Akshara
Akṣara (IAST)Translation: "imperishable"
From Mandukya Upanishad (Verse 1, Verse 8)
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: अक्षर
Transliteration: Akṣara
Translation: "imperishable; indestructible; immutable; undying; syllable (from a – “not” + kṣi – to destroy, perish”)"
Definition: - A name for the Reality (Brahman) in its transcendent immutable aspect. Sometimes used as a name for Māyā or Prakṛti.
- A name for the word Om.
The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Definition: "akṣara (Sanskrit, ‘imperishable’), the highest reality in a variety of Hindu thought systems. From earliest times it also meant ‘syllable’, reflecting the search for the ultimate reality by Vedic priest-thinkers and the early primacy given to the sacred utterance as the support of the ritual order of the universe, later identified as the syllable Om. In later texts and the systematic thinkers, it refers to the highest reality, which may be a personal supreme being or an impersonal absolute, such as the Highest Self (Paramātman) of Śaṅkara. Non-technically, it can be used in any thought system of any entity believed to be imperishable."
The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad (Swami Krishnananda)
Commentary: "Om is akṣhara, and akṣhara is imperishable." (p.22) "So’yam Ātmā’dhyakṣaram: The Ātman is the Overlord of this Akṣara, imperishable Om." (p.91)
References:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
- Audi, Robert (1999). The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Second Edition. New York: Cambridge University Press
- Krishnananda, Swami (1996). The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. Retrieved from https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/mand_0.html. p.22, 91.
