Guest guest Posted March 11, 2001 Report Share Posted March 11, 2001 Dear BhakthAs: Swamy NammAzhwAr's(SN's) ThiruvAimozhi (TVM) is closely linked to Saama Vedam . Some describe it as the essence of Saama Vedam in general and the ChAndhOgya Upanishad (affiliated with Saama Vedam )in particular. One of the Taniyans for ThiruvAimozhi salutes the connection of Saama Vedam and its thousand Saakhais (branches/rescensions)to the Thousand plus paasurams of TVM: BhakthAmrutham Visva janAnumOdhanam SarvArthatham SRISATAKOPA VAANGMAYAM SAHASARA SAAKOPANISHAD SAMAAGAMAM NamAmyaham DhrAvida Veda Saagaram Bhagavaan identified Himself as Saama vedam among the four Vedams . If our Lord were to take a stand among Tamizh Marais , it is fair to anticipate that He would say that among Dhivya prabhandhams , He is ThiruvAimozhi . It would be no surprise since the subject matter of TVM at the highest level is Bhagavath PrApthi through SaraNAgathi upAyam revealed to us by Lord ParthasArathy on the battle field of KurukshEthram through His charama SlOkam . ThiruvAimozhi is recognized in our sampradhAyam as the Dheerga-SaraNAgathi arising out of the elaboration of the sacred Dhvaya manthram. Like Saama Vedam , ThiruvAimozhi is revelational knowledge . It sings about the glorious attributes of the Lord . It has been described as " an experience of the vision of God; it is not a discourse but an experience of God in a direct manner , unmediated by the senses , a spiritual intuition comparable to revelational knowledge" in Tamil language( Tamizh MaRai). In this posting , adiyen would provide an introduction to Saama Vedam .The links of TVM to Saama Vedam will be elaborated in the subsequent postings. Saama Vedam ************ (1) Saama vedam has 1875 manthrAs/Saamans in the form of verses. (2) It has four sections: PoorvArchicka (1-585), AaraNya (586-640) , MahAnAmni Archika (641-650), UttarArchika (651-1875). (3) Out of the 1875 verses of Saama Vedam , 1776 verses are Rg veda manthrams set to music ; Thus, only 99 verses do not belong to Rg Vedam. Among the 99 , eleven have been adopted from Atharva vedam and Four are from Yajur Vedam. Some 70 to 80 verses belong uniquely to Saama vedam. (4) The relationship of Saama Vedam to the other three VedAs is understood this way : Rg Vedam stands for Jn~Ana ( fundamental & TRUE knowledge);Yajur Vedam denotes karma or applied knowledge(phalan);Saama Vedam stands for UpAsanA(Glorification of the Supreme Lord addressed particularly as Indra and Agni);Atharva Vedam denotes Vij~nana (Perfection and conservation). (5) Out of the 1001 SaakhAs that existed before , we have today only three available to us : KouTuma , RaaNayaneeya and Jaimineeya.KouTama recension is prevalent in Gujerat;Jaimineeya in Southern India (Karnatic parts and Tamil Naadu);RaaNayaneeya in MahArAshtrA. (6) There are 11 BrahmaNAs dealing with rituals and Soma/Saama Yaj~nams that are associated with Saama vedam . (7) Just as Aapasthambha Soothram is the Sroutha Soothram of KrishNa Yajur Vedam ,Saama vedam has for its Soothram , LaaDyAyana Sroutha Soothram.It sets down the priestly duties of Udhgathrus performing SomA Yaj~nams. (8) Among the saptha svarAs , "Saa" is the " super-most" note of Saama vedam. This is recognized as the life principle of DevAs .In the present classification of Indian music Shadja , Rishabha , GhAndhAra , madhyama , Panchama , dhaivatha and NishAdham SvarAs (notes, Tones) are used. In the Saama vedam , Madhyama Svaram ( the Svaram of Flute or VeeNA )becomes the first Svaram and is followed by Ghaandharva, Rshabha , Shadja ,Dhavatha, NishAdha abnd Panchama svarams. (8) In Saaman recital ,every letter , every SvarA has to be fully pronounced. As the manthrAs are set into music , the words are some what modified and undergo " VikArams" defined by Pushpa Soothram . These VikArams are 18 in number and are called "BhAvAs". (8) The Four Types of Saaman Chanting are: (a)vEya or GrAma gEya that is chanted in public (b)AaraNya or chanted in forests and in solitude © Uha and (d) Uhya or Mystic chanting. (9) In poorvaarchikA Samans ,the two song manuals are graama gEya ghAna (Congregational) and the AaraNya ghana ( sung by recluses and Moksham seekers in the privacy of forests).UttarArchikA Saamans have two song manuals , the Uha ghAnam and the Uhya GhAnam. Source texts like Naaradi SikshA and Raaga VibhOdha provide details on the singing of these four song manuals. (9) The different types of instruments used in Saama Vedic chanting are VeeNA , vENu , Mrudhangam and some special types of Drums(Dundhubi et al).Vedic Music is Saama Gaanam. (10) Achaarya Natha Muni taught his two disciples the TaaLam and singing of the Dhivya Prabhandham (Tamizh MaRai) in the above manner. Swamy Desikan celebrates the great help of AchArya Nathamuni this way: " Kaalam valampuri anna naRRkkAthal adiyavarkku TaaLam Vazhangi Tamizh MaRai innisai tantha VaLLal MooLum Tava neRi mootiya Naathamuni KazhalE naLum thozhuthezhuvOm namakkAr nihar naanilatthE" --AdhikAra Sangraham: Paasuram 6. In the next postings , we will cover ThiruvAimozhi of Swamy NammazhwAr. Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam , Daasan, V.SatakOpan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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