Ik Oankar and the Mool Mantar

The sign ੴ joins the numeral 1 to the word Oankar. The numeral stresses that the ultimate reality is single. Oankar extends the old Indian sacred syllable Om, which by Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji's time was often linked with the Hindu triad of gods. Prefixing the figure 1 removes any such division.

Sikhs hold that God is without form. Worship is directed to God alone, and not to incarnations, gods, goddesses or images. In everyday Sikh speech God is also called Akal Purakh, the being beyond time, and Vahiguru, the name given to Sikhs at initiation.[EoS][EoS][EoS][Src]

Mool Mantar means root formula. It reads: ik oankar, sat naam, karta purakh, nirbhau, nirvair, akal murat, ajooni, saibhang, gur prasad. Each phrase adds a quality.

Sat naam says that the name of this one reality is Truth, and that it does not change. Karta purakh describes the creator who is present within creation, and is not a distant maker. Nirbhau and nirvair say that God has nothing to fear and no enemy.

Akal murat points to a being untouched by time. Ajooni means unborn, and saibhang means existing of itself. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism reads ajooni as a rejection of the belief that God takes birth as an incarnation. Gur prasad closes the statement: God is known through Guru Ji's grace. This last phrase ties belief to practice, as the page on hukam and grace explains.[EoS][DB]

The Mool Mantar comes before the Japji Sahib on ang 1. It returns, in full or shortened, at the start of many later sections, including the raag sections. It can be seen on ang 347, where Raag Asa begins, and on ang 489, where Raag Gujri begins.

Sikhs say it to seek God's help, to begin new work and to steady themselves in difficulty. Those receiving amrit recite it together during the ceremony. Unlike some traditions of secret mantras, it is taught openly, to anyone who sincerely asks, and in the presence of the assembly.

The term itself is old. A hymn of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji on ang 1040 uses the phrase, and Bhai Gurdas also uses it in his Vars. In abbreviated form, the opening words also appear at the top of Sikh letters and on the Sikh flag.[EoS][EoS][Src][DB]