Sama

Created by Jijith Nadumuri at 20 Oct 2011 08:56 and updated at 20 Oct 2011 08:56

UPANISHAD NOUN

Taittariya 1.5.1,2: Bhuh, Bhuvah, Suvah these three, indeed, are the Vyahritis. Of them Mahacamasya knew a fourth one Maha by name. It is Brahman; it is the Self. The other gods are the limbs. Bhuh, indeed, is this world. Bhuvah is the intermediate space. Suvah is the other world. Maha is the Sun; through the Sun, indeed, do all the worlds flourish. Bhuh, indeed is the fire. Bhuvah is the air. Suvah is the Sun. Maha is the Moon; through the Moon, indeed, all the luminaries flourish. Bhuh, indeed, is the Rig Veda. Bhuvah is the Sama Veda. Suvah is the Yajur Veda.
Taittariya Of the preceding (physical) one, this one, indeed, is the embodied self. As compared with this vital body, there is another internal self constituted by mind. By that one is this one filled up. That self constituted by mind is also of a human shape. The human shape of the mental body takes after the human shape of the vital body. Of the mental body, the Yajur mantras are the head. The Rig mantras are the right side, the Sama mantras are the left side, the Brahmana portion is the self (trunk), the mantras seen by Atharvangiras are the stabilising tail. Pertaining to this there is a verse:
Taittariya 3.10.5,6: He who knows thus, attains, after desisting from this world, this self made of food. After attaining this self made of food then, attaining this self made of vital force, then attaining this self made of mind, then attaining this self made of intelligence, then attaining this self made of bliss, and roaming over these worlds with command over food at will and command over all forms at will, he continues singing this Sama song: Halloo Halloo Halloo I am the food, I am the food, I am the food; I am the eater, I am the eater, I am the eater; I am the unifier, I am the unifier, I am the unifier; I am Hiranyagarbha() the first born of this world consisting of the formed and the formless, I (as Virat) am earlier than the gods. I am the navel of immortality. He who offers me thus (as food), protect me just as I am. I, food as I am, eat him up who eats food without offering. I defeat (i.e. engulf) the entire universe. Our effulgence is like that of the Sun. This is the Upanishad.
Prashna 5.5: Again, any one who meditates on the supreme Purusha with the help of this very syllable Aum, as possessed of three letters, becomes unified in the Sun, consisting of light. As a snake becomes freed from its Slough, exactly in a similar way, he becomes freed from sin, and he is lifted up to the world of Brahma Hiranyagarbha() by the Sama mantras. From this total mass of creatures (that Hiranyagarbha is) he sees the supreme Purusha that penetrates every being and is higher than the higher One (viz. Hiranyagarbha). Bearing on this, there occur two verses:
Prashna 5.7: The intelligent know this world that is attainable by the Rik mantras, the intermediate space achievable by the Yajur mantras, and that which is reached by the Sama mantras. The enlightened man attains that (threefold) world through Aum alone; and through Aum as an aid, he reaches that also which is the supreme Reality that is quiet and beyond old age, death and fear.
Mundaka 1.1.5: Of these, the lower comprises the Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda, the science of pronunciation etc., the code of rituals, grammar, etymology, metre and astrology. Then there is the higher (knowledge) by which is attained that Imperishable.
Mundaka 2.1.6: From Him (emerge) the Rik, Sama and Yajur mantras, initiation, all the sacrifices whether with or without the sacrificial stake offerings to Brahmanas, the year, the sacrificer, and the worlds where the Moon sacrifices (all) and where the Sun (shines).

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