Omkar, the king of mantras
The first lady asked,—Why then is Omkar called the king of mantras?
Sri Sri Babamoni,—There is no doubt that Omkar is the king of all mantras. Omkar is the combination of all mantras of the world. Again, Omkar is also the life or real nature of all mantras of the world. Therefore one has to call Omkar the king of mantras. Doing ‘jap’ of Omkar means doing ‘jap’ of all mantras. Remembering Omkar means remembering all mantras of the world. In the case of all other mantras, there is the consideration in respect of the community concerned, limitations regarding jurisdiction, disputes relating to prescriptions and prohibitions. But there is no room for discrimination in regard to communal considerations in the case of Omkar mantra. This is the reason why ‘Omkar’ is referred to as the king of all mantras.
Reasons for strong revelation of the secret Pranab Mantra
A discussion was going on about ‘Omkar’ Mantra. Sri Sri Babamani said,— The Hindu society has never engazed in any dispute amongst themselves concerning Pranab, and everyone irrespective of his sect or philosophy has shown the highest respect for Pranab. It is for this single reason that Pranab can claim the greatest suitability for effecting the unity of scattered Hindu society disintegrated by factionalism. So long the Hindus did not intensely feel the necessity of forging any unity among their different factions and philosophies. So long the Hindus never expressed any suspicion regarding the existence of and the utility of worshipping of various gods described in the Puranas and semi-puranas. The strong distrust of the gods and the Brahmins that revealed itself consequent upon the introduction of English education led many educated Indians to forsake Hinduism. But that distrust and the consequent movement and agitation were confined to a few educated persons only. It is true that the newspapers of those days elaborately publicized the contemporary movements, but not even the shadow of that could enter the villages that were inhabitated by ninety five percent of the country’s population. Those movements were limited to the confines of the great cities alone. After the World War of 1914, poverty and want spread across the globe prompted the sleeping ‘Kumbha karnas’ everywhere to break their slumber. The ordinary people of some countries raised the fundamental question—‘why should we pay tax’? The masses in some other country questioned,—why should the poor be exploited by the rich for ever? And the ordinary people of this our country put the question,—‘why should I have to obey your Kali, Durga, Ganesh, Mahadev, Laxmi, Saraswati, Brahma and Vishnu?’ Who are they? This single incident led to a continual decrease in the number of devotees who used to worship fragmented gods (Khand Devas). The credulous and the simple-hearted people turned questioners, debaters and the distrustful. This is the background in the context of which the Pranab Mantra that remained in oblivion almost for several thousand years slowly made its appearance and after making itself clearly visible began to assure the people through human voice and human language,—Here I have come before you to meet the demand of unity, you accept me. It is because of the need of this age, because of the compulsion to ensure welfare of all beings that the most invaluable treasure kept hidden for a long long time has been revealing Himself mercifully by His own strength.
Sri Sri Babamoni says “Omkar is the best or greatest and the shortest name of God. It is the essence of any sound and at the same time is the combination of all sounds occurring in the Universe.”