Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The Vedas. The Sam Veda.


Sam Veda.
Sam Veda is the religious chant of, the expression of hymns from the Vedas.                         The practice dates back at least 3,000 years and is probably the world's                                        oldest continuous vocal tradition. The earliest collection, or Samhita, of Vedic                                                  texts is the Rigveda, containing about 1,000 hymns. These are chanted in                                                      syllabic style--a type of heightened speech with one syllable to a tone.                                                      Three levels of pitch are employed: a basic reciting tone is embellished by                                  neighboring tones above and below, which are used to emphasize                                       grammatical accents in the texts. These Rig-veda hymns are the basis                                                                                        for a later collection, the Sama-veda, theVeda of the Chants, the hymns of                                                         which are sung in a style that is more florid, melodic, and melismatic,                                                               one word to two or more note, rather than syllabic, and the range of tones is                         extended to six or more. A simple, numerical system of notation--together with                                               an oral tradition that stresses absolute precision in text, intonation, and bodily                                           gestures--has served to perpetuate this stable tradition and to ensure its uniformity                               throughout India. The Vedas are chanted today exactly as they were centuries ago.


1.    Invite ye Indra with a song to drink your draught of Soma steeds, juice,
All-conquering Satakratu, most munificent of all who live
2. Sing ye a song, to make him glad, to Indra, Lord of tawny
The Soma-drinker, O my friends!
3. This, even this, O Indra, we implore: as thy devoted friends
The Kanvas praise thee with their hymns!
4. For Indra, lover of carouse, loud be our songs about the juice
Let poets sing the song of praise.
5. Here, Indra, is thy Soma draught, made pure upon the sacred grass:
Run heither, come and drink thereof
6. As a good cow to him who milks, we call the doer of good deeds
To our assistance duty by day.
7. Hero, the Soma being shed, I pour the juice for thee to drink
Sate thee and finish thy carouse!
8. The Soma, Indra, which is shed in saucers and in cups for thee,
Drink thou, for thou art lord thereof!
9. In every need, in every fray we call, as friends, to succour us,
Indra, the mightiest of all.
10. O come ye hither, sit ye down: to Indra sing ye forth your song,
Companions, bringing hymns of praise.

The word Sama means sweet songs or hymns. It is said that Sama Veda                                                                      had originally 1000 sakhas but only 13 are available now -
1. Ranayana
2. Shatyamukhya
3. Vyasa
4. Bhaguri
5. Oulundi
6. Goulgulvi
7. Bhanuman-oupamayava
8. Karati
9. Mashaka Gargya
10. Varsgagavya
11 Kuthuma
12. sgakugitra
13. Jaimini

At present only three Ramayana, Kuthuma and Jaimini, are available.                                                                  Samaveda consists of 1875 mantras. These mantras are divided into                                                                                                      two broad groups- puravachika (650 mantras) and Uttarachika (1225 manrtas).                                                     Purvachika is further divided into four sections or kandas: agneya, aindra,                                               pavamana and aranya kandas. The Uttarachika consists of 21chapters.



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