by Roshen Dalal
However, some of the Dharma Shastras, for instance that of Manu, refers to the impurity of the Sama. That of Apastamba states that Veda study must be interrupted at the sound of the barking of dogs, the braying of donkeys, the howling of wolves and jackals, the hooting of owls, the sound of musical instruments, weeping, and the tone of samans. This probably does not refer to the Sama Veda as used in ritual but to a use of Sama tunes in a different context. The Samavidhana Brahmana refers to the use of the Sama in magic, and magic was a practice that was often condemned.
The Sama has approximately 1800 riks in two parts: the Purvarchika and Uttararchika. Most of the verses are those found in the Rig Veda, with some variations. There are complete hymns, parts of hymns, and even single verses of the Rig Veda. However, these have been rearranged and grouped together differently, and are not in the order found in the Rig Veda. The Sama text is specially compiled for the Soma sacrifice. The method by which the samans are introduced in rituals is described in the section on sacrifices in Chapter 10 of this book.
ADDITIONAL TEXTS
The Sama has some additional texts. The Aranyaka Samhita is attached to the Purvarchika. There are also four ganas (songbooks), which indicate how the verses are to be sung and used in rituals.
MODIFICATION OF RIG VEDIC VERSES
In the Sama Veda, Rig Vedic verses are modified for chanting. This is done in several stages.
First, a mantra is chosen from the Rig Veda. In the Sama, it is placed in a different context. The words are not changed but the accents are marked as 1, 2, 3 whereas in the Rig, vertical and horizontal lines are used for accents. This first stage forms the Sama yoni or adhar, the base for further modifications from which the melody is developed. The text of the Sama Veda consists of these yonis.
The next stage in turning the yonis or basic verses into chants is indicated in the ganas or songbooks. This is done by modifications of the yoni. The existing syllables of the mantra are prolonged, modified or repeated. In addition, certain stobhas may be added. Stobhas are sounds without any particular meaning, such as huva, hova, hoi, and others. Hence the ganas, though based on the Sama Veda Samhita, are quite different from the yoni. Each song is given a name in the ganas.
A certain stanza or yoni is usually associated with a particular melody but, sometimes, can be used with other melodies. Thus, one Samayoni mantra can be transposed into several songs, with varying modifications. The first Sama Veda mantra has three tunes: Gotamasya parka, Kashyapasya parhisha and another Gotamasya parka. In this way, there are many more ganas than yonis, and theoretically any number of samans could be formed. The 585 riks of the Purvarchika are sung to at least double the number of tunes. The Uttararchika has verses which are often grouped in triads. Usually, each of the triads were sung together in one melody, though these melodies could vary. In the Kauthuma recension, 2722 melodies or songs have been counted and in the Jaiminiya, 3681. There may have been many more.
DATE
The Sama Veda is considered later than the Rig Veda as it reuses and rearranges parts of Rig Vedic verses. A few analysts and writers on the text believe that it is the Rig Veda that borrowed from an already existing Sama but this is unlikely. The Rig Veda represents an earlier stage when ritual use was not firmly established. However, some aspects of it may predate the Rig.
According to Maurice Winternitz, the origin of the melodies must have been much earlier than their codification, or their being attached to hymns for the sacrifice. Some may have been used in semi-religious songs, others by shaman-like magicians or priests. Frits Staal, among other scholars, also agrees that the melodies were probably already in use before they were attached to the Rig verses.
The Sama may be older than the Taittiriya and Vajasaneyi Yajur texts, as saman chants appear there, the same as those in the Sama but different from the Rig. However, Staal believes the Sama must have been composed ‘in coordination with Yajurvedins’ as it is for use in the Yajur Vedic shrauta ritual. He dates it to the ‘Kuru period’—the time when the Kurus were the dominant kingdom.
Though the Purvarchika, the first part of the Sama Veda, is generally considered earlier than the Uttararchika or second part, W. Caland and some other scholars feel the Uttararchika can be placed before the Purvarchika, at least in its earliest version. According to this theory, initially the verses were taken from the Rig Veda, modified and set to tunes. The Uttararchika was then composed to collect the chants accompanying various rituals. This had many different versions in the various Sama Veda schools. To make memorization of the melodies and chants to be used easier, the Purvarchika listing the yonis was composed, along with the Aranyaka Samhita. The two ganas or songbooks, which had extensive rules, were probably later than the Brahmanas and the sutras.
Though the melodies could have been pre Rig Vedic, the majority, including all the village songs, had Sanskrit names such as Rathantara. But the names of some forest songs could have been non-Sanskrit in origin, indicating the existence and intermixture of different groups of people.
SHAKHAS OR RECENSIONS
The Sama Veda had a number of different recensions. Patanjali’s Mahabhashya says the Sama Veda had ‘a thousand paths’. The Puranas also mention a thousand paths. This may refer to the many different options and modes of singing in the ganas, which could have led to a number of different shakhas. Thirteen shakhas are listed in texts, but only three are known today. These are the Kauthuma, Jaiminiya or Talavakra, and Ranayaniya. The exact number of verses varies in the different recensions. The Ranayaniya recension was commented on by Sayana, and has been translated by several people from the 19th century onwards. The Ranayaniya has minor variations from the Kauthuma recension. In the 1930s a living Sama Veda tradition of the Kauthuma branch was discovered in Baroda, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Chidambaram, and Trichinapoly; a rare Jaiminiya tradition has been found in Kerala, known to the Nambudiri brahmanas. These two traditions are different: the melodies had many insertions and replacements.
The Jaiminiya as used in chants by the Nambudiri brahmanas has ganas from unknown sources. Sabhapati’s Dharana-lakshanam, a late text, provides information on their methods of singing and making notations.
COMPOSERS: ARRANGERS AND RISHIS
RISHIS
The rishis and others associated with the composition of the verses are listed in the anukramanis. As most of the verses are taken from the Rig Veda, the rishis too are generally the same.
ROLE OF THE PRIEST
The udgatr is the main priest for the Sama Veda. The Sama text provided the words for the udgatr priest but the music for the chants is indicated only in the ganas. The udgatr had to memorize the melody connected with the verses in the Purvarchika and the other verses connected with those melodies, found in the Uttararchika. He had to chant them as required, during the ritual. He was assisted by other priests.
METRE
The majority of verses are in the gayatri metre, or in mixed pragatha stanzas, which include gayatri and jagati lines.
SAMANS OR MELODIES
These are indicated in the attached ganas and referred to in the Yajur and later texts.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
As mentioned earlier, both the Kauthuma and Ranayaniya recensions have two parts, the Purvarchika (or Archika) and the Uttararchika. These two recensions are very similar, and some details regarding their nature and contents are given here.
Purvarchika
The Purvarchika, without the attached Aranyaka Samhita, has approximately 583–85 single stanzas (riks). The number varies slightly in different manuscripts. Of these, forty-five stanzas are not from the Rig Veda. These verses are grouped together in six prapathakas or sections, which are further subdivided. Each prapathaka is divided into two sections and has ten dashats (a dashat equals a decade, but not every dashat contains ten verses, though many do), except for the last prapathaka, which has nine. In reality, a prapathaka contains between ninety-six and ninety-nine single-line verses. The verses in the Purvarchika a
re arranged partly according to the metre used and partly according to the gods addressed.
Prapathaka 1 has ninety-six single stanzas, all dedicated to Agni.
The first verse reads: ‘agna-aayaahi-vitaye-grinaano-havyadaataye-ni-hotaa-satsi-barhishi.’ (1)
This becomes the yoni or seed mantra. In chanting in Gotama’s text, this becomes: ‘Ognaai aayaahi voitoyaa i toyaa i grinaano ha-vyaadatoyaa i toyaa i naai hotaasaa tsaa i baa oau hovaa hishi.’
The song thus developed with the addition and change of syllables is known as Gotama’s parka. Another different parka is attributed to Kashyapa.
To indicate how verses are taken from the Rig Veda, the correspondence between the first five mantras is given below:
Sama 1.1 = Rig 6.16.10
Sama 1.2 = Rig 6.16.1
Sama 1.3 = Rig 1.12.1
Sama 1.4 = Rig 6.16.34
Sama 1.5 = Rig 8.73.1
In Prapathaka 2, dashats 1 and 2 are dedicated to Agni, and the next eight to Indra along with some other deities. Prapathaka 3 is dedicated mainly to Indra, along with some other deities. Prapathaka 4 is again mostly dedicated to Indra, along with some other deities. Prapathaka 5 has verses mainly to Indra, Agni, and Soma, though other deities including the Adityas and the Maruts are mentioned.
Prapathaka 6 has nine dashats, all dedicated to Soma. There are ninety-six verses in all, as in Prapathaka 1. The Aranyaka Samhita is attached to the end of this archika.
Uttararchika
The Uttararchika has between 1174 and 1225 single-line verses grouped together in varying combinations. Most of the groups have three stanzas each (triplets or triads). The others have varying numbers of stanzas, usually between one and ten. The verses are arranged in nine prapathakas, which are further subdivided into two to three sections known as ardha (half), with a total of twenty-two sections. Each section has between nine and twenty-three groups of verses. The total number of groups of verses is approximately four hundred.
Some of the single stanzas of Part 1 (Purvarchika) are repeated in the Part 2 (Uttararchika). The first stanza in a group usually occurs in the Purvarchika, and has a connection with the other stanzas in the group. The Uttararchika verses are arranged according to the order in which they would be used in sacrifices, particularly in Soma sacrifices. In both sections, the melody is more important than the meaning.
Some more details are given below. The number of verse groups and of the triads in each section are given in brackets.
Prapathaka 1 has two sections. Section 1 has verses dedicated to Soma, Agni, Mitra-Varuna, Indra and Indra-Agni (twenty-three groups of which fifteen are triplets).
In Section 2, the first twelve triplets are dedicated to Indra. The thirteenth is to Agni, the fourteenth to Usha, and the sixteenth to the Ashvins, while the rest are to Soma (twenty-two groups, all triplets).
Prapathaka 2, Section 1, groups 1–5, 10–11, and 15–17 are dedicated to Soma with three verses each. Several are dedicated to Indra, and others to Agni, Mitra-Varuna, and Indra-Agni (nineteen groups).
In Prapathaka 2, Section 2, the majority of verses are to Soma, followed by those to Indra. There are two hymns to Agni and one each to Mitra-Varuna, the Maruts, and Indra-Agni (nineteen groups, seventeen triplets).
Prapathaka 3, Section 1 has verses mainly to Soma, followed by those to Indra. Other groups are to Agni, Mitra-Varuna, and Indra-Agni (twenty-two groups, with seventeen triplets).
In Prapathaka 3, Section 2, most verses are to Soma; others are to Indra, Indra-Agni, Agni, and Mitra-Varuna (twenty-two groups with seventeen triplets).
In Prapathaka 4, Section 1, most verses are dedicated to Soma. Agni, Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman, Indra, and Indra-Agni are other deities here (twenty-four groups; eighteen triplets; two groups are rather long with ten verses each).
In Prapathaka 4, Section 2, the majority of verses are to Soma, others are to Agni, Indra, Indra-Agni, Mitra-Varuna (fourteen groups, eleven triplets).
Prapathaka 5, Section 1 has verses mainly to Soma but also to Indra and Agni (twenty groups, fourteen triplets; three groups have nine verses each).
In Prapathaka 5, Section 2, the verses are mostly to Soma; there are some to Indra and one to Agni. There is a reference to Parjanya in hymn 13 (twenty-three groups, fourteen triplets).
In Prapathaka 6, Section 1, the verses are to various deities including Agni, Indra, Soma, the Adityas, and Surya (eleven groups, eight triplets).
Prapathaka 6, Section 2 has verses to Agni, Soma, and Indra (twenty groups, fourteen triplets). Prapathaka 6, Section 3 has verses to Soma, Indra, Surya, Mitra-Varuna, Sarasvan, Sarasvati; group 10 has verses to Savitar, Brahmanaspati, and Agni (eighteen groups, ten triplets).
Prapathaka 7, Section 1 has verses mainly to Agni but also to Indra and Soma (sixteen groups, twelve triplets).
Prapathaka 7, Section 2 has verses to Agni (fifteen groups, twelve triplets).
Prapathaka 7, Section 3 has verses to Indra, Agni, Indra-Agni, Varuna, Vishvakarma, Soma, Pushan, the Maruts, the Vishvedevas, Dyaus-Prithivi; the Ribhus and the god Rudra are also mentioned (twenty-one groups; the lengths of the groups vary from one to four verses/lines).
Prapathaka 7, Section 1 has verses to Agni, Indra, Vishnu, Vayu, Soma; there are references to Vritra (fourteen groups, twelve triplets).
Prapathaka 7, Section 2 has verses to Indra, Agni, Indra-Agni, Vishnu, and Soma (nineteen groups, twelve triplets).
Prapathaka 8, Section 1 has verses to Agni, Indra, Vishnu, Vayu, and Soma; there are references to Vritra (fourteen groups, twelve triplets).
Prapathaka 8, Section 2 has verses to Indra, Agni, Indra-Agni, Vishnu, and Soma (nineteen groups, twelve triplets).
Prapathaka 8, Section 3 has verses to Agni, Soma, Indra, Usha, and the Ashvins (eighteen groups, fourteen triplets).
Prapathaka 9, Section 1 has verses to Soma, Indra, Agni, the Maruts, and Surya; it also refers to Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman, and Vayu; most of the verses are to Indra (eighteen groups, sixteen triplets).
Prapathaka 9, Section 2 has hymns mostly to Agni but also to Indra, Vata, Vena, Apah, and the devas; other deities including Surya are mentioned (thirteen groups, seven triplets).
Prapathaka 9, Section 3 has hymns mainly to Indra and Soma with references to other deities including Brihaspati, Varuna, the Maruts, Aditya and Pushan (nine groups, all triplets).
In another system of division, the Purvarchika is divided into kandas and the Uttararchika into adhyayas, as follows:
Purvarchika
Agneya Kanda: This has 114 verses mainly addressed to Agni but some to other deities. It is divided into twelve sections.
Aindra Kanda: This has 352 verses mainly addressed to Indra but also to some other deities.
Pavamana Kanda: This has 119 verses divided into eleven sections, addressed to Soma.
Aranyaka Kanda: This has fifty-five verses divided into five sections. It has verses to various deities but is more philosophical than the rest. (This is an addition to the Purvarchika, and corresponds with the Aranyaka Samhita.)
Uttararchika
This has twenty-one adhyayas, some of which are divided into sections. There are 1225 verses in total. They are addressed to various deities.
Ganas
The ganas or songbooks do not form part of the Sama Veda Samhita but, as indicated earlier, are essential for its use. The matter in them was perhaps once taught orally and later written down. There are four ganas. The first two are together called Purvagana (first songbook) or Prakritigana (principal songbook) and include the Gramageyagana, songs to be sung in the village, and the Aranyakagana, songs of the forest. Each of the Purvarchika verses forms the base of one or more chants in the Gramageyagana. In the Aranyakagana, verses of the Aranyaka Samhita are used interspersed with some based on the Purvarchika. Stobhas (syllables without meaning) are used in many chants and, at times, comprise entire chants. The Aranyakagana has five parvans or sections: arka, dvandva, vrata, and shukriya, with a supplementary parishisht
a at the end. The next two songbooks, Uhagana and Uhyagana, are known as Uttaragana (subsequent songbook) or Vikritigana, those derived from the first. The name Uhyagana is an abbreviated form of Uhyarahasyagana, and is related to the mystical songs of the Aranyakagana.
The two Uttaragana texts present Purvagana chants in a different form. Their organization and the order of the chants is based on their sequence and use in the Soma rituals. The Uha and Uhya ganas are each divided into seven sections. The first five are according to the length of the rituals, and are known by the names of the rituals for which they are used. They are: dasharatra, samvatsara, ekaha, ahina, and sattra. The next is the prayashchitta, which includes samans sung for expiation of sins, and kshudra, for the fulfilment of wishes. In some versions, there are only six sections.
The ganas are important in the history of music in India as they provide notes and melodies. The music form of Dhrupad traces its origin to the Sama Veda, though Dhrupad actually arose much later.