While the modern Indian has made progress in various fields, the priceless intangible heritage of works like the Sama Veda have gone unnoticed - a great loss indeed. Out of the 13 branches of Sama Veda termed as 'shakhas', now we have only four, of which scholars say the Kauthumiya is a modified Ranayaniya shakha, leaving us only with three. This situation might have arisen from the discouragement of idol worship this would ultimately see the demise of a culture with its unique art, craft, economics, beliefs, people and their practices which were actually cultural givens of that era. With the Sama Veda being reduced to a point of near extinction, we are at the brink of losing not only its unique music, but also the complete world view it presents. It naturally incorporates music, mantra, chhanda, linguistics, and above all, a reflection of the world view of rishis who communicated in the Arsha language, precursor to the more regimented Girvan (later called Sanskrit). May His light inspire and illumine our intellect.Sama Veda is perhaps the earliest human literature on music. “We meditate on that most adorable, most desirable and most enchanting effulgence of the Supreme Lord, who is the source of creation, inspiration and eternal happiness. The Four Upavedas (following the Vedas) explain arts and sciences
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The Upanishads – books of philosophy, also called “Vedanta,” the end or conclusion of the Vedas.The Aranyakas – literally “forest books” for hermits and saints.They also contain early versions of some stories.
#THE SAMA VEDA MANUALS#
The Brahmanas – prose manuals of ritual and prayer for the guiding priests.The Samhitas – literally “collections,” in this case of hymns and mantras.The first two divisions relate to the performance of sacrificial rituals (the karma-kanda section), whereas the second pair consists of philosophy (and belong to the jnana-kanda section). In the narrowest of senses, only the Samhitas comprise the true Vedas. Within each of the four books there are four types of composition, or divisions, as shown below. Atharva-VedaĬontains hymns, mantras and incantations, largely outside the scope of yajna. This consists of chants and melodies to be sung during worship and the performance of yajna. The Yajur-VedaĪ priestly handbook for use in the performance of yajnas (sacrifices) It is divided into two sections, the earlier “black” and the more recent “white.” Sama-Veda These include Indra, Agni, Vishnu, Rudra, Varuna, and other early or “Vedic gods.” It also contains the famous Gayatri mantra and the prayer called the Purusha Shukta (the story of Primal Man). It is divided into ten books (called mandalas) and has 1028 hymns in praise of various deities. The most important and, according to scholars, oldest of the Vedas. The following is an overview of the four Vedas. Scholars, however, usually consider the Rig-Veda the oldest of all Hindu writings.
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Some Hindus say that there was originally only one Veda, the Yajur, which was later divided into four.
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Scholars believe that they were written down some 2,500 years ago, though the tradition often dates them to the beginning of Kali-yuga (circa 3000 BCE). The Vedas are considered the oldest Hindu texts.