o 
verfe fays, “ As the leaf of the palafa is fupported by a 
fingle pedicle, fo is this univerfe upheld by the fyllable 
OM, a fymbol of the fupreme Brahm. 
76. “ Brahm milked out, as it were, from the three 
Vedas, the letter a, the letter u, and the letter M, which 
form by their coalition the triliteral monofyllable ; toge¬ 
ther with three myfterious words, bhnr, b/iuva, and Jiver." 
Thefe words mean earth, Iky, and heaven 5 and are called 
the vyahritis. 
78. “A prieft who fhall know the Veda, and {hall pro¬ 
nounce to himfelf, both morning and evening, that fyl¬ 
lable, and that holy text, preceded by the three words, 
{hall attain the fani'tity which the Veda confers. 
.79. “ And a twice-born man who {hall a thoufand times 
repeat thofe three, (om, the vyahritis, and the gayatri,) 
apart from the multitude,{hall be releafed in a month even 
from a great offence, as a fnake from his {lough. 
80. “The prieft, the foldier, and the merchant, who 
{hall negleft this myfterious text, and fail to perform in 
due fealon his peculiar a£fs of piety, {hall meet with con¬ 
tempt among the virtuous. 
81. “ The great immutable words, preceded by the tri¬ 
literal fyllable, and followed by the gayatri, which confifts 
of three meafures, muft be confidered as the mouth or 
principal part of the Veda. 
82. “ Whoever {hall repeat, day by day, for three years, 
without negligence, that facred text, fhall hereafter ap¬ 
proach the divine effence, move freely as air, and affume 
an etherial form. 
83. “The triliteral monofyllable is an emblem of the 
Supreme. The fuppreflions of the breath with a mind 
fixed on God are the higheft devotion.” The fuppreftion 
of the breath is thus performed by the prieft : doling the 
left noftril with the two longeft fingers of the right hand, 
he draws his breath through the right noftril; then, clo- 
fingthat noftril likewife with his thumb, holds his breath 
while he meditates the text; he then raifes both fingers 
off the left noftril, and emits the fuppreffed breath, hav¬ 
ing, during its fuppreftion, repeated to himfelf the gaya¬ 
tri, the vyahritis, the triliteral monofyllable, and the fa¬ 
cred text of Brahm. 
Chap. vi. ver. 70. “ Even three fupprefiions of breath, 
made according to the divine rule, accompanied by the 
triverbial phrafe ( bhur bliuvaJ'wah ), and the triliteral fyl¬ 
lable (o’m), may be confidered as the higheft devotion of 
a Brahmin.” 
This may fufiice to {how the veneration in which this 
“myftic monofyllable” and “ineffable text” are held by 
Brahmans and Hindoos in general, on the authority of 
their moft revered legiflator Menu. Others of their moft 
facred books confirm them in this veneration. In the 
Gita, Krifhna, defcribing his own excellencies, feleftsthe 
firft and beft of many things wherewith to compare him¬ 
felf: “I am,” he fays to Arjun, “the monofyllable 
among w'ords; amongft harmonious meafures I am the 
gayatri.” 
The extreme importance that the Hindoos attach to 
the gayatri, renders it a text of more curiofity than per- 
haps a general reader will be able to difcover in the words 
themfelves, in either their familiar or recondite meaning. 
It is, like the holy monofyllable, to be mentally revolved, 
never articulated. It is taught, as we have feen in the 
preceding extrafts from Menu, to the three firft clalfes ; 
that is, to the Brahman or priefthood, to the Kftietriya 
or foldier, and to the Vaifya or merchant; but not to the 
Sudra or labourer, nor to individuals of the three firft- 
naroed clalfes, if rendered by vicious propenfities unwor¬ 
thy of the “ fecond birth,” promifed in the holinefs of 
this myfterious regeneration. Fafting, ablution, prayer, 
altnfgiving, and other commendable afls, are neceflary 
preliminaries and accompaniments to initiation in the 
myfteries of this “ ineffable text,” which is done by the 
Guru, or fpiritual preceptor, in a reverent and fecret 
manner. In the Vedas the text occurs feveral times ; and 
tranflations of it by different Sanfcrit fcholars are given, 
VtM.. XVII. No. 1191, 
M. 459 
with many particulars of it, and other myfterious points, 
in the Hindoo Pantheon. “ There is no doubt,” lays 
the author of that work, “but that pious Brahmans 
would be very deeply (hocked at hearing the gayatri de¬ 
filed by unholy articulation, even ifexpreffed in the moft 
refpeftful manner; and many would be diftreffed at 
knowing the characters, found, and meaning, to be in the 
poffeftion of perfons out of the pale of fandtity. A gen¬ 
tleman on the weftern fide of India, unaware of the re- 
fult, began once to recite it audibly in the prefence of a- 
pious Pandit : the aftoniflied prieft (topped his ears, and 
haftened terrified from his prefence.” In thefrontilpiece 
to that work, the charadter or fymbol is given that 
would, if uttered, yield the found of om. The author 
fays he once (howed it to a Brahman, who filently aver¬ 
ted his face, evidently pained by what he unwillingly faw. 
However puerile fuch myfticifms may appear to a cer¬ 
tain clafs of philofophers, it cannot be otheru'ife than 
interefting to thofe inquifitive as to the varieties and co¬ 
incidences in the human mind, to trace them among re¬ 
mote people, and back to remote ages. What is received 
with myfterious awe by millions of intelligent beings, 
cannot be wholly undeferving the fcrutiny of philofophy ; 
and, where the wifeft of refined people diftant from/ 
and Unconnedfed with, each other, agree in fuch vifionary 
reveries, as we may, if we pleafe, call them, the refult 
of an enquiry into their origin and dift'ufion may perhaps 
repay the trouble of refearch. 
_ As in all languages the letter equivalent to A is the ini¬ 
tial, or firft of the alphabet, fo with moft lettered nations 
it has been fuppofed to fignify things primary. Among 
ancient writers. Alpha or Aleph was ufed to denote the 
chief or firft man of his clafs or rank. By Come it was 
applied to Mofes ; by many to fomething myfterious or 
divine ; thence to the Deity. In the facred writings we 
find the Lord faying, “ I am Alpha and Omega, the be¬ 
ginning and the end, the firft and the laft.” Thefe two 
letters were hence formed, by myftical refearches, into 
a fort of hieroglyphic, or fymbol of the Deity, and after¬ 
wards of Chriftianity ; and as fuch was engraved on the 
tombs of the early Chriftians, to diftinguilh them froth 
thofe of idolaters. Thus we find the Hindoo facred wri¬ 
tings put the fame words into the mouth of Krishna, as 
cited under that article, vol. xi. p. 457. “ I am,” he (ays 
to Arjun, “of things tranfient, the beginning, the mid¬ 
dle, and the end. I am the monofyllable among words.” 
This monofyllable om is the combined Alpha and Omecra 
of the Brahmas. Without laying any ftrefs on it, it may 
beobfervedin palling, that thofe initial and final letters 
would, combined, yield nearly the monolyllable found in 
queftion. • , 
Initial and final letters have thus, by pofition, become 
myfterious with many people. Let us look, for a mo¬ 
ment, at the obfcure text in Exodus, uttered, under awful 
circumftances, by the Deity, in unity of perfon. In our 
verfion it is rendered “ 1 AM that I AM,” Ex. iii. 14. 
The emphatic W'ords are ufualJy printed in capitals. 
Fading by the meaning of the text, we fee, in the original 
of a triverbal phrafe of triliteral monofyllables, each of 
the three words beginning with a myftic initial of unity, 
the myftical letter of triunity being precifely medial. In 
other words, one important letter typical of triunity, me¬ 
dially comprehended in one awful triverbal phrafe, com¬ 
posed of triliteral monofyllables all beginning with the 
thrice-recurring initial of unity. Here then, in this 
Jewijh gayatri, wefind the triliteral monolyllabic-triverbal 
text fo much admired by the Hindoos; and combining 
all the literal triunities, initial, medial, and final, in every 
myftical variety of number, pofition, form, obfcurity, 
&c. that the moft enthufiaftic, in the pruriency of his 
imagination, can defire. We might furthernotice the aw¬ 
ful letter the initial and final, “the Alpha and Omega, 
the firft and the laft,” of Jehovah, tremendous name! 
that, like the om of the Hindoo, no Hebrew would utter, 
as the final of the firft and laft words of the above “ inef- 
6 D £abl^ 
