Soham (Sanskrit)
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Soham is a Sanskrit word which means I am Him (Him refers to the omniscient Almighty). All the living beings on this earth are said to be producing this sound of So and Ham while inhalation and the exhalation. The word thus claims that all living beings re-proclaim the fact every moment that they are God. It is said as per the Hindu saints and gurus, that one can attain moksha, or mukti or Liberation from the cycle of life and death by concentrating on the breath and mentally saying the word "so" when you inhale and the word "ham" (pronounced hum) when you exhale. By doing so, all evil is destroyed and one is believed to reach the position of ultimate power and a position equivalent to Gurus and Gods as per Hinduism.
Soham is the combination of two words viz. SAH +AHAM. According to the rules of the Sanskrit grammar Sah + Aham becomes Soham. It is the principle of joining of consonant with vowel to form a VARNA/an alphabet. Sandhi means the joining of two words, under the grammatical rules of the ‘ Sandhi’ in the Sanskrit language. The joining of Sah + Aham is governed by the principle of Visarga Sandhi . What is Visarga in Sanskrit language? It is Nirvana or final liberation/ beatitude…, it is represented by two dots, written in the manner as: to represent Jivatman/ individual soul and Paramatman/ Absolute. The word Sah means that some person different from the first person and second person. The word First person is Aham, which in Sanskrit means I am, I exist. When this I merges with That, the ego of ‘ I’ identity merges with THAT, who is Ishwara of the Vedas, Brahman of the Upanishads, Bhagawana of the Puranas.
SA in Sanskrit is the combination of lifeless consonant S with vowel A, with the meaning of Prana/vital force. Also SA is VISHNU and SHIVA according to the Vedic Nirukta. The Sandhi or + sign means Yoga or self realization.
Explanation: I am obviously not this body because the physical constituents of the body are changing every moment. Ultimately, the body dies. Atman/soul/self never dies. It is That. That is Absolute Reality. It is the witness of all, what the mind does through body organism. This self is always on the path of progression, which according to the Shaivistic thought is Chaitanya or consciousness. The Shiva Sutra speaks of ‘Chaitanyam – Atma’. We need to realize that Aham/ myself, which is Sah/ That self. This is called the spiritual awareness
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