Sutra 27: 'Tasya vaachakah pranavah'
The word which express Him is Om.
Sutra 28: 'Tath japah tath artha bhavanam'
This word must be repeated with meditation upon its meaning.
Sutra 29: ' Tathah pratyaka chethana adhigamo api antharayabhavah cha'
Hence comes the knowledge of the Atman and destruction of the obstacles to that knowledge.
Explanation:
A verse from Rig Veda states: "In the beginning was Brahman, with who was the Word; and the Word was truly the supreme Brahman." The philosophy of the Word may be traced, in its various forms and modifications, down from the ancient Hindu scriptures through the teachings of Plato and the author of Fourth Gospel. Truth may be rediscovered independently, in many epochs and places. The power of the Word, for good and for evil, has been recognized by mankind since the dawn of history.
Words and ideas are inseparable.You cannot have the idea of God without the word which expresses God. But why necessarily, use the word OM? The Hindus reply that, because God is the basic fact of the universe, he must be represented by the most basic, the most natural, the most comprehensive of all sounds. And they claim that this sound is OM (or AUM as it should be properly pronounced). To quote Swami Vivekananda: "The first letter A, is the root sound, the key pronounced without touching any part of the tongue or palate; M represents the last sound in the series, being produced by the closed lip, and the U rolls from the very root to the end of the sounding-board of the mouth. Thus OM represents the whole phenomena of sound-producing." It has been used by countless millions of worshipers-- always in the most universal sense; implying no special attribute, referring to no one particular deity. If such use can confer sanctity, the OM is the most sacred word of all.
But what really matters is that we should appreciate the power of Word in our spiritual life; and this appreciation comes only through practical experience. People who have never tried the practice of repeating the name of God are apt to scoff at it: it seems to them so empty, so mechanical. The truth is that we are all inclined to flatter ourselves that we spend our time thinking logical, consecutive thoughts. More usually, we are in the state of reverie -- a mental fog of disconnected sense-impressions, irrelevant memories, nonsensical scraps of sentences from books and newspapers, little darting fears and resentments, physical sensations of discomfort, excitement or ease. Because we do nothing to control this reverie, it is largely conditioned by external circumstances. The weather is cloudy, so our mood is sad. The sun comes out our mood brightens. Insects begin to buzz around us, and we turn irritable and nervous. Often, it is as simple as that.
But now, if we introduce into this reverie the repetition of the name of the God, we shall find that we can change our moods, despite the interference of the outside world. We are always; anyhow repeating words in our minds-- the name of a friend or an enemy, the name of an anxiety, the name of the desired object -- and each of these words is surrounded by its own mental climate. Try saying "war" or "money" ten thousands times, and you will find that your whole mood has been changed and colored by the associations connected with that word. Similarly, the name of God will change the climate of your mind. It cannot do otherwise.
When the mind is so violently disturbed by pain or fear or the necessities of some physical emergency that it cannot possibly be used for meditation or even rational thought, there is still one thing that you can always do; you can repeat His name, over and over. Once you have really tested and proved the power of the holy Word, you will rely upon it increasingly. Through the constant practice, the repetition becomes automatic.
Mere repetition of God's name is, of course, insufficient -- as Patanjali points out. We must also meditate upon its meaning. But one process follows naturally upon the other, if we really understood the meaning under guidance of Sadguru. If we preserve in our repetition, it will lead us inevitably into meditation. Gradually, our confused reverie will give way to concentrated thought. We cannot long continue to repeat any word without beginning to think about the reality which it represents.
This frequent service of the lips imperceptibly becomes a genuine appeal of heart, sinks down into the inward life, becomes a delight, becomes as it were, natural to the soul, bringing it light and nourishment and leading it on to union with God.
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