[Advaita-l] Om in the Vedas

[Praveen R. Bhat]

Hari Om,

In a recent discussion with some elders in a satsanga, I was faced with a
question about the occurrence of Om in the karma kANDa of the Vedas. The
argument was that Om was "later on" added to the mantras and it exists no
where, eg, Rg starts without Om into "agnimile purohitam' etc. Although I
pointed out its importance from Mundaka, Mandukya, and its presence being
assumed at the beginning of all mantras quoting Gayatri, Rudra, Purusha
Sukta as examples, I was asked why it was not explicitly mentioned in karma
kANDa (in any print)? I know that yajussamhita starts with mention of
praNava, but not a direct Om. Could any vaidika provide any guidance on
this front?

praNAm,
--Praveen R. Bhat
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