Sri:
Srimate Rangaramanuja Mahadesikaya Namaha
I. On
the Purusha Suktam of the sAma vEdam
The purusha suktam of the Sama Vedam, as
sung traditionally, is a compilation of the following sAman-s in this order:
1. vishnu sAman, found in the Eka-sAmi aindra-parvam. This sAman based
on the rk (yOni mantram) "idam vishnur-vichakramE..". d in
some
sampradayams.
2. vishnOr-vratam of the Vrata-parva, and based on
the rk "prakshasya vrshnO.."
3. varAham of the pavamAna- sOma parvam. The
last of the four varAha sAmans is sung here. The yOni of this sAman is the rk
"pra kAvyamushanEva bruvANO dEvO dEvAnAm"
4. The "purusha-vratAni
paNcha" sAman-s of Vratha-parva based on the yOni/rks beginning with
"sahasra-shIrshaha purushah?" It is rks of these five sAmans, that closely
resemble the other recensions of the
purusha suktam found in the rg, yajur,
and atharvaNa vedA-s.
5. The Purusha vratam Vratha-parva based on he
yOni-mantra "kayA nashchitra?"
If you are looking for specific sAman
numbers, or more details, please let me know.
Here is a rendition by
Kauthuma shAkha sAma brihaspatis, Sri U. Ve. Thenbirai N. Raman and Sri U. Ve.
Srirangam Narayanan of Chennai:
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/mpg/sv-3-purusha-sooktam.mp3
II
On the Age of the Veds
The rshis to whom the Veda mantras were revealed
were mantra-drashtas,
NOT composers.
The 6th Chapter of the Sri Vishnu
Purana and the 12th Chapter of the Srimath Bhagavatham describe how and why Veda
Vyasa and his shishya paramapara reorganized the Veda into
rk-sAma-yajus-atharvaNa and the sub-shAkhas.
Each of the the Vedas
have plenty of references to each other. For instance, the Rg, Yajur and
artharvaNa
vedas extoll the greatness of the sAma veda as well as specific
samans and their applications. Vice-versa.
Unlikely, if the Rk, Yajur, Sama
and Atharvana samhitas had been "composed at different times"
Traditional literature stresses that the vedas, just like Sriyah-Pati,
the Veda Purushan are anAdi and nityam.
BrihadAranya Upanishad 2.4.10
describes the Vedas as "nihsvasitam" -the very breath of the Supreme
Being.
Where is the question of ascribing or comparing the age of
something which was never
"created"?
sarvamsrikrishnaarpanamasthu
ramanuja
dasan.
(-Shreyas)