Upaniṣads · Chāndogya 1,4.1
॥
Devanāgarī
ओम् इति एतत् अक्षरम् उद्गीथम् उपासीत ओम् इति हि उद्गायति तस्य उपव्याख्यानम्
Transliteración (IAST)
om iti etat akṣaram udgītham upāsīta om iti hi udgāyati tasya upavyākhyānam
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
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
Traducción
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.
Versión
2c0d3a0ecfa3 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 22:28:09 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
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.