Thus, while Sankara, the great theologian and commentator on the
Upanishads, is still contented with an etymological punning by means of
which he transforms a into an abbreviation of apti (pervading), since
speech is pervaded by Vaiswanara; u into an abbreviation of utkartha
(superiority), since Taijasa is superior to Vaiswanara; and m into an
abbreviation of miti (destruction), Vaiswanara and Taijasa, at the
destruction and regeneration of the world, being, as it were, absorbed
into Prajna--the Puranas make of a, a name of Vishnu; of u, a name of
his consort "Sri;" and of m, a designation of their joint worshipper;
or they see in a, u, m, the Triad--Brahm, Vishnu, and Siva; the first
being represented by a, the second by u, and the third by m--each sect,
of course, identifying the combination of these letters, or Om with
their supreme deity. Thus, also, in the Bhagavadgita, which is devoted
to the worship of Vishnu in his incarnation as Krishna, though it is
essentially a poem of philosophical tendencies based on the doctrine of
the Yoga, Krishna in one passage says of himself that he is Om; while
in another passage he qualifies the latter as the supreme spirit.
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