Mother: "Om" is the most sacred syllable often spoken during the practice of
any Hindu rites. It is a holy character of the Sanskrit language, the
language of God. The character is a composite of three different
letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. The English equivalent of those
are "a", "u", and "m", and represent the Trinity. The Trinity is composed of
the three supreme Hindu Gods: Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and
Shiva, the destroyer. These three letters when pronounced properly in unison
create an invigorating effect in the body. Because of its significance this
sacred syllable is spoken before any chants to show God we remember him. This
sign in Hinduism also represents the whole universe. It looks like this:
Another very important sign is the Swastika which is regarded divine by
Hindus. The word swastika means auspicious in the Sanskrit language and hence
is used to symbolize the welcoming of auspiciousness and driving away evils.
The symbol also represents the changing of the universe around the
unchanging nature of God. The symbol looks like this:
Unfortunately the sign has been abused by groupsuch as the Nazis
during World War II.