The Different Planes attained by the Sacrificer

chandogya upnishad 1.2.24

1—2. The expounders of Brahman (i.e. the Vedas) ask: "Since the morning oblation belongs to the Vasus, the midday oblation to the Rudras and the third (i.e. evening) oblation to the Adityas and the Visve—devas, "Where, then, is the world of the sacrificer?" He who does not know this, how can he perform the sacrifice? Only he who knows should perform it.

3—4. Before beginning the morning chant, the sacrificer, sitting behind the Garhapatya Fire and facing the north, sings the Saman addressed to the Vasus: "O Fire! Open the door of the earth—world. Let us see thee, that we may rule this earth.

5—6. Then the sacrificer offers an oblation, reciting thus: "Adoration to Agni, who dwells in the earth—world! Secure this world for me, the sacrificer. That is the world for the sacrificer. "I, the sacrificer, will go thither when this life is over. Svaha!" Afterwards the sacrificer chants: "Cast away the bolt of the earth—world." Having said this, he rises. To him the Vasus offer the world connected with the morning oblation.

7—8. Before beginning the midday oblation, the sacrificer, sitting behind the Dakshina Fire and facing the north, sings the Saman addressed to the Rudras: "O Fire! Open the door of the sky—world. Let us see thee, that we may rule wide in the sky—world."

9—10. Then the sacrificer offers an oblation, reciting thus: "Adoration to Vayu, who dwells in the sky—world! Secure this world for me, the sacrificer. That is the world for the sacrificer. "I, the sacrificer, will go thither when this life is over. Svaha!" Afterwards the sacrificer chants: "Cast away the bolt of the sky—world." Having said this, he rises. To him the Rudras offer the world connected with the midday oblation.

11—13. Before beginning the third (i.e. evening) oblation, the sacrificer, sitting behind the Ahavaniya Fire and facing the north, sings the two Samans addressed to the Adityas and the Visve— devas: "O Fire! Open the door of the heaven—world. Let us see thee, that we may rule supreme in heaven." This is addressed to the Adityas. Next the Saman addressed to the Visve—devas: "O Fire! Open the door of the heaven—world. Let us see thee, that we may rule supreme in heaven."

14—15. Then the sacrificer offers an oblation, reciting thus: "Adoration to Adityas and the Visve—devas, who dwell in the heaven— world! Secure this world for me, the sacrificer. That is the world for the sacrificer. "I, the sacrificer, will go thither when this life is over. Svaha! Afterwards the sacrificer chants: "Cast away the bolt of the heaven—world." Having said this, he rises.

16. To him the Adityas and the Visve—devas offer the world connected with the third oblation. He (the sacrificer) who knows this knows the measure of the sacrifice, yea, he knows it.

meditation on saman as good

chandogya upnishad , part 2, chapter - 1

1. Om. Meditation on the whole of the Saman is good. Whatever is good, people say it is Saman; and whatever is not good, people say it is not Saman.

2. Thus people say: "He approached him with Saman," that is to say, "He approached him in a becoming manner." Again they say: "He approached him without Saman," that is to say, "He approached him in an unbecoming manner."

3. And they also say: "Truly this is Saman for us," that is to say, "It is good for us," when it is good. Again, they say: "Truly this is not Saman for us," that is to say, "It is not good for us," when it is not good.

4. He who, knowing this, meditates on the Saman as good—all good qualities will approach him quickly, ay, they will accrue to him.

Meditation on Om as Fearlessness and Immortality

chandogya upnishad, part 1, Chapter IV 

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 this syllable.

2. The gods, afraid of death, entered upon the threefold knowledge. They covered themselves with the metrical hymns. Because they covered (acchadayan) themselves with the hymns, the hymns are called chhandas.

3. As a fisherman might observe a fish in shallow water, so death observed the gods in the Rik, the Yajus and the Saman. They too came to know this, rose from the Rik, the Yajus and the Saman and entered the Svara (Om) alone.

4. When a man has mastered the Rig—Veda he loudly utters Om; he does the same when he has mastered the Sama—Veda and the Yajur—Veda. The Svara is the syllable Om; it is immortal and fearless. The gods, by entering it, became immortal and fearless.

5. He who, knowing this, sings the praise of the syllable Om enters this same syllable, called the Svara, which is immortal and fearless. Having entered it, he becomes immortal as the gods are immortal.

performance of yajna in the body by pranayama

chandogya upnishad 1.3

3. One should meditate on the Udgitha as the vyana. That which one breathes out is the prana and that which one breathes in is the apana. That which is the junction of the prana and the apana is the Vyana. This vyana is speech. Therefore when one utters speech one stops the prana and the apana.

4. That which is speech is the Rik. Therefore when a man utters a Rik he neither breathes out nor breathes in. That which is the Rik is the Saman. Therefore when a man sings a Saman, he neither breathes out nor breathes in. That which is the Saman is the Udgitha. Therefore when a man sings the Udgitha he neither breathes out nor breathes in.

5. And other works also which require strength, such as the kindling of fire by rubbing, running a race and stringing a strong bow, are performed without breathing out or breathing in. Therefore one should meditate on the Udgitha as the vyana.

what is swarga or swara? how to be there?

by meditating on 'om' (udgitha ) as sun which is prana.

chandogya upnishad 1.3

1. Now is described the meditation on the Udgitha with reference to the gods: One should meditate on the Udgitha as the sun who gives warmth. When he (the sun) rises he sings the Udgitha for the benefit of all creatures. When he rises he destroys darkness and fear. He who knows this becomes the destroyer of darkness and fear.

2. This prana and that sun are the same. This is warm and that is warm. This they call svara (what goes out) and that, pratyasvara (what returns). Therefore one should meditate on the Udgitha as this and that.

nirukta 2.14

svar means the sun; it is distant, it has well disporsed ( the darkness ), it has well penetrated the fluids, it has well penetrated the light, of the luminaries, or it is pierced through with light. dyauh ( sky) is explained by the same. prasni means the sun. it is thoroughly pervaded by the bright color says the etymologists. it closely unites the fluids, it closely unites the light of luminaries or it is closely united with lights. now sky ( is so called ) because it is closely united with luminaries and the virtuous. naka means the sun [ the bearer of fluids ], bearer of lights, leader of luminaries. now the sky: the word kam is synonym of happiness.

there is no misery for the man who has departed to the other world. 

there is no wretchedness for the man who has departed to the other world; it is virtuous only who go there. gauh means the sun; it causes fluids to move, it moves in the sky. now the sky ( is called gauh ) because it is gone very far from the earth or because luminaries move in it. vistap means the sun: it has pervaded fluids, it has pervaded the lights of luminaries, or it is pervaded with lights. nabhas means the sun: [bearer of fluids ], bearer of lights, leader of luminaries, and the virtuous. or else it may be word bhanas, itself in reversed order: it is not that it does not shine. the sky is explained by same. 

can vedas be lost?

long time ago when i used to read raamcharitmanas, in there saint tulsidaas wrote in a chaupaayi, in kalyug all shashtras will hide themselves under the caves. some people take this hide as being lost forever, being destroyed. but this is not so. 

first we have to understand why would shashtras or knowledge hide themselves? 
"verily knowledge approached brahmana, 'protect me, i am thy treasure. do not expound me to scornful, nor to the unstraightforward, nor to one who has no self control; thus shall i grow powerful. 
in order to protect thy treasure, o brahman : expound me to him alone, whom thou know to be pure, diligent, intelligent, observing the rules of celibate life, and who never bears enmity towards thee." [ nirukta 2.4]

second question is, how those mantras occurred which we call samhitas? 
"a seer is ( so called) from his having vision. 'he saw the hymns' says aupmanyava. it is known because self born brahma manifested himself to them while practicing austerities, they become seers, that is characteristics of seer." [ nirukta 2.11]
so basically there was only 'om' eternal. all mantras all sounds are different parts of it. a person do not hear it from other person and there is no need to do so. a seer sees the mantras by his own. there is no point of making book of vedas. one has to find the mantras by himself. and even those who know the mantras, they also have to deliver to those who deserve according to above nirukta passage.

third question is how one will do that? how can one see the hymns?
chandogya upnishad 1.3 says about the method,

"6. One should meditate on the letters of the word Udgitha (i.e. ut, gi and tha). Ut is the prana, for a man rises (uttishthati) by means of the prana. Gi is speech, for speeches are called girah. Tha is food, for all this subsists (sthita) on food.

7. Ut is heaven, gi the mid—region and tha the earth. Ut is the sun, gi the air and tha fire. Ut is the Sama—Veda, gi the Yajur—Veda and tha the Rig—Veda. To him who thus meditates speech yields milk and milk is speech. He who knows this and meditates on the letters of the Udgitha becomes the possessor of food and the eater of food."

lastly i would like to define what is veda. 
brihadaranyaka 5.1.1
"Om. Infinite is That Brahman, infinite in this manifested universe. From the Infinite Brahman proceeds the infinite. After the realization of the Great Identity or after the cosmic dissolution, when the infinity of the infinite universe merges in the Infinite Brahman, there remains the Infinite Brahman alone. Om is the Akasa Brahman—the primeval akasa. It is the akasa containing air, says the son of Kauravayarn. It (Om) is the Veda—thus the knowers of Brahman know; for through it one knows what is to he known."

after this verse, no one can say vedas are lost. it would be completely baseless assertion that if we don't have some mantras in modern time ( however that's debatable claim again ), then vedas are lost. vedas are not lost nor destroyed. knowledge can't be destroyed. it's found. unlike other religions we don't claim some books as book sent by god that we need to preserve. it's not a book that can be burnt or buried. it's all in upper consciousness and we have to find by ourselves. knowledge is not sold in market for some 300 or thousand bucks. knowledge is real wealth and to get that wealth we have to do tapasya, meditation. 

- YVV

meaning of vedic gold ( hiranyam )

nirukta 2.10

from what (root) hiranyam derived? it is circulated ( hriyate ) in a stretched form or it,  is circulated from man to man, or it is useful and delightful [ delight of heart ], or it may be derived from 'hary, meaning to yearn after.

[ normally meaning of hiranya is taken as gold, or golden color but in case of hiranya as gift from devtas after yajna, it can be taken as wealth of knowledge or simply delight of heart.

meaning of horn ( sring ) and feets or division ( pada )

nirukta 2.6

"we desire to go to those regions of you two, where are nimble and many horned rays. there indeed shines forth brightly that highest step of wide-striding vishnu". (RV 1.154.6)

we long to go to those regions of you two where are rays ( many horned ), having number of horns. sring ( horn ) is derived from 'sri' ( to rest on ) or 'sr' ( to slay ), or from sam ( to destroy); or it is so called because it grows up to protect, or it comes out of head. these shines brightly the highest step, i.e of the wide striding i.e of great paced vishnu. 

padah is derived from 'pad' ( to go ); when it is placed down, ( word in neuter gender ) means a footstep. the word ( also signifies ) a quarter of division from the analogy of a quadruped; and other quarters from the analogy of pada of division. 

[ the word thousands of horns is also used for sun, as it rises with many rays. the word pada can not only be taken as feets but also division, thus four steps of vishnu can actually be considered as four divisions of vishnu. ]

meaning of vedic tree ( vrksa)

nirukta (2.6)

"on every strip of wood twanged the well-strung string: thence the men-eating birds flew" (RV 10.94.9)

on every strip of wood i.e on every bone. vrksa ( tree ) is (so called ) from being cut down. twanged the well strung string, i.e it makes a sharp ringing sound. from thence birds fly in order to eat men. the word 'vih' is a synonym of bird and is derived from 'vi' meaning to go. morover it is a synonym of arrow also from the same root. 

[ thus in vedas woods are symbolism for bones of body.]

meaning of vedic cow ( gauh)

nirukta (2.5)

"the word gauh is a synonym of earth, so called because because it goes very far or because people go over it ( root gam ). or it may be derived from ( root ) ga with suffix au. morover it is a synonym of an animal from same root. ........"

nirukta (2.6)

".... the sun is called gauh also. 'lo that ( charioteer) in the sun who has joints.'
'having joints means having brilliance', says aupamanyava. morever, a ray of sun illuminates the moon. that the illumination of moon is caused by the sun to be established by following: susumna is the ray of sun, the moon is holder. this too, is a vedic passge. that ( ray ) is called gauh also. here indeed they thought of ray. all the rays are called 'gavah' also.

[ thus in vedas gauh means rays directly and symbolically both. in some other passages, gauh are also used for devtas ]