[Sidenote: 21. Om is a Raft. ॐमुड़ुपः ।] “_Om_ is a raft of Brahman to cross over the torrents of the world.” (Swetáswatara II. 8. p. 53). [Sidenote: 22. Om an arrow. ॐ शरः ।] “The body is the bow, _Om_ is the arrow, with which one pierces the mark Brahma through darkness.” धनुच्छरीरमोमित्येतच्छरः । शिखास्य मनस्तमो लक्षणं भित्वात्मानमागच्छतीति । [Sidenote: 23. Om a Bridge. ॐ सेतुः ।] And so _Om_ is used to represent many other single objects. (Maitrí Up. p. 271). It is represented as a bridge in the Atharva Veda (VI. 10 and VIII. 4). X. DUADS OR DUPLES OF THE BIPARTITE OM IN DUALISTIC THEORIES. [Sidenote: Duads. Om a couple. ॐ मिथुनं ।] “_Om_ unites couples together and gratifies the wish of the adorer.” (Ch’hándogya I. 6). Again “couples being incorporated with the letter _Om_, establish the all-gratifying power and attribute of Om.” (Sankara’s Scholium to Ch’hándogya). [Sidenote: 1. The Couple Udgítha & Pranava. उद्गीथप्रणबौ ।] _Om_ combines the _Udgítha_ of the Sáma with the _pranava_ of the Rig Veda, the first couple; and therefore speech (Vák) and breath (prána) the sources of the Rik and Sáma, the second couple; and lastly the said two Vedas themselves as the third couple. (Ch’hándogya I. 1-8), and consequently the Hotri and Udgátri priests the fourth couple. [Sidenote: 2. Brahma and Para Brahma. परापर ब्रह्म ।] _Om_ is the superior and inferior Brahma conjointly. The superior or _Para Brahma_ is the one eternal and infinite God; and the inferior or _Apara Brahmá_ is the finite God:—the demiurge of Plato, and the _Prajápati_ and Indra of Vedanta theology. The Aitareya reckons the pentad of the five elementary bodies, under the latter category. (V. 3). Kálidása speaks of this as the _pancha mahá bhúta samádhi_ in the first book of his Raghu Vansa. [Sidenote: 3. The two pronunciations. स्वर द्वयं ।] “_Om_ is pronounced as _svarati_ in the Rigveda and Svara in the Yajur Veda.” (Ch’hándogya IV. 4. Manu XI. 265). [Sidenote: 4. The Human & Divine Souls. जीबात्मा परमात्मा ।] “_Om_ is átman or soul. Two souls are said to enter the body; the individual and the undivided or universal soul.” (Ait. III. 1). “Two birds (the supreme and individual souls) dwell upon the same tree of the body.” (Svetásvatara Upanishad). [Sidenote: 5. The Soul and Matter. प्रकृतीश्वरौ ।] “_Om_ is both spirit and matter,” viewed as the same thing in the materialistic light of the Sánkhya, and dualistic view of others. Spinoza defines them both as the “_Substantia cogitans, et substantia extensa, una eademque est substantia, quae jam sub hoc, jam sub illo attributo_ comprehenditur.” (Ethics. 1 Pr. 7 schol). [Sidenote: 6. The Male and Female. प्रकृति पुरुषौ ।]