About the Book
Veda is Shabda Brahma, Divine Knowledge in metalanguage. The very word 'Veda' means knowledge. It is
derived from the root 'vid', which means: 'to be, to
know, to think, and to benefit from'.
So whatever is is Veda:
the very world of existence is Veda.
The knowledge of the world of existence is Veda. The
extension of knowledge through thought and research further is Veda. And to use
that knowledge for the benefit of mankind with the protection and preservation
of nature and the environment, without hurting any form of life, that is Veda.
Vedic knowledge is classified thematically into
three: Jnana (knowledge), Karma (action) and Upasana
(prayer). Formally, Vedic knowledge is divided into four:
Rgveda is the Veda of Knowledge,
Yajurveda is the Veda of Karma, Samaveda is the Veda of Bhakti, and Atharva-veda is Brahma Veda, an umbrella code, celebrating
the all comprehensive Divine Presence as in Book 10, hymns 7 and 8.
Vedas are the essence of life, and Samaveda is the
essence of the Vedas, says Chhandogyopanishad, 1, 1,
1-2:
Samaveda is a symphony of mantric
songs of prayer sung by the seers of all time Truth in a state of Ananda. It
consists of 1875 mantras which, except for about 100, are common with the
celebrative mantras of Rgveda. In some mantras there
are minor variations from the Rks, turning
descriptive celebrations into prayerful songs of meditative ecstasy.
The theme of Samaveda is, predominantly, musical
celebration of three attributes of the Godhead, Parama
Brahma: Agni, Indra and Soma. Here and there, there
are other themes too, but they are rare rather than frequent: Indragni, Mitra- Varuna, Usha, Ashvins, Maruts, Aditya, Vishvedeva, Surya
as Atma, Sarasvati, Savita,
Brahmanaspati, Vishnu, Brhaspati,
and Vishvakarma.
However, these themes do not mean different deities, they are reflections of the existential
manifestation of the same One Brahma, immanent as well as transcendent. The
celebration of Agni, Indra and Soma is celebration of
the One Supreme Divinity, the original, ultimate and eternal Unity of existence
reflecting in infinite variety, Aum.
About the
Author
Dr. Tulsi
Ram Sharma M.A., English (Delhi, 1949), Ph.D. (London, 1963) has been a university
professor, academic administrator, researcher, and writer of long standing with
prestigious assignments.
Besides his professional studies of secular
literature in English, Hindi, Sanskrit and Urdu, Dr. Tulsi
Ram Sharma has devoted his life and time to the study and discipline of Sacred
literature specially Vedas, Upanishads, Darshan
Philosophy, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata with concentration on the Bhagwad Gita, Greek, Roman, Sumerian and English Epics, Gathas of Zarathustra, Bible, Quran, and the writings of
Swami Dayananda, and Swami Vivekananda, in search of
the essential values of Sanatan Vedic Dharma with
reference to their realisation in life and literature through social attitudes,
collective action, customs, traditions, rituals and religious variations across
the fluctuations of history.
Foreword
Veda Bhashya by Prof. Tulsiram
- A step to make Vedas available to the English World
I have had the privilege of going through some of
the chapters of Yajurveda Bhashya written by Prof. Tulsiram,
a well known Vedic scholar and author of English language and literature. I
congratulate him because he has done this translation for an average English
reader who is keen to know the Vedas. Knowledge of the Vedas is like the
knowledge of science. Vedic language is a scientific language and nobody can
understand that without the profound knowledge of Vedangas,
especially Nirukta of Maharshi Yaska
and the grammar of Panini and Patanjali. Nobody can interpret the Veda mantras
without these two. This translation proves that Prof. Tulsiram
has done this insightful translation after doing hard work in both Vedangas.
In translating the Vedas, only literal meaning is
just not sufficient, sometimes it may create confusion and contradiction. Prof.
Tulsiram deeply merges himself into Vedic Mantras,
thinking deeply about words, derivatives and analyzes the hidden nuances of
meaning in their context. For example, 'Sumitriya na aapa oshadhayah
santu .
Yajur.
36, 23': If we take literal meaning in the ordinary sense, "may the
waters, vital forces of life, and herbs be friendly to us and may they be
enemies to those who hate us and whom we hate", it will not make
acceptable sense. After raising some questions, he says, "How can we accept
this?" So, after going deeply into the words and context he gives this
meaning of the said mantra: May waters,
tonics, pranic energies and medicinal herbs be good
friends of our health system and immunity and let the same waters, tonics, pranic energies herbal medicines act against those
ailments, diseases and negativities which injure us, which we hate to suffer and which we love
to destroy, moreover let them have no side effects because side effects too
help the negativities and injure us.
After giving the actual sense of the Mantra he
writes that this Mantra is a reasonable prayer for the health programme of an
advanced society, and then, logically in the next Mantra, follows the prayer
for a full hundred years and more of life and healthy living (Tacchakshurdevahitam purastat-Yajur.36,24).
The translation by Prof. Tulsiram
is without any extraneous motive and without any extra-academic intention. The
translation has been done purely as communication of the Vedic message for the
welfare of mankind.
While giving his opinion on the Vedas Prof. Tulsiram writes in his Introduction. Veda is the Voice of
God revealed in scientific Vedic Sanskrit free from local color and historical
facts, therefore Vedic language is to be interpreted and understood according
to its own laws and structure, and the only key available for such
interpretation is the Nirukta of Maharshi Yaska and the grammar of Panini & Patanjali. According to
Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati, 'without reference to
these bases of Vedic interpretation certain words have been given a distorted
meaning in the translations of Max Muller, Griffith, Whitney and even Sayana.'
Actually the torch light for proper translation today, as Aurobindo says, is
the Arsha tradition followed by Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati.
At the end I will say that this translation of
Yajurveda, based on Nirukta and Grammar, follows the
known ancient Indian tradition. It is factual, without prejudice or hidden
motive. Prof. Tulsiram thinks deeply on every word of
the mantra, looks into the context and etymology according to Nirukta and then does the translation. I congratulate him
on this one more pioneering step to make the knowledge of Vedas available to
the western world and the average English knowing reader. May God give him long
and healthy life so that he continues to do this kind of stupendous work.
Introduction
This translation of Samaveda is meant for an average
English knowing reader who is keen to know:
What is Veda? What is it all about? Is it old or
new?
If it's old, what is its relevance today? And if it
is relevant, is it relevant to me also? Or is it relevant only to some
particular community in some particular country at some particular time?
These are relevant questions especially in an age of
science, democracy and globalism.
Veda is Divine Knowledge in metalanguage.
The very word 'Veda' means knowledge. It is derived from the root 'vid', which means: 'to be, to know, to think, to benefit
from' and 'to communicate' .
So whatever is is Veda:
the very world of existence is Veda. The knowledge of the world of existence is
Veda. The extension of knowledge through thought and research further is Veda.
And to use that knowledge for the benefit of mankind with the protection and
preservation of nature and the environment, without hurting any form of life,
that is Veda.
Veda is knowledge, pure and simple, as science is
knowledge. Science is knowledge of nature as nature is and as it works
according to its own laws. In science, there is no story, no history. Similarly
in the Veda, there is no story, no history. And just as science is knowledge in
scientific language free from local colour and historical variations of form
and meaning, so Veda too is knowledge in scientific language free from local
colour and historical variations. Therefore Vedic language has to be
interpreted and understood according to the laws and technique of its own
structure as stated by seers such as Yaska, Panini
and Patanjali and as explained by Swami Dayananda in
his grammatical works and his notes on Vedic words in his commentary on the
Vedas.
But there is a difference between scientific
knowledge and Vedic knowledge: While science is knowledge of nature to the
extent that man has been able to discover it, Veda is the quintessential
knowledge of all that is, including Nature and humanity, all that happens, all
that we are, all that we do, and all that we reap in consequence of our action.
It is the Original and Universal knowledge of the Reality of Existence and the Ideality of our aspirations, covering the facts and
processes of existence, their interaction and the laws that operate in the
interaction. In short, Veda is an eternal articulation of Omniscience, The
Voice of God.
Vedic knowledge is classified thematically into
three: Stuti, Prarthana and
Upasana. Stuti, praise, is
solemn reverential remembrance and description of the attributes, nature,
character and function of divine powers. Prarthana,
prayer, is an autosuggestive resolution to realise
our limitations and rise above those limitations by calling on Divinity for aid
and blessings when we have exhausted our effort and potential. Upasana is meditation, the surrender of our limited
identity to open out and participate in the Divine Presence. Stuti implies knowledge (Janana),
Prarthana implies humility and action (Karma), and Upasana implies total love and surrender (Bhakti). In
consequence, formally, Vedic knowledge is divided into four:
Rgveda is the Veda of Knowledge,
Yajurveda is the Veda of Karma, Samaveda is the Veda of Bhakti, and Atharva-veda is Brahma Veda, an umbrella, celebrating the
Divine Presence as in Book 10, hymns 7 and 8.
Yajurveda is Karma Veda, knowledge of the
application of knowledge in practical living in a positive, creative and
constructive manner at both the individual and the collective leveL This way of living and working is "Yajna" which, in simple words, means a selfless and
participative way of living and thereby creating the maximum out of the minimum
for all, including nature, humanity, the environment and the whole universe,
with complete faith in the living, breathing, organismic,
intelligent, self-organising, self-conscious, Sovereign System. Living the yajnic way, we realise that Nature is an organism, a tree, Ashwattha, and the entire cosmos including ourselves is a Purusha, and we as human beings are but cells in this
Divine Purusha. Without living
this. way in a state of full awareness, we
cannot realise that you and I, Mother Nature and the Supreme Brahma are all
together, one in union and communion.
Vedic knowledge then is the Divine knowledge of life
in existence from the dimensionless point and particle unto Infinity. And
prayerful living and communion in meditation and yoga means: Self-integration
of the particle, Re-integration of the part with the whole, and Re-union of the
finite with the Infinite.
Vedas are the essence of life, and Samaveda is the
essence of the Vedas, says Chhandogyopanishad, 1, 1,
1-2:
"Of all these elements (Akasha,
Vayu, Agni, Apah, and Prthivi) the earth is the
essence. The essence of Earth is waters. The essence of waters is oshadhis, herbs. The essence of oshadhis
is Purusha, the human being. The essence of humans is
Yak, speech. The essence of Vak is Rk. Rgveda. The essence of Rks is Sama. The essence of Sama is Udgitha, the cosmic
resonance of Aum. That Aum,
chant, sing and worship in meditation."
Lord Krishna, divine persona of the Gita, also says:
Of the Vedas, I am Sama (10, 22).
Samaveda is a symphony of mantric
songs sung by the seers of all time in a state of Ananda. It consists of 1875
mantras which, except for about 100, are common with the celebrative mantras of
Rgveda. In some mantras there are minor variations
from the Rks, turning descriptive celebrations into
prayerful songs of meditative ecstasy.
Samaveda is codified in two parts: the first is Purvarchika, the former phase of celebration (1-640
mantras), and the second is Uttararchika, the latter
phase (651-1875 mantras), with an intermediary phase titled Mahanamnyarchika
of ten mantras (641- 650).
The Purvarchika consists
of four sections:
Agneya Kanda (Chapter 1: mantras
1-114)
Aindra Kanda (Chapters 2-4:
mantras 115-466)
Pavamana Soma Kanda (Chapter 5:
mantras 467-585)
Aranyaka Kanda (Chapter 6; mantras
586-640)
Intermediary Mahanamnyarchika
(mantras 641-650)
The Uttararchika consists
of twenty one chapters (mantras 651-1875).
The theme of Samaveda is, predominantly, musical
celebration of three attributes of the Godhead, Parama
Brahma:
Agni, Indra
and Soma.
Here and there, there are other themes too, but they are rare rather than
frequent: Indragni, Mitra- Varuna, Usha, Ashvins, Maruts, Aditya, Vishvedeva, Surya as Atma, Sarasvati, Savita, Brahmanaspati, Vishnu, Brhaspati, and Vishvakarma.
However, these themes do not mean different deities, they are reflections of the existential
manifestation of the same One Brahma, immanent as well as transcendent. God is
One, says Rgveda (1, 164, 46), holy sages speak of It in many different ways by different names such as Agni, Indra, Mitra, Varuna
and many more. Atharva-veda, in fact, has almost the
last word: God is one, only one, neither two nor three nor four, nor five, nor
six, nor seven, nor eight, nor nine, nor ten (13, 4,12
and 16-18). The celebration of Agni, Indra and Soma
is celebration of the One Supreme Divinity, the original, ultimate and eternal
Unity of existence reflecting in infinite variety, Aum.
Aum: this alone is the
imperishable Divine, the Word. This all is the expansive creative evolution of That, the living articulation of That, the Veda, the Sama. That is the Seed (Gita, 7, 10), that is the womb, Hiranyagarbha (Rgveda 1, 121, 1),
That is the Tree of Existence (Rgveda 1, 164, 20),
the Ashvattha (Kathopanishad
2,3, 1) which grows on and on from the root to the
expansive filaments (Gita, 15, 1-2), the germination as well as the termination
of a life cycle in Eternity. That is the Purusha,
self-conscious, self-articulative, self-generative,
self-progressive, self-recessive, Cosmic Personality (Rgveda 10, 90, 1-16). That same is Agni, Indra, Soma and others of Samaveda. Sama
celebrates That in music in a state of Ananda.
All the 1875 mantras of Samaveda, each mantra being
like a note of a Raga, make up the symphony of the divine Rks
of the Sama, the Song Celestial of the variety,
stability, unity, peace and bliss of life for the yearning soul:
The celebration of Agni is the celebration of the
divine warmth of life, of the light of the world and of the love and passion
for living. Indra is the power of life, the power of
the world and the love and passion for the rectitude of living. Soma is the
poetry, beauty and pleasure of life, the sweetness and joy of the world and the
bliss and beatitude of the soul's experience in its reunion with Divinity in
Samadhi.
Who then is the poet of the Vedas? The answer is in
Yajurveda 40, 8: That Cosmic Spirit which pervades and rules every moving
particle in the moving universe is "the poet, thinker, all-comprehending,
and self-existent". That is the Lord who creates the world of existence,
ordains the Laws of its dynamics, and reveals the poetry of its beauty and
majesty, the Vedas. "From that Lord of universal yajna
were born the Rks and Samans.
From Him were born the Chhandas of Atharva-veda and from Him were born the Yajus",
(Yajurveda 31, 7). The Vedic lore comes in Pura- kalpa, the beginning of the world of humanity (Shvetashvataropanishad, 6, 22) and when its function is
over at the end of the kalpa, one cycle of existence,
it retires into Brahma- loka (Atharva-veda
19, 71, 1).
The Vedas were revealed by the Lord Omniscient to
four primeval Rshis: Rgveda
to Agni, Yajurveda to Vayu, Samaveda to Aditya, and Atharva-veda
to Angira, directly in their spiritual consciousness.
The Sage Brahma received and collected the four from them and passed them on to
other sages.
When were the Vedas revealed? What is their age? How
old are they? As old as the age of humanity on earth.
The Lord who creates humanity leaves them not to nature like animals. He
enlightens them with the knowledge of existence and their place in the world
with the vision of their journey and its culmination. Swami Dayananda
works out the age of the Vedas on the basis of Surya Siddhanta
which in the year 2010 A.D. comes to 1,96,08,53,110 years.
If someone does not accept it and insists on
historical proof, let us listen to Max Muller from whom we learn of the problem
of the date or dates but with no possibility of solution on scientific and
historical grounds.
Max Muller is known as a world renowned Vedic
scholar and exegesist of the West. Max Muller once
ventured to pronounce a purely arbitrary date based on unproven assumptions
that around 1200 B.C. was the date of the Rgveda.
Later, he himself warned his students that "Whether the Vedic Hymns were
composed in 1000 or 1500 or 2000 B.C., no power on earth could ever fix . Whatever may be the date of the Vedic hymns . they have their own unique
place and stand by themselves". Such daring presumptions of western
scholars about the date of the Vedas are exposed by Graham Hancock in his
latest researches, in his explosive book: Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization (2002).
Hancock first gives the range of dates accepted by
Western scholars such as Max Muller and Dr. Mitchiner,
a great authority on ancient Sanskrit texts: Vedas 1500-800 BC, Brahmanas 900- 600 BC, Aranyakas
700-500 BC, Upanishads 600-400 BC, Mahabharata 350 BC-50 AD, Ramayana 250
BC-200AD, Puranas AD 200-1500. "Amazing!" says he: "Whether starting in
1500 BC, 1400 BC or 1200 BC, the timelines, suggested for the compilation and
codification of the Vedas, all rest on the now thoroughly falsified and
bankrupt (and rejected) idea of an Aryan invasion of India around 1500
BC". He continues: 'There was no such thing as an Aryan race that spoke
Indo- European languages and authored the Vedas, there was no such event as an
Aryan invasion of India. 'Arya' does not mean a race, it means a noble,
educated and cultured person. So once the hypothesis of the Aryan invasion is
rejected, the structure of the supposed dates of the Vedas and other texts
crumbles like a house of cards.' And then he sums up the view of the Western
approach to the Vedas and Indian civilization: "Almost everything that was ever written
about this literature and civilization before five years ago (i.e., before
1997) is wrong." (See pp. 131, 116, 129)
Max Muller himself in his Gifford Lectures in 1890
had confessed that "no power on earth could ever fix" the date of the
Vedas. Even Mitchiner himself concedes that "the
dating of Sanskrit texts is a notoriously difficult problem" (Quoted Ibid
p. 131)
Contents
S. No. |
Particulars |
Page |
From the Publishers
Desk |
vi |
|
Homage, Thanks and Acknowledgements |
vii |
|
1 |
About the Author |
xix |
2 |
Foreword |
xiv |
3 |
About Dr. Tulsi Ram Sharma's English
translation of the Samaveda |
xvii |
4 |
English Translation of Vedic Hymns: An Opinion |
xviii |
5 |
Message |
xix |
6 |
Message |
xx |
7 |
Appreciation |
xxi |
8 |
Sadbhavana (Good wishes) |
xxii |
9 |
To the Reader |
xxiii |
10 |
Introduction |
xxxi |
11 |
Diacritical Marks of Transliteration |
xl |
12 |
SAMAVEDA: PART-I (Purvarchika) |
|
Agneya Kanda Chapter-1. |
1-51 |
|
Aindra Kanda Chapter-2. |
52-99 |
|
Aindra Kanda Chapter-3 |
100-157 |
|
Aindra Kanda Chapter-4 |
158-211 |
|
Pavamana Kanda Chapter-5 |
212-269 |
|
Aranyaka Kanda Chapter-6 |
270-301 |
|
PART-2 (Uttararchika) |
||
Chapter -1 |
302-330 |
|
Chapter-2 |
331-357 |
|
Chapter-3 |
358-382 |
|
Chapter-4 |
383-408 |
|
Chapter-5 |
409-440 |
|
Chapter-6 |
441-475 |
|
Chapter-7 |
476-513 |
|
Chapter-8 |
514-539 |
|
Chapter-9 |
540-576 |
|
Chapter-10 |
577-617 |
|
Chapter -11 |
618-632 |
|
Chapter -12 |
633-659 |
|
Chapter -13 |
660-685 |
|
Chapter-14 |
686-705 |
|
Chapter-15 |
706-724 |
|
Chapter-16 |
725-745 |
|
Chapter-17 |
746-763 |
|
Chapter-18 |
764-787 |
|
Chapter-19 |
788-813 |
|
Chapter-20 |
814-853 |
|
Chapter -21 |
854-867 |
About the Book
Veda is Shabda Brahma, Divine Knowledge in metalanguage. The very word 'Veda' means knowledge. It is
derived from the root 'vid', which means: 'to be, to
know, to think, and to benefit from'.
So whatever is is Veda:
the very world of existence is Veda.
The knowledge of the world of existence is Veda. The
extension of knowledge through thought and research further is Veda. And to use
that knowledge for the benefit of mankind with the protection and preservation
of nature and the environment, without hurting any form of life, that is Veda.
Vedic knowledge is classified thematically into
three: Jnana (knowledge), Karma (action) and Upasana
(prayer). Formally, Vedic knowledge is divided into four:
Rgveda is the Veda of Knowledge,
Yajurveda is the Veda of Karma, Samaveda is the Veda of Bhakti, and Atharva-veda is Brahma Veda, an umbrella code, celebrating
the all comprehensive Divine Presence as in Book 10, hymns 7 and 8.
Vedas are the essence of life, and Samaveda is the
essence of the Vedas, says Chhandogyopanishad, 1, 1,
1-2:
Samaveda is a symphony of mantric
songs of prayer sung by the seers of all time Truth in a state of Ananda. It
consists of 1875 mantras which, except for about 100, are common with the
celebrative mantras of Rgveda. In some mantras there
are minor variations from the Rks, turning
descriptive celebrations into prayerful songs of meditative ecstasy.
The theme of Samaveda is, predominantly, musical
celebration of three attributes of the Godhead, Parama
Brahma: Agni, Indra and Soma. Here and there, there
are other themes too, but they are rare rather than frequent: Indragni, Mitra- Varuna, Usha, Ashvins, Maruts, Aditya, Vishvedeva, Surya
as Atma, Sarasvati, Savita,
Brahmanaspati, Vishnu, Brhaspati,
and Vishvakarma.
However, these themes do not mean different deities, they are reflections of the existential
manifestation of the same One Brahma, immanent as well as transcendent. The
celebration of Agni, Indra and Soma is celebration of
the One Supreme Divinity, the original, ultimate and eternal Unity of existence
reflecting in infinite variety, Aum.
About the
Author
Dr. Tulsi
Ram Sharma M.A., English (Delhi, 1949), Ph.D. (London, 1963) has been a university
professor, academic administrator, researcher, and writer of long standing with
prestigious assignments.
Besides his professional studies of secular
literature in English, Hindi, Sanskrit and Urdu, Dr. Tulsi
Ram Sharma has devoted his life and time to the study and discipline of Sacred
literature specially Vedas, Upanishads, Darshan
Philosophy, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata with concentration on the Bhagwad Gita, Greek, Roman, Sumerian and English Epics, Gathas of Zarathustra, Bible, Quran, and the writings of
Swami Dayananda, and Swami Vivekananda, in search of
the essential values of Sanatan Vedic Dharma with
reference to their realisation in life and literature through social attitudes,
collective action, customs, traditions, rituals and religious variations across
the fluctuations of history.
Foreword
Veda Bhashya by Prof. Tulsiram
- A step to make Vedas available to the English World
I have had the privilege of going through some of
the chapters of Yajurveda Bhashya written by Prof. Tulsiram,
a well known Vedic scholar and author of English language and literature. I
congratulate him because he has done this translation for an average English
reader who is keen to know the Vedas. Knowledge of the Vedas is like the
knowledge of science. Vedic language is a scientific language and nobody can
understand that without the profound knowledge of Vedangas,
especially Nirukta of Maharshi Yaska
and the grammar of Panini and Patanjali. Nobody can interpret the Veda mantras
without these two. This translation proves that Prof. Tulsiram
has done this insightful translation after doing hard work in both Vedangas.
In translating the Vedas, only literal meaning is
just not sufficient, sometimes it may create confusion and contradiction. Prof.
Tulsiram deeply merges himself into Vedic Mantras,
thinking deeply about words, derivatives and analyzes the hidden nuances of
meaning in their context. For example, 'Sumitriya na aapa oshadhayah
santu .
Yajur.
36, 23': If we take literal meaning in the ordinary sense, "may the
waters, vital forces of life, and herbs be friendly to us and may they be
enemies to those who hate us and whom we hate", it will not make
acceptable sense. After raising some questions, he says, "How can we accept
this?" So, after going deeply into the words and context he gives this
meaning of the said mantra: May waters,
tonics, pranic energies and medicinal herbs be good
friends of our health system and immunity and let the same waters, tonics, pranic energies herbal medicines act against those
ailments, diseases and negativities which injure us, which we hate to suffer and which we love
to destroy, moreover let them have no side effects because side effects too
help the negativities and injure us.
After giving the actual sense of the Mantra he
writes that this Mantra is a reasonable prayer for the health programme of an
advanced society, and then, logically in the next Mantra, follows the prayer
for a full hundred years and more of life and healthy living (Tacchakshurdevahitam purastat-Yajur.36,24).
The translation by Prof. Tulsiram
is without any extraneous motive and without any extra-academic intention. The
translation has been done purely as communication of the Vedic message for the
welfare of mankind.
While giving his opinion on the Vedas Prof. Tulsiram writes in his Introduction. Veda is the Voice of
God revealed in scientific Vedic Sanskrit free from local color and historical
facts, therefore Vedic language is to be interpreted and understood according
to its own laws and structure, and the only key available for such
interpretation is the Nirukta of Maharshi Yaska and the grammar of Panini & Patanjali. According to
Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati, 'without reference to
these bases of Vedic interpretation certain words have been given a distorted
meaning in the translations of Max Muller, Griffith, Whitney and even Sayana.'
Actually the torch light for proper translation today, as Aurobindo says, is
the Arsha tradition followed by Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati.
At the end I will say that this translation of
Yajurveda, based on Nirukta and Grammar, follows the
known ancient Indian tradition. It is factual, without prejudice or hidden
motive. Prof. Tulsiram thinks deeply on every word of
the mantra, looks into the context and etymology according to Nirukta and then does the translation. I congratulate him
on this one more pioneering step to make the knowledge of Vedas available to
the western world and the average English knowing reader. May God give him long
and healthy life so that he continues to do this kind of stupendous work.
Introduction
This translation of Samaveda is meant for an average
English knowing reader who is keen to know:
What is Veda? What is it all about? Is it old or
new?
If it's old, what is its relevance today? And if it
is relevant, is it relevant to me also? Or is it relevant only to some
particular community in some particular country at some particular time?
These are relevant questions especially in an age of
science, democracy and globalism.
Veda is Divine Knowledge in metalanguage.
The very word 'Veda' means knowledge. It is derived from the root 'vid', which means: 'to be, to know, to think, to benefit
from' and 'to communicate' .
So whatever is is Veda:
the very world of existence is Veda. The knowledge of the world of existence is
Veda. The extension of knowledge through thought and research further is Veda.
And to use that knowledge for the benefit of mankind with the protection and
preservation of nature and the environment, without hurting any form of life,
that is Veda.
Veda is knowledge, pure and simple, as science is
knowledge. Science is knowledge of nature as nature is and as it works
according to its own laws. In science, there is no story, no history. Similarly
in the Veda, there is no story, no history. And just as science is knowledge in
scientific language free from local colour and historical variations of form
and meaning, so Veda too is knowledge in scientific language free from local
colour and historical variations. Therefore Vedic language has to be
interpreted and understood according to the laws and technique of its own
structure as stated by seers such as Yaska, Panini
and Patanjali and as explained by Swami Dayananda in
his grammatical works and his notes on Vedic words in his commentary on the
Vedas.
But there is a difference between scientific
knowledge and Vedic knowledge: While science is knowledge of nature to the
extent that man has been able to discover it, Veda is the quintessential
knowledge of all that is, including Nature and humanity, all that happens, all
that we are, all that we do, and all that we reap in consequence of our action.
It is the Original and Universal knowledge of the Reality of Existence and the Ideality of our aspirations, covering the facts and
processes of existence, their interaction and the laws that operate in the
interaction. In short, Veda is an eternal articulation of Omniscience, The
Voice of God.
Vedic knowledge is classified thematically into
three: Stuti, Prarthana and
Upasana. Stuti, praise, is
solemn reverential remembrance and description of the attributes, nature,
character and function of divine powers. Prarthana,
prayer, is an autosuggestive resolution to realise
our limitations and rise above those limitations by calling on Divinity for aid
and blessings when we have exhausted our effort and potential. Upasana is meditation, the surrender of our limited
identity to open out and participate in the Divine Presence. Stuti implies knowledge (Janana),
Prarthana implies humility and action (Karma), and Upasana implies total love and surrender (Bhakti). In
consequence, formally, Vedic knowledge is divided into four:
Rgveda is the Veda of Knowledge,
Yajurveda is the Veda of Karma, Samaveda is the Veda of Bhakti, and Atharva-veda is Brahma Veda, an umbrella, celebrating the
Divine Presence as in Book 10, hymns 7 and 8.
Yajurveda is Karma Veda, knowledge of the
application of knowledge in practical living in a positive, creative and
constructive manner at both the individual and the collective leveL This way of living and working is "Yajna" which, in simple words, means a selfless and
participative way of living and thereby creating the maximum out of the minimum
for all, including nature, humanity, the environment and the whole universe,
with complete faith in the living, breathing, organismic,
intelligent, self-organising, self-conscious, Sovereign System. Living the yajnic way, we realise that Nature is an organism, a tree, Ashwattha, and the entire cosmos including ourselves is a Purusha, and we as human beings are but cells in this
Divine Purusha. Without living
this. way in a state of full awareness, we
cannot realise that you and I, Mother Nature and the Supreme Brahma are all
together, one in union and communion.
Vedic knowledge then is the Divine knowledge of life
in existence from the dimensionless point and particle unto Infinity. And
prayerful living and communion in meditation and yoga means: Self-integration
of the particle, Re-integration of the part with the whole, and Re-union of the
finite with the Infinite.
Vedas are the essence of life, and Samaveda is the
essence of the Vedas, says Chhandogyopanishad, 1, 1,
1-2:
"Of all these elements (Akasha,
Vayu, Agni, Apah, and Prthivi) the earth is the
essence. The essence of Earth is waters. The essence of waters is oshadhis, herbs. The essence of oshadhis
is Purusha, the human being. The essence of humans is
Yak, speech. The essence of Vak is Rk. Rgveda. The essence of Rks is Sama. The essence of Sama is Udgitha, the cosmic
resonance of Aum. That Aum,
chant, sing and worship in meditation."
Lord Krishna, divine persona of the Gita, also says:
Of the Vedas, I am Sama (10, 22).
Samaveda is a symphony of mantric
songs sung by the seers of all time in a state of Ananda. It consists of 1875
mantras which, except for about 100, are common with the celebrative mantras of
Rgveda. In some mantras there are minor variations
from the Rks, turning descriptive celebrations into
prayerful songs of meditative ecstasy.
Samaveda is codified in two parts: the first is Purvarchika, the former phase of celebration (1-640
mantras), and the second is Uttararchika, the latter
phase (651-1875 mantras), with an intermediary phase titled Mahanamnyarchika
of ten mantras (641- 650).
The Purvarchika consists
of four sections:
Agneya Kanda (Chapter 1: mantras
1-114)
Aindra Kanda (Chapters 2-4:
mantras 115-466)
Pavamana Soma Kanda (Chapter 5:
mantras 467-585)
Aranyaka Kanda (Chapter 6; mantras
586-640)
Intermediary Mahanamnyarchika
(mantras 641-650)
The Uttararchika consists
of twenty one chapters (mantras 651-1875).
The theme of Samaveda is, predominantly, musical
celebration of three attributes of the Godhead, Parama
Brahma:
Agni, Indra
and Soma.
Here and there, there are other themes too, but they are rare rather than
frequent: Indragni, Mitra- Varuna, Usha, Ashvins, Maruts, Aditya, Vishvedeva, Surya as Atma, Sarasvati, Savita, Brahmanaspati, Vishnu, Brhaspati, and Vishvakarma.
However, these themes do not mean different deities, they are reflections of the existential
manifestation of the same One Brahma, immanent as well as transcendent. God is
One, says Rgveda (1, 164, 46), holy sages speak of It in many different ways by different names such as Agni, Indra, Mitra, Varuna
and many more. Atharva-veda, in fact, has almost the
last word: God is one, only one, neither two nor three nor four, nor five, nor
six, nor seven, nor eight, nor nine, nor ten (13, 4,12
and 16-18). The celebration of Agni, Indra and Soma
is celebration of the One Supreme Divinity, the original, ultimate and eternal
Unity of existence reflecting in infinite variety, Aum.
Aum: this alone is the
imperishable Divine, the Word. This all is the expansive creative evolution of That, the living articulation of That, the Veda, the Sama. That is the Seed (Gita, 7, 10), that is the womb, Hiranyagarbha (Rgveda 1, 121, 1),
That is the Tree of Existence (Rgveda 1, 164, 20),
the Ashvattha (Kathopanishad
2,3, 1) which grows on and on from the root to the
expansive filaments (Gita, 15, 1-2), the germination as well as the termination
of a life cycle in Eternity. That is the Purusha,
self-conscious, self-articulative, self-generative,
self-progressive, self-recessive, Cosmic Personality (Rgveda 10, 90, 1-16). That same is Agni, Indra, Soma and others of Samaveda. Sama
celebrates That in music in a state of Ananda.
All the 1875 mantras of Samaveda, each mantra being
like a note of a Raga, make up the symphony of the divine Rks
of the Sama, the Song Celestial of the variety,
stability, unity, peace and bliss of life for the yearning soul:
The celebration of Agni is the celebration of the
divine warmth of life, of the light of the world and of the love and passion
for living. Indra is the power of life, the power of
the world and the love and passion for the rectitude of living. Soma is the
poetry, beauty and pleasure of life, the sweetness and joy of the world and the
bliss and beatitude of the soul's experience in its reunion with Divinity in
Samadhi.
Who then is the poet of the Vedas? The answer is in
Yajurveda 40, 8: That Cosmic Spirit which pervades and rules every moving
particle in the moving universe is "the poet, thinker, all-comprehending,
and self-existent". That is the Lord who creates the world of existence,
ordains the Laws of its dynamics, and reveals the poetry of its beauty and
majesty, the Vedas. "From that Lord of universal yajna
were born the Rks and Samans.
From Him were born the Chhandas of Atharva-veda and from Him were born the Yajus",
(Yajurveda 31, 7). The Vedic lore comes in Pura- kalpa, the beginning of the world of humanity (Shvetashvataropanishad, 6, 22) and when its function is
over at the end of the kalpa, one cycle of existence,
it retires into Brahma- loka (Atharva-veda
19, 71, 1).
The Vedas were revealed by the Lord Omniscient to
four primeval Rshis: Rgveda
to Agni, Yajurveda to Vayu, Samaveda to Aditya, and Atharva-veda
to Angira, directly in their spiritual consciousness.
The Sage Brahma received and collected the four from them and passed them on to
other sages.
When were the Vedas revealed? What is their age? How
old are they? As old as the age of humanity on earth.
The Lord who creates humanity leaves them not to nature like animals. He
enlightens them with the knowledge of existence and their place in the world
with the vision of their journey and its culmination. Swami Dayananda
works out the age of the Vedas on the basis of Surya Siddhanta
which in the year 2010 A.D. comes to 1,96,08,53,110 years.
If someone does not accept it and insists on
historical proof, let us listen to Max Muller from whom we learn of the problem
of the date or dates but with no possibility of solution on scientific and
historical grounds.
Max Muller is known as a world renowned Vedic
scholar and exegesist of the West. Max Muller once
ventured to pronounce a purely arbitrary date based on unproven assumptions
that around 1200 B.C. was the date of the Rgveda.
Later, he himself warned his students that "Whether the Vedic Hymns were
composed in 1000 or 1500 or 2000 B.C., no power on earth could ever fix . Whatever may be the date of the Vedic hymns . they have their own unique
place and stand by themselves". Such daring presumptions of western
scholars about the date of the Vedas are exposed by Graham Hancock in his
latest researches, in his explosive book: Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization (2002).
Hancock first gives the range of dates accepted by
Western scholars such as Max Muller and Dr. Mitchiner,
a great authority on ancient Sanskrit texts: Vedas 1500-800 BC, Brahmanas 900- 600 BC, Aranyakas
700-500 BC, Upanishads 600-400 BC, Mahabharata 350 BC-50 AD, Ramayana 250
BC-200AD, Puranas AD 200-1500. "Amazing!" says he: "Whether starting in
1500 BC, 1400 BC or 1200 BC, the timelines, suggested for the compilation and
codification of the Vedas, all rest on the now thoroughly falsified and
bankrupt (and rejected) idea of an Aryan invasion of India around 1500
BC". He continues: 'There was no such thing as an Aryan race that spoke
Indo- European languages and authored the Vedas, there was no such event as an
Aryan invasion of India. 'Arya' does not mean a race, it means a noble,
educated and cultured person. So once the hypothesis of the Aryan invasion is
rejected, the structure of the supposed dates of the Vedas and other texts
crumbles like a house of cards.' And then he sums up the view of the Western
approach to the Vedas and Indian civilization: "Almost everything that was ever written
about this literature and civilization before five years ago (i.e., before
1997) is wrong." (See pp. 131, 116, 129)
Max Muller himself in his Gifford Lectures in 1890
had confessed that "no power on earth could ever fix" the date of the
Vedas. Even Mitchiner himself concedes that "the
dating of Sanskrit texts is a notoriously difficult problem" (Quoted Ibid
p. 131)
Contents
S. No. |
Particulars |
Page |
From the Publishers
Desk |
vi |
|
Homage, Thanks and Acknowledgements |
vii |
|
1 |
About the Author |
xix |
2 |
Foreword |
xiv |
3 |
About Dr. Tulsi Ram Sharma's English
translation of the Samaveda |
xvii |
4 |
English Translation of Vedic Hymns: An Opinion |
xviii |
5 |
Message |
xix |
6 |
Message |
xx |
7 |
Appreciation |
xxi |
8 |
Sadbhavana (Good wishes) |
xxii |
9 |
To the Reader |
xxiii |
10 |
Introduction |
xxxi |
11 |
Diacritical Marks of Transliteration |
xl |
12 |
SAMAVEDA: PART-I (Purvarchika) |
|
Agneya Kanda Chapter-1. |
1-51 |
|
Aindra Kanda Chapter-2. |
52-99 |
|
Aindra Kanda Chapter-3 |
100-157 |
|
Aindra Kanda Chapter-4 |
158-211 |
|
Pavamana Kanda Chapter-5 |
212-269 |
|
Aranyaka Kanda Chapter-6 |
270-301 |
|
PART-2 (Uttararchika) |
||
Chapter -1 |
302-330 |
|
Chapter-2 |
331-357 |
|
Chapter-3 |
358-382 |
|
Chapter-4 |
383-408 |
|
Chapter-5 |
409-440 |
|
Chapter-6 |
441-475 |
|
Chapter-7 |
476-513 |
|
Chapter-8 |
514-539 |
|
Chapter-9 |
540-576 |
|
Chapter-10 |
577-617 |
|
Chapter -11 |
618-632 |
|
Chapter -12 |
633-659 |
|
Chapter -13 |
660-685 |
|
Chapter-14 |
686-705 |
|
Chapter-15 |
706-724 |
|
Chapter-16 |
725-745 |
|
Chapter-17 |
746-763 |
|
Chapter-18 |
764-787 |
|
Chapter-19 |
788-813 |
|
Chapter-20 |
814-853 |
|
Chapter -21 |
854-867 |