# सामवेद (sāmaveda)

Canonical page: https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/samaveda

सामवेद (sāmaveda) is a Sanskrit word meaning the Sama Veda, one of the principal Vedas, consists of two parts, the first part containing 585 verses arranged in decades, drawn forth from the sun, having a special reference to deceased ancestors, having eight Brahmanas. Its 14 recorded definitions are grouped into 5 contexts, among them General Definition and Core Nature, Saṃhitā: Structure, Content, and Use of Verses, Associated Brāhmaṇas and Gānas (Chant Manuals).

- **SLP1:** `sAmaveda`  **IAST:** sāmaveda  **Devanagari:** सामवेद
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaveda
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/samaveda/declensions.md

## Meanings by context

### General Definition and Core Nature (5 definitions)
- the Sama Veda, one of the principal Vedas  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H3) [Printed book page 1205,2] साम (sāma) — वेद (veda) (—veda) m. ‘Veda of chants’, N. of one of the three principal Vedas (see वेद (veda) ) [ ID=242297 ]
- name of the third of the Vedas  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > सामवेद (sāmaveda) [Printed book page 773-32 ] सामन् - वेद (sāman-veda) m. name of the third of the three Vedas. [ ID=40463 ]
- the Samaveda  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > सामवेद (sāmaveda) [Printed book page 614 ] सामवेद (sāmaveda) m. the Sāmaveda ( cf. 2 सामन् (sāman) ). [ ID=36648 ]
- the Veda of chants  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > सामवेद (sāmaveda) [Printed book page 272-a ] sāma-vedá, m. the Veda of sā́man or chants, 63 6. [ 1249a 2.] [ ID=4567 ]
- the Veda of the Saman chants, a collection of verses for chanting  
  *The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects*
  > सामवेद (sāmaveda) [Printed book page 2-445 ] Sāma-veda, ‘the Veda of the Sāman chants,’ is the name of a collection of verses for chanting, often mentioned in the Brāhmaṇas. 1 The Sāman itself is repeatedly referred to in the Rigveda, 2 and the triad Ṛc, Yajus, and Sāman is common from the Atharvaveda onwards. 3 These texts know also the Sāma-ga, the ‘Sāman-chanter,’ 4 who occurs later. 5 [ Footnote: 1) Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, iii. 12, 9, 1; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, v. 32, 1; Śata- patha Brāhmaṇa, xi. 5, 8, 3; xii. 3, 4, 9; Aitareya Āraṇyaka, iii. 2, 3; Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, i. 5, 13 (Mādhyaṃdina = i. 5, 5 Kāṇva); ii. 4, 10; iv. 1, 6 (= iv. 1, 2); 5, 11; Chān- dogya Upaniṣad, i. 3, 7; iii. 3, 1. 2; 15, 7; vii. 1, 2. 4; 2, 1; 7, 1, etc.] [ Footnote: 2) i. 62, 2; 107, 2; 164, 24, etc. Cf. Oldenberg, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 38, 439 et seq. ] [ Footnote: 3) x. 7, 14; xi. 7, 5; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxxiv. 5, etc.] [ Footnote: 4) Rv. ii. 43, 1; x. 107, 6; Av. ii. 12, 4.] [ Footnote: 5) Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, ii. 22, 3; 37, 4; iii. 4, 1.] [ ID=3546 ]

### Saṃhitā: Structure, Content, and Use of Verses (4 definitions)
- containing a number of verses or stanzas mostly occurring in the Rig-veda, which are chanted by priests at Soma sacrifices  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > it contains a number of verses or stanzas nearly all of which [except about 78] occur in the Ṛg-veda and which, modified in various ways, are chanted, mostly, by the Udgātṛ priests at Soma sacrifices [ ID=242298 ]
- consists of two parts  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the Saṃhitā of the Sāma-veda consists of two parts [ ID=242299 ]
- the first part containing 585 verses arranged in decades  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the first, called Ārcika [or Pūrvārcika or Chando-grantha], contains 585 verses disjoined from their proper sequence in the Ṛg-veda and arranged in 59 Daśatis or decades, which again are subdivided into Prapāṭhakas and Ardha-prapāṭhakas [ ID=242300 ]
- the second part, called Uttararcika or Uttara-grantha, containing 1225 verses, chiefly from the Rik-samhita, arranged in nine Prapahakas with Ardha-prapahakas, mostly grouped in triplets  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the second, called Uttarārcika or Uttarā-grantha, contains 1225 verses, also chiefly from the Ṛk-saṃhitā, but less disjointed than in the first part, and arranged in nine Prapāṭhakas with Ardha-prapāṭhakas, mostly, however, grouped in triplets [ ID=242301 ]

### Associated Brāhmaṇas and Gānas (Chant Manuals) (2 definitions)
- 1. Geya-gana and Aranya-gana serve as a directory for the Arcika portion. 2. Uha-gana and Uhya-gana serve as a directory for the Uttararcika portion.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the directions for the formation of Sāmans or chants out of these verses are carefully laid down in the Gānas or manuals for chanting, two of which, viz. the Geya-gāna and Āraṇya-gāna, are a directory for the Ārcika portion, and two, viz. Ūha-gāna and Ūhya-gāna, for the Uttarārcikā [ ID=242302 ]
- having eight Brahmanas  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the Sāma-veda is said to possess 8 Brāhmaṇas [see ब्राह्मण (brāhmaṇa) ] Br.; ŚāṅkhŚr. &c. [ Indian Wisdom, by Sir M. Monier-Williams (Title) 25 ] [ ID=242305 ]

### Specific Interpretations and Mythological Origin (Non-Epic) (2 definitions)
- drawn forth from the sun  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > in Manu-smṛti (Title) i, 23 the Sāma-veda is described as drawn forth from the sun [ ID=242303 ]
- having a special reference to deceased ancestors  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > in iv, 124 it is described as having a special reference to the Pitṛs or deceased ancestors, and its sound is therefore said to possess a kind of impurity, whereas the Ṛg-veda has the gods for his objects and the Yajurveda men [ ID=242304 ]

### Sāmaveda in Epic and Purāṇic Contexts (1 definition)
- the Samaveda  
  *Index to the Names in the Mahabharata*
  > सामवेद (sāmaveda) [Printed book page 610-2 ] Sāmaveda. § 270 (Brahmasabhāv.): II, 11, 449 (in the palace of Brahmán).—§ 459 (Mārkaṇḍeyas.): III, 189, 12963 (had sprung from Nārāyaṇa).—§ 560 (Sanatsujātap.): V, 43, 1623.—§ 576 (Bhagavadgītāp.): VI, 34, 1226 ( Vedānāṃ S°o 'smi, says Kṛṣṇa).—§ 606 (Tripurākhyāna): VIII, 34, 1498 (among those works which became the puraḥsarāḥ of Śiva).—§ 717 b (Nārāyaṇīya): XII, 349, 13556 ( sammitaḥ S°ena, sc. dharmaḥ ); VI), 13592 ( °āntagaṃ dvijaṃ ).—§ 730 g (Upamanyu): XIII, 14, 915 ( °aś ca Vedānāṃ, sc. Śiva). Cf. sāman, pl. [ ID=9342 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Index to the Names in the Mahabharata; Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

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