Essentials of Sama Veda and its Music

Sama Veda Samhita is the third in the traditional sequence of four Vedas. All its mantras are risks in some specified metres with names such as Gayatri, Anushtubh etc.

Sama Veda is the earliest known systematic procedure for giving a melody to a verse meant for chanting. Most persons who have heard with devotion the singing of Sama Veda verses will attest to the sense of exhilaration or ecstasy experienced by them. It is no wonder that the famous poem Bhagavad Gita in the epic Mahabharata declares that the Sama Veda is the best among the four Vedas. Each Sama Veda mantra contains in it not only the deep meaning of music. Sama Veda is the Foundation for all systems of music in the subcontinent of India. Note however that mantras in Sama Veda are different from the mantras in the other 3 Vedas in one way. In the other 3 Vedas, a mantra is chanted as the text indicates. However this is not the case in Sama Veda.

Sama Veda Samhita, in reality, has two parts. The first part consists of the text of the rik mantras which are to be sung. It is properly called Sama mantra Samhita. The second part of Sama Veda gives the text or text for singing. Thus every mantra in the first part, is expanded to yield one or more Samagana mantras. Note that there are also several Samagana mantras which do not have a source rik mantra.

Now, only the book of the mantras of the first part is accessible, with relative ease namely the edition of the Pandit Sripad Damodar Satavalekar having 1875 mantras. The book having the text of the Samagana mantras, is available only in specialized libraries. Hence even the so-called experts call the book with only the first part as the entire Sama Veda.