"PART-1."

Chapter I — Meditation on Om  

1.   The syllable Om, called the Udgitha, should be meditated upon;  for people sing the Udgitha, beginning with Om.  Now follows the detailed explanation of the syllable:  

2.   The essence of all these beings is the earth; the essence of the  earth is water; the essence of water is plants; the essence of  plants is a person; essence of a person is speech; the essence of  speech is the Rig—Veda; essence of the Rig—Veda is the  Sama—Veda; the essence of the Sama—Veda is the Udgitha  which is Om.  

3.   That Udgitha (Om) is the best of all essences, the supreme,  deserving the highest place, the eighth.  

4.   What, then, is the Rik? What is the Saman? What is the  Udgitha? This is to be considered.  

5.   Speech, indeed, is the Rik; the vital breath (prana) is the  Saman; the syllable Om is the Udgitha. Speech and the prana,  or the Rik and the Saman, form a couple.  

6.   And that couple become united in the syllable Om. When a pair  come together they fulfil each other’s desire.  

7.   He who knows this as stated above and meditates on the  syllable Om, the Udgitha, becomes, indeed, a fulfiller of  desires.  

8.   This syllable Om is used to give assent, for wherever one  assents to something, one says Om (yes). Now, what is assent is  gratification. He who knows this and meditates on the syllable  Om, the Udgitha, becomes, indeed, a gratifier of desires.  

9.   By means of this syllable the threefold knowledge proceeds.  When adhvaryu priest gives an order in a sacrifice, he says Om.  When the hotri priest recites the hymn, he says Om. When the  udgatri priest sings the Saman, he says Om. All this is done for  the glory of the Imperishable Atman by the greatness of that  syllable and by its essence.  

10.   It may be contended that he who knows this true meaning of  the syllable Om and he who does not, perform the same  sacrifice and therefore must reap the same fruit. But this is not  so. The results of knowledge and ignorance are different. Work  that is done with knowledge, faith and the Upanishad (i.e.  meditation on the deities) produces more powerful fruit.  This is, verily, the detailed explanation of the syllable Om.