"Om is the essence of the Shama Veda which, being almost entirely taken
from the Rig Veda, may itself be called the essence of the Rig Veda. The
Rig Veda stands for all speech, the Shama Veda for all breath or life;
so that Om may be conceived again as the symbol of all speech and all
life. Om thus becomes the name not only of all our mental and physical
powers, but is especially that of the living principle of the pran or
spirit. This is explained by the parable in the second chapter, while
in the third chapter that spirit within us is identified with the spirit
in the sun.
"He, therefore, who meditates on Om, meditates on the spirit in man as
identical with the spirit in Nature or in the sun, and thus the lesson
that is meant to be taught in the beginning of the Khandogya Upanishad
is really this that none of the Vedas, with their sacrifices and
ceremonies, could ever secure the salvation of the worshipers. That is,
the sacred works performed, according to the rules of the Vedas, are of
no avail in the end, but meditation on Om, or that knowledge of what is
meant by Om, alone can procure true salvation or true immortality.
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