You are here: SriPedia - SriRangaSri - Archives - Sep 2006

SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00145 Sep 2006

 
Sep 2006 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


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 .






       


     

     


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:SriRangaSri-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
    mailto:SriRangaSri-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 




[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list