Ik Onkar (Ek Onkar) Satnam Karta Purakh – Mool Mantre Meaning

Kundalini Mantras

Mool Mantra complete lyrics:

„Ik Onkar Satnam Karta Purakh Nirbhau Nirvair Akaal Moorat Ajoonee Saibhang Gur Prasaad”

This soothing chant is the first composition of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The sacred scripture – Guru Granth Sahib begins with this mantra and it appears more than 100 times throughout the text where it is placed at the beginning of the particular Shabad.

It is a brief composition encompassing the entire universally complex theology of the Sikh faith. It has political, religious, social, logical, martial and eternal implication for human existence; a truly humanitarian and global concept of the Supreme power for all to appreciate and understand. Additionally, this mantra expresses the Sikh metaphysics – the belief in the nature of being and reality, and the relationship of the Universe and individuals.

Mool Mantra meaning explanation on syllables:

Ik means ”One.” God is one and only one. Sikhs consider that there is only one Supreme Being. That is to say that all religions in the world pray to the same God. This also disagrees with religions like Hinduism that have hundreds or thousands of Gods.

Onkar means ”Omnipresent.” God is everywhere. This indicates that God isn’t found only in holy sites, churches or temples, but in fact is always around us and within us at all times.

Satnam means ”Truth-name.” His name is Truth. You have to understand the Sikh concept of truth to understand this idea. Essentially, the Ultimate Truth is considered to be something that is not only momentarily true but always has been and always will be. Since change is broadly considered to be the only constant, there is an implication that none of the world around us is “true” since everything is transitory. Under this definition, God is the only truth. God is considered to be the only thing that has always been and will always be, and who makes everything happen.

Karta Purakh means ”Doer-person.” God is the one who does everything. He destroys everything and creates everything. This is quite a simple but potent idea, that God is omnipotent and everything happens under his Will.

Nirbhau, Nirvair means ”Not afraid, No enemies.” God has no enemies. God is fearless. This would make sense as he is omnipotent. He loves everyone equally and ensures the best for everybody.

Akaal Moorat means ”Timeless, endless entity.” The word Akaal has two important meanings. The word “kaal” means both death and time, depending on context. Hence, the word “Akaal”, which is the literal opposite, implies that God is beyond time and beyond the cycle of life and death. God was never born and will never die. As said before, God is the only thing that always has been and always will be.

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Ajoonee means ”Formless.” This is an essential idea. God is not a man or woman or even a person. God has no shape or form or living manifestation. God is not of the form of another creature or lifeless object. God is more of an abstract power/energy/force that exists all around us. I like to think of this as the pre-Physics implication of the Laws of the Universe, that make sure everything works in order.

Saibhang means ”Self-created.” God is existent by himself. God was not created by anybody. Since God was never born or created and “has always been”, this is a complicated idea. But think of it as a Being so potent and powerful that it could create itself.

Gur Parsaad means ”Obtained by the Grace of the Teacher.”

“He is one, He is Ongkar, the supreme truth. He is the creator, beyond rancor, beyond fear. He is the timeless form, self-creating, never born. He is attained by the guru’s grace. He was truth before the ages and as time ran its course. Nanak says now is he truth eternal and forever will he be.” – meaning of the mantra translated by Osho.

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