production, and no other word can do this; and this, therefore, is the fittest symbol of the Sphota, which is the real meaning of the Om. And as the symbol can never be separated from the thing signified, the Om and the Sphota are one. And as the Sphota, being the finer side of the manifested universe, is nearer to God, and
