Soham or Sohum (Sanskrit: ; ) is a Hindu mantra literally meaning "That (is) I" in Sanskrit, implying "I am that". The mantra is a sandhi of that can be inverted as and is printed variously in the English language as So’ham, So Ham, So-aham, So Hum, Saham, Sa'ham, Sau-ha, Sah-karena, and Sahkara, with the latter two forms meaning "the sound of Sa." In Vedic philosophy, Soham means identifying oneself with Brahman, and the combination of has also been interpreted as "I am Swan," where the swan symbolizes the Atman.
Etymology
The term is related to , and the phrase translates to "That (is) I", according to Monier-Williams.Monier Monier Williams Dictionary, Sa s.v. " 6.": "it is often for emphasis connected with another pron. as with , , , &c. (e.g. , , 'I (or thou) that very person'" Interpreted as a nominal sentence, it can also be read as "I am the absolute" or "Great truth".Mariasusai Dhavamony (1999), Hindu Spirituality, GB Press, , page 129 The term is found in Vedic literature, and is a phrase that identifies "One with the universe or the ultimate one reality".
History
This phrase is found in Principal Upanishads such as the Isha Upanishad (verse 16), which ends:
(...) तेजो यत्ते रूपं कल्याणतमं तत्ते पश्यामि योऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि ॥१६॥
"The light which is thy fairest form, I see it. I am what that is" (trans. Max Müller)The Upanishads, Part 1 1879, p. 313. Müller gives the footnote: "Asau purushah should probably be omitted", taking these words as an explanatory gloss that was accidentally incorporated in the text.
Soham, or "I am That", is very common in ancient and medieval literature. Some examples include:
Upanishads
Sannyasa Upanishads such as Naradaparivrajaka Upanishad, Nirvana Upanishad, Ashrama Upanishad, Maitreya Upanishad and Satyayaniya Upanishad. Yoga Upanishads such as Dhyanabindu Upanishad and Yogashikha Upanishad Hamsa Upanishad
Tantras
Gandharva Tantra Kali Tantra Kularnava Tantra Mahanirvana TantraMahanirvana Tantra is claimed to be a juridical fabrication in: Niruttara Tantra
Stotras
Bhaja Gaureesam Gowresa Ashtakam Shakthi Mahimnah Stotram Tripurasundari Vijaya Sthava
Adi Shankara's Vakya Vritti subsequent works in the Nath tradition foundational for Hatha yoga.
Matsyendranath's Yogavishaya Gorakshanath's Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati Gorakshanath's Yoga Bija Gorakshanath's Goraksha Shataka Jñāndev's Lakhota Jñāndev's Yogapar Abhangamala foundational for Swara yoga the original script Shiva Svarodaya as well as the classical yoga treatises Gheranda Samhita and Shiva Samhita all make mention of Soham and Hamsa describing its significance and when teaching uniformly teaches "so" on inhalation and "ham" on exhalation.
This traditional practice in its several forms and its background is described in numerous other books.
Hamsa
Swami Muktananda—although teaching the traditional "so" on inhalation and "ham" on exhalation as a letter from 1968 to Franklin Jones reveals—later published a book teaching "ham" on inhalation and "sa" on exhalation. This practice is described in several later books all referring to Muktananda.
The teaching of "ham" on inhalation and "sa" on exhalation is allegedly alluded to in a text of Kaśmir Śaivism, the Vijnana Bhairava:
However, this verse 155b is not found in the Vijnana Bhairava first published in 1918 in the Kashmir Series of Text and Studies but is quoted from a commentary by the Abhinavagupta disciple Kṣemarāja in his Shiva Sutra Vimarshini (commentary on the Shiva Sutras) in later editions of Vijnana Bhairava. reprinted and published as:
Yoga When used for meditation, Sohum acts as a natural mantra to control one's breathing pattern, to help achieve deep breath, and to gain concentration.
Sooooo... is the sound of inhalation, and is remembered in the mind along with that inhalation. Hummmm... is the sound of exhalation, and is remembered in the mind along with that exhalation.
Soham is also considered a mantra in Tantrism and Kriya Yoga, known also as Ajapa mantra, Ajapa Gayatri, Hamsa Gayatri, Hamsa mantra, prana mantra, Shri Paraprasada mantra, paramatma-mantra, and as such used notably on its own, in the meditation practice ajapa japa and in the kriya practice shabda sanchalana.
See also Aham Brahmasmi Be, and it is I Am that I Am Nirvana Shatkam Dualism (Indian philosophy) Nonduality Monism Tattvam Asi
References
Bibliography
pl:Ajapa yoga