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Sanskrit is said to be originated from "Drums of Lord Shiva". There's a famous story of Panini composing grammar of Sanskrit from sounds (Maheswara Sutras) of lord Shiva's Damaru.

Panini was a student at a Gurukula (a system of education in the 4th century BC). He was a dull student, and was often teased by many of his friends. So, worried about his situation, the Gurumata (the wife of the Guru) advised him to go to the Himalayas to do tapas. So he went to the Himalayas and started meditating on Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva, pleased with Panini's strong tapas, came and danced before him . While dancing, the sound from his Damaru (the small drum like musical instrument that Shiva plays) was heard by Panini as the Maheshwara Sutrani. Thus, Panini wrote the Maheshwara Sutras and formed the Sanskrit grammar.

Sanskrit was composed initially in Brahmi Script and later Devanagari Script was used. Sanskrit is also believed to have no script.

We all know, Sacred syllable OM, the Pranava, the Sabdha Brahman, is written as ॐ in Devanagari Script or lipi. But how is "OM" or "AUM" or ॐ written in Brahmi Script? This Image says how ॐ was developed.

enter image description here

As "O" is written as enter image description here in Brahmi as mentioned in above link, Is ॐ written as enter image description here or something else ?

The Destroyer
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  • This website here gives letter of Brahmi script.. After seeing writing style of Kam Gam... I also think one dot is placed at side of O... – Tezz Apr 25 '16 at 09:50
  • When was Panini born...? – Tezz Apr 25 '16 at 09:53
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    @Tezz But my doubt is why OM as Brahmi script is not popular like Devanagari ॐ. Also, i doubt whether Brahmi was precursor to Devanagari. If Devanagari follows Brahmi, how ॐ Parvat can exist before invention of Devanagari script? – The Destroyer Apr 25 '16 at 10:43
  • @Tezz Wiki says he lived during 4th century BC. May be rewrote Sanskrit grammar with help of Shiva. – The Destroyer Apr 25 '16 at 10:45
  • Om may be same in both Brahmi and Devnagari... People often identify shape of Om with shape of Lord Ganesha... – Tezz Apr 25 '16 at 11:00
  • @Tezz could be. I have seen some images of Ganesha as OM. – The Destroyer Apr 25 '16 at 11:02
  • Furthermore we can't tell which is earlier as events may repeat cyclically in chaturyugas and kalpas... – Tezz Apr 25 '16 at 11:02
  • @Tezz Well, Patanjali is mentioned by Chitraketu, the previous birth of Vritrasura, in the Srimad Bhagavatam: http://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/6/15/12-15 And Patanjali is the author of the Mahabhashya, the standard commentary on Panini's Ashtadhyayi. So Panini is quite ancient. But in any case as far as I know neither Panini nor Patanjali make any reference to written scripts. – Keshav Srinivasan Apr 25 '16 at 12:51
  • @TheDestroyer Devanagari script was a relatively recent development, and the reverence of the written Om symbol is even more recent than that, not something mentioned in scripture. I think the Om Parvat may just be a coincidence, or perhaps the gods placed it there knowing that one day that would be how humans will write Om. – Keshav Srinivasan Apr 25 '16 at 13:02
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    @Tezz The association of the Om symbol with Ganesha is a really recent development, perhaps within the last hundred years or less. – Keshav Srinivasan Apr 25 '16 at 13:04
  • @KeshavSrinivasan Why would Devas allude at something that was going to happen in near future? I also don't think it as just coincidence. May be i should ask this as separate question. – The Destroyer Apr 25 '16 at 13:13
  • You may check this https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:O3M-brahmi.png – Triyugi Narayan Mani Sep 07 '16 at 18:59
  • @TriyugiNarayanMani Wow. Good find. You can post it as answer. – The Destroyer Sep 08 '16 at 01:08

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ॐ (OM)(ओ३म्) can be written in Brahmi script as:

OM in Brahmi

Further, there is book Brahmi-Rediscovering the lost script written by Ankita Roy. This book contains many information about Brahmi script (Lipi). Below is the image how ॐ described in the book.

enter image description here

ABcDexter
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Triyugi Narayan Mani
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  • Please correct OM is written in TULU script not hindi Tulu script was used to write sanskrit mantras –  Sep 07 '16 at 16:32