sadagopan
Saama Vedam & ThiruvAimozhi
Lord Sri Lakshmi HayagrIvan
Saama Samhitha
In its importance in YaagAs and sacredness, Saama Veda SamhithAs rank
next to Rig VedA. The Lord of GeethA however has put this Saama samhithA on the
top of all four SamhithAs with His declaration that He is Saama VedA among the
VedAs. This samhithA consists of hyms chanted by udhgAtri priests at the Soma
YaagAs. Many of the hymns originate from Rig Vedam and have been rearranged
without reference to the original order in the Rig Vedam and set to music. Only
75 verses of the total of 1,875 verses of Saama Vedam are not to be found in
Rig Vedam. The remaining 1,800 verses are essentially the repetitions of Rig
Vedic verses. The important distinction however is that they are sung instead
of being recited. The Rig Vedam deals with knowledge and Saama Vedam deals with
UpAsanA, Worship and DhyAnam.
Divisions of Saama Vedam
According to one classification, the Saama samhithA is catalogued under
two sections: PurvArchikA and UttarArchikA. Each archikA is subdivided into
prapaathakAs and adhyAyAs. In another classification, the 1875 verses are
grouped under FOUR categories:
1. PurvArchikA: 585 verses ( 1-585 )
2. AraNya KhAndam : 55 verses ( 586-640 )
3. MahAnAmnyArchikA : 10 verses( 641-650 )
4. UttarArchikA: 1225 verses ( 651-1875)
SamhithAkArAs & focus of Saama Vedam
Sage Jaimini spread this Vedam after being initiated by Sage VyAsa. It is
present today in three SakhAs : KouTuma ,RaaNAyaneeya and Jaimineeya SaakhAs.If
the matching of the divine knowledge has to be done with the Four VedAs , Rig
Vedam is linked to Jn~Ana ( fundamantal Knowledge) ,Yajur Vedam for Karma (
applied knowledge) , Saama Vedam for Upaasanaa and Atharvam for Vijn~Ana. The
musical aspect of Saama Vedam leads to its description as "Geethishu
SaamAkhyaa ".
Commentators of Saama Vedam
The commentators of Saama Vedam are :Madhava of the 7th century , ChUNa
VishNu of 12th century form Bengal ,Bharata Swamy ( 1272-1310 CE) from Hosala
country , Sayana ( 1372-1444 CE) of Vijayanagar and few others .
Unique Saama Veda MantrAs
There are only 75 of the 1875 Saama veda mantrAs that are unique to it ;
rest of them are mostly from Rg Veda with minor verbal differences and set to
music .
Atharva Vedam's Praise of Saama Vedam
Atharva Vedam , the youngest of the Vedams has the highest praise for
Saama Vedam : " Of the Supreme Lord , the Ucchishta brahman , Saaman verses
are regarded as body hairs ( loma) . Elsewhere in the Atharva Vedam ( Canto
XIV.2.71) , the mantram declares : " Thou art "Saa" or She; I am amah . I and
You both conjoined would become Saama (She and I ( the svara) conjoined will
form the couple pertinent for procreation ).
Saama Ghanam
In singing, the priests of the Yaj~nams follow specific styles through
alteration of prolongation, repetition, modulation, rests et al. These become
the various styles of Saama GhAnams: congregational (GrAma gEya GhAnam), AraNya
ghAnam (Forest song style), Uha ghAnam and Uhya GhAnam.
Saakhaas of Saama Vedam
Saama Vedam had originally 1001 branches. We have very few left now.
NammAzhwAr's celebrated Thiruvaimozhi is recognized as the Saama Veda
SaarArtham.
ThiruvAimozhi and Saama Vedic Content
" Vedam Tamizh seytha MaaRan " is one of the salutations to Swamy
NammAzhwAr. In this context , ThiruvAimozhi , which deals with Bahgavath
PrApthi (Attainment of the Lord) , is considered as the precious gift of this
AzhwAr to us on the quinessence of Saama Vedam . BhagavAn says in Gitaa that
among the Four VedAs , He is in Saama Vedam . Such is the glory of Saama Vedam
and by extrpolation, its Tamizh derivative , ThiruvAimozhi.
The Four PurushArthams (Goals of Life)
The four goals of life identified by the VedAs are : Dharma , ArTa ,
Kaama and Moksha . The ultimate and the most precious PrurushArTam in life is
Moksha ( release from the cycles of births and deaths and ascent to the Supreme
abode of the Lord , Sri Vaikuntam , to engage in blemishless Kaimkaryam there
to the dhivya dampathis ) . The bliss ( Aanandham arising from Bhagavath
Kaamam) granting the boon of enjoyment of BrahmAnandham by the Muktha Jeevan
equal to that of the Parama Padha Naathan through the successful execution of
Bhakthi or Prapatthi yOgam is the message of Saama Vedam and the Paasurams of
ThiruvAimozhi rooted in the Saama Vedam . The Supreme Brahman , Sriman
NarayaNan of VisishtAdhvaitham , His KalyANa guNams are the objects of
meditation , salutation and singing of both Saama Vedam and ThiruvAimozhi . We
shall illustrate this Saamyam between the Sanskritic and Tamizh Vedam in the
next essay .
To be Continued ,
NamO Saama veda PurushAya ,
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
P.S: Please support the Saama Veda AdhyApAkAs ( Samhitha , Jadai and
Ghanam ) at Srirangam during the forthcoming SathAbhishEkam .Thank you .
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