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Chandogya Upanisad
Chapter One
1.3
1. Now regarding deities:
One should contemplate the one who gives hear as the Udgitha. Rising, it sings aloud (ud-gai-) to creatures. Rising, it destroys darkness and fear. The one who knows this becomes a destroyer of darkness and fear.
2. This one and that one are the same. That one is hot and this one is hot (usna). Folk call this one 'svara', and that one 'svara', 'pratyasvara'. So one should contemplate this one and that one as the Udgitha.
3. One should contemplate the between-breath (vyana) as the Udgitha. When one breathes out, that is the out-breath (prana): when one breaths in, that is the in-breath (apana). The meeting-point of the out-breath and the in-breath is the between-breath. What the between-breath is, speech is. So one utters speech while neither breathing out nor breathing in.
4. What speech is, the rc is. So one utters the rc while neither breathing out nor breathing in. What the rc is, the saman is. So one sings the saman while neither breathing out nor breathing in. What the saman is, the Udgitha is. So one sings the Udgitha while neither breathing out nor breathing in.
5. Whatever other works there are that require effort, such as rubbing to light a fire, running a race, or drawing a strong bow, one does while neither breathing out nor breathing in. For this reason one should contemplate the between-breath as the Udgitha.
6. One should contemplate the syllables of Udgitha, 'ud, gi, tha'. The breath is ud, since one rises up (ut-tha-) by means of the breath. Speech is gi, since folk call speech 'voice' (gir). Food is tha, since all this rests (stha-) on food.
7. Sky is ud, middle-air is gi, earth is tha. The sun is ud, air is gi, fire is tha. The Samaveda is ud, the Yajurveda is gi, the Rigveda is tha.
Speech gives milk, the milk of speech, for him, and he becomes a possessor of food, an eater of food-the one who, knowing these things, contemplates the syllables of Udgitha, 'ud, gi, tha'.
8. Now the fulfillment of hopes:
One should contemplate the refuges, as they are called. One should go for refuge to the saman verse which one is about to chant.
9. One should go for refuge to the rc verse on which it is based; to the Rsi to whom it belongs; and to the deity to whom one is about to chant.
10. One should go for refuge to the metre in which one is about to chant; to the hymn sequence from which one is about to chant.
11. One should go for refuge to the direction towards which one is about to chant.
12. Finally, taking refuge in oneself (atman), one should chant without carelessness, reflecting on one's desire. So whatever desire one may have while chanting is quickly fulfilled: whatever desire one may have while chanting.
1.4
1. One should contemplate the syllable OM as the Udgitha for one sings aloud OM. To explain further:
2. The gods, fearing Death, entered into the threefold knowledge. They covered themselves with the metres. It is because they covered (chad-) themselves with them that the metres are called metres (chandas).
3. Death saw them there, in the rc, saman and yajus, as one might see a fish in water. Realizing this, they went up out of the rc, saman and yajus, and entered into the sound (svara).
4. When one receives a rc verse, one sounds OM: so with a saman, and so with a yajus. This sound is what the syllable is: it is immortal, fearless. By entering it the gods became immortal, fearless.
5. The one who, knowing this, reverberates (pra-nu-) the syllable enters into the syllable, the sound, the immortal, the fearless. By entering it, he becomes immortal as the gods are immortal.
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