The regular form ? of the CANDRABINDU in Sharada resembles
an inverted form of Devanagari ?. Several Sharada manuscripts
show an inverted form of CANDRABINDU, which co-occurs with
the regular form, sometimes on the same line.
In the following image, the inverted CANDRABINDU sign is used for
writing OM, while the regular CANDRABINDU is used in other contexts:
The above specimen might lead one to think that OM is written with an
inverted CANDRABINDU. Is it perhaps because it is considered a
‘special’ symbol?
In the following image both regular and inverted CANDRABINDU are used
for writing OM (sorry, the beginning of the second line is smudged in
the original):
Is there a semantic distinction between the regular and inverted forms
of CANDRABINDU in Sharada? It does not seem so, especially when
considering the use of both forms in writing OM, which has a fairly
fixed meaning…
Do we just chalk it up to scribal idiosyncrasy?