Samaveda

Samaveda
Four vedas
Four Vedas
Information
ReligionHistorical Vedic religion
Hinduism
LanguageVedic Sanskrit
PeriodVedic period (c. 1200-900 BCE)[1]
Chapters6 adhyayas
Verses1,875 mantras[2]
Samaveda is a Hindu scripture in the Vedic Sanskrit language. Samaveda manuscripts exist in many Indic scripts. Above: Devanagari, Below: Grantha.

The Samaveda (Sanskrit: सामवेद, IAST: Sāmaveda, from सामन्, "song" and वेद, "knowledge"), is the Veda of melodies and chants.[3] It is an ancient Vedic Sanskrit text, and is one of the sacred scriptures in Hinduism. One of the four Vedas, it is a liturgical text which consists of 1,875 verses. All but 75 verses have been taken from the Rigveda.[4] Three recensions of the Samaveda have survived, and variant manuscripts of the Veda have been found in various parts of India.[5][6]

While its earliest parts are believed to date from as early as the Rigvedic period, the existing samhita text dates from the post-Rigvedic Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit, between c. 1200 and 1000 BCE or "slightly rather later," roughly contemporary with the Atharvaveda and the Yajurveda.[1][7] Along with the Samhita layer of text, the Samaveda includes Brahmana texts, and a final layer of the text that covers philosophical speculations (Upanishads). These layers of the compilation dates from the post-Rigvedic Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit, likely around the 6th century BCE.[8]

Embedded inside the Samaveda are the widely studied Chandogya Upanishad and Kena Upanishad. These Upanishads are considered as primary Upanishads and have had influence on the six schools of Hindu philosophy, particularly the Vedanta school.[9] The Samaveda laid important foundations for subsequent Indian music.[10]

It is also referred to as Sama Veda.[11]

  1. ^ a b Witzel 2001, p. 6.
  2. ^ "Construction of the Vedas". VedicGranth.Org.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference staal107 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference witzelsamaveda was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference rgriffith was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference hastings was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Dalal 2014, "The Rig Veda is considered later than the Rig Veda".
  8. ^ Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanishads, Oxford University Press; ISBN 978-0195124354, pp. 12-13
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference maxmullerfull was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference guybeck107 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ John Stevenson, Translation of the Sanhita of the Sama Veda, p. PR12, at Google Books, page XII