Manava Dharmashastra 2.74

2.74

atrāpi pūrvoktena nyāyena brahmaṇa ādāvante ca praṇavaṃ kuryāt , brahmaviṣayāyā adhyayanakriyāyā iti draṣṭavyam |
praṇavaśabda oṃkāravacanaḥ | tathā ca vakṣyati- sravatyanoṅkṛtamiti |
sarvadāgrahaṇamadhyayanavidhimātradharmo yathā syāditarathā prakaraṇādgrahaṇārtha eva brahmacāriṇaḥ syāt | asmiṃstu sati yo'pyavismaraṇārtho yaśca ‘‘aharahaḥ svādhyāyamadhīyīta’’ iti gṛhasthādīnāṃ, tatra sarvatra siddhaṃ bhavati | sandhyājapādau tu svaśabdena vidhāsyati —‘etadakṣarametāṃ ceti’ | na cāyaṃ vedadharmo yena yatra kutracidvaidikavākyoccāraṇamārabheta tatra prāpnuyāt | ato homa-mantrajapa-śākhānuvacana-yājyādīnāmārambhe nāsti praṇavaḥ, anyatrāpyudāharaṇārthe vaidikavākyavyāhāre | tasmātsthitaṃ prākaraṇikasvādhyāyādhyayanavidhidharmārthaṃ sarvadāgrahaṇam |
praṇavaprayogasyānvāhikārambhārthatā tu nityakālagrahaṇānuvṛttyaiva siddhā |
asyārthavādaḥ sravatyanoṅkṛtam | pūrvaṃ prārambhe anoṅkṛtaṃ brahma sravati | omā kṛtaṃ oṃ śabdena saṃskṛtam | sādhanaṃ kṛteti samāsaḥ | athavā oṃ kṛta uccārito yasminbrahmaṇi tadoṅkṛtaṃ sukhāditvātparanipātaḥ |
parastācca samāptau | cakāreṇānoṅkṛtamiti sambadhyate |
sravati viśīryati ityubhābhyāmapi naiṣphalyamadhyayanasya pratipādyate | adhītaṃ brahma yasminkarmaṇi viniyujyeta tanniṣphalaṃ bhavatīti nindārthavādaśca | pākārthaṃ niṣiktamyāprāptapākakṣīrāderavacchidrite bhājane ya itastato vikṣepaḥ prakṣaraṇaṃ tat sravatītyucyate | labdhapākasya piṇḍībhūtasya bhogyatāṃ prāptasya yo vināśaḥ sa viśaraṇam |

One should always pronounce the Praṇava in the beginning and at the end of the Veda. if it is not accompanied by the syllable ‘oṃ’ in the beginning, it trickles away; and (if it is not accompanied by it) at the end, it becomes shattered.—(74)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
Here also, in accordance with what has gone before (under 71), ‘one should pronounce the Praṇava in the beginning and at the end of the Veda’;—which means that the syllable is to be pronounced in the beginning and at the end of the action of reading the Veda.

The term ‘praṇava’ stands for the syllabic ‘oṃ’; as is clear from what the text adds later on—‘not accompanied by the syllable oṃ.’

‘Always’—has been added in order to show that the rule applies to every act of study. Without this term it would appear, from the context, that it applies to only that first study by the Religious Student which is done for the getting up of the text. When the adverb ‘always’ has been added, it becomes clear that the rule applies to all forms of studying,—that which is done for the purpose of keeping the memory of the text fresh, or that which is done by the Householder and other people in obedience to the injunction that ‘the Veda should be studied every day.’ As regards the reciting of Vedic mantras during the Twilight Prayer, etc., the use of the syllable ‘oṃ’ the author is going to enjoin directly (in Verse 78). What is laid down here is not meant to be a necessary accompaniment of the Veda,—which would mean that the rule is to be followed whenever one pronounces any Vedic passage; thus it is that the Praṇava is not used with Vedic mantras on the following occasions: at oblations poured into fire, or during the japa of mantras, or in course of the teaching of scriptures, or at the recitation of the ‘Yājyā’ and other hymns, or when Vedic passages are quoted only by way of illustration. From all this it follows that the adverb ‘always’ is meant to show only that the rule laid down applies to that study of the Veda which forms the subject-matter of the context. As for the necessity of using the Praṇava at the beginning of one’s daily study, this is secured by the construing of the term ‘always’ of the preceding verse with the present one.

In praise of what has been enjoined the text adds—‘If it is not accompanied by the syllable oṁ, etc.’ If, in the beginning, the Veda is not accompanied by the syllable ‘oṃ,’ it trickles off. The compound ‘anoṅkṛtam’ is to be expounded as ‘that which is not accompanied,—i.e., sanctified—by the syllable oṃ’ according to Pāṇini, 2. 1. 32; or, it may be expounded as ‘that Veda in which the syllable oṁ is not uttered,’—the order of the terms in this case being in accordance with the rule laid down in connection with the ‘Sukhādi’ group, according to Pāṇini, 6. 2. 170.

‘At the end’—at the close. The particle ‘and’ indicates that the term ‘not accompanied by the syllable om’ is to be construed here also.

‘Trickles off-—becomes shattered.’—Both these terms are meant to indicate the futility of the study. The sense being that that religious act, in which the Veda studied in the said defective fashion is used, absolutely fails to accomplish its purpose. This is an Arthavāda meant to be deprecatory of the said method of study. When milk is placed in a pot, the milks passes off all round; and this is what is called ‘trickling off’; and if the milk becomes destroyed after it has been boiled and become solidified, this is what is called ‘becoming shattered.’—(74)

‘Viśīryati ’—avasthitim na labhate, ‘does not obtain any standing’ (Kullūka);—‘becomes absolutely useless’ (Medhātithi);—‘is not understood’ (Govindarāja and Nārāyaṇa),

This verse is quoted in Madanapārijāta (p. 99);—in Vidhānapārijāta (p. 521);—and in Smṛticandrikā (Saṃskāra, p. 136) in support of the view that the Praṇava should he pronounced at the close of the reading also.

Comparative notes by various authors
Apastamba-Dharmasūtra, 4. 13. 16.—‘The syllable Om is the gate of Heaven; therefore when going to read the Veda, one should begin with it.’

Viṣṇu-Smṛti, 30,33.—‘The Praṇava should be pronounced.’