Chandogya Upanishad 1.3

1. Now with reference to the divinities.— Him who glows yonder [i.e. the sun] one should reverence as an Udgītha. Verily, on rising (ud-yan), he sings aloud (ud-gāyati) for creatures. On rising, he dispels darkness and fear. He, verily, who knows this becomes a dispeller of fear and darkness.

2. This [breath in the mouth] and that [sun] are alike. This is warm. That is warm. People designate this as sound (svara), that as sound (svara) and as the reflecting (pratyāsvara). Therefore, verily, one should reverence this and that as an Udgītha.

3. But one should also reverence the diffused breath (vyāna) as an Udgītha. When one breathes in—that is the in-breath (prāṇa). When one breathes out—that is the out-breath (apāna). The junction of the in-breath and the out-breath is the diffused breath. Speech is the diffused breath. Therefore one utters speech without in-breathing, without out-breathing.

4. The Ṛic is speech. Therefore one utters the Ṛic without in-breathing, without out-breathing. The Sāman is the Ṛic. Therefore one sings the Sāman without in-breathing, without out-breathing. The Udgītha is the Sāman. Therefore one chants the Udgītha without in-breathing, without out-breathing.

5. Whatever other actions than these there are that require strength, like the kindling of fire by friction, the running of a race, the bending of a stiff bow—one performs them without in-breathing, without out-breathing. For this reason one should reverence the diffused breath as an Udgītha.

6. But one should also reverence the syllables of the Udgītha—ud, gī, tha. ud is breath, for through breath one arises (ut-tiṣṭhati); gī is speech, for people designate speeches as words (giras); tha is food, for upon food this whole world is established (sthita).

7. ud is heaven; gī is atmosphere; tha is the earth. ud is the sun; gī is wind; tha is fire. ud is Sāma-Veda; gī is Yajur-Veda; tha is Rig-Veda. Speech yields milk—that is, the milk of speech itself—for him, he becomes rich in food, an eater of food, who knows and reverences these syllables of the Udgītha thus: ud, gī, tha.

8. Now then, the fulfilment of wishes.— One should reverence the following as places of refuge. One should take refuge in the Sāman with which he may be about to sing a Stotra.

9. One should take refuge in the Ṛic in which it was contained, in the Ṛishi who was the poet, in the divinity unto whom he may be about to sing a Stotra.

10. One should take refuge in the meter with which he may be about to sing a Stotra. One should take refuge in the hymn-form with which he may be about to sing a Stotra for himself.

11. One should take refuge in the quarter of heaven toward which he may be about to sing a Stotra.

12. Finally, one should go unto himself and sing a Stotra, meditating carefully upon his desire. Truly the prospect is that the desire will be fulfilled for him, desiring which he may sing a Stotra—yea, desiring which he may sing a Stotra!