Upanishads · Chāndogya 1,4.1
॥
Devanāgarī
ओम् इति एतत् अक्षरम् उद्गीथम् उपासीत ओम् इति हि उद्गायति तस्य उपव्याख्यानम्
Transliteration (IAST)
om iti etat akṣaram udgītham upāsīta om iti hi udgāyati tasya upavyākhyānam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ओम्omoṁ; the sacred syllable
इतिitithus; how
एतत्etatthis; all this
अक्षरम्akṣaramthe syllable; the letter
उद्गीथम्udgīthamthe udgītha; the exalted chant
उपासीतupāsītalet him venerate; one should contemplate
ओम्omoṁ; the sacred syllable
इतिitithus; how
हिhiindeed; truly
उद्गायतिudgāyatihe sings the udgītha; he raises the chant
तस्यtasyait; concerning this
उपव्याख्यानम्upavyākhyānamthe explanation; the detailed explanation
Translation
This syllable Oṁ is to be venerated as the udgītha — for it is with Oṁ that the udgītha is begun. Here is the exposition of it.
Version
2c0d3a0ecfa3 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:28:09 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth khaṇḍa opens with the very words of the first, letter for letter: om ity etad akṣaram udgītham upāsīta. Repetition in the Vedas is no slip but a musical reprise: the theme of Oṁ returns to sound in a new key — now through the parable of the gods hiding from death (the verses that follow).
So the whole first adhyāya is built: one syllable is examined again and again — as the essence of essences, as the couple of speech and breath, as the unpierceable prāṇa, as the sun, as the vyāna — and now as a refuge from death. The method is one of circling depth: a truth is not walked through once but walked around, as a pilgrim circles a mountain — and with every circuit it shows a new face.