Upanishads · Chāndogya 1,5.3
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ अध्यात्मम् यः एव अयम् मुख्यः प्राणः तम् उद्गीथम् उपासीत ओम् इति हि एषः स्वरन् एति
Transliteration (IAST)
atha adhyātmam yaḥ eva ayam mukhyaḥ prāṇaḥ tam udgītham upāsīta om iti hi eṣaḥ svaran eti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथathathereupon; then
अध्यात्मम्adhyātmamthe inward explanation; relating to man
यःyaḥwho; the one who
एवevaindeed; surely
अयम्ayamthis; this one here
मुख्यःmukhyaḥthe foremost; the fundamental
प्राणःprāṇaḥthe prāṇa; the vital breath
तम्tamit; that one
उद्गीथम्udgīthamthe udgītha; the exalted chant
उपासीतupāsītalet him venerate; one should contemplate
ओम्omoṁ; the sacred syllable
इतिitithus; how
हिhiindeed; truly
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
स्वरन्svaransounding forth; giving out the tone
एतिetiattains; comes to
Translation
Now with reference to oneself: it is the chief prāṇa that is to be venerated as the udgītha: for it moves along sounding "Oṁ".
Version
f5c0e42a68de · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:28:09 PM UTC
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The inward leaf: atha adhyātmam — "now of oneself": ya evāyaṁ mukhyaḥ prāṇaḥ — "the chief prāṇa" (that very one upon which the asuras were shattered — khaṇḍa 2) — tam udgītham upāsīta — "venerate it as the udgītha": om iti hy eṣa svarann eti — "for it too moves along sounding Oṁ".
The breath hums the same syllable as the sun! — listen to your own breathing: its unbroken subtle hum is the same praṇava that hums in the luminary's heavenly course: two singers, the great and the small, sing one thing. So the khaṇḍa's diptych closes: the sun without, the prāṇa within, and between them, as a bridge, one sound. A man who venerates both lives in the stereophony of Oṁ: the syllable sounds to him from the sky and from his own breast.