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As mentioned earlier, the singing of
the Sāmaveda Verse is not an adhoc improvisation, but follows a
strict procedure. There is a method for producing the text for the
song based on the corresponding Sāma mantra. There are two stages.
In the first stage, a more elaborate scheme is introduced for
marking the text of the mantra, which is some mantra in Rigveda.
For instance, the text of first verse in Sāmaveda is same that of
the verse (6.16.10) of Rigveda. In Rigveda, each syllable is
recited in one of three ways. Svarita [marked with a vertical
line], udātta [horizontal line below letter], anudātta [no sign on
syllable]. Each verse of Sāmaveda is marked with one or two of
seven signs, namely the numerals 1, 2, 3 and the consonants u,
ra, ka, the seventh being the absence of any mark. This
version is called he shell of the Sāma verse or basic Sāma verse
and is displayed on our web site and in printed books. In the second stage, the basic text
is expanded by adding new vowels, modifying some syllables and
adding numerals at various points to denote the time duration of
the singing of those syllables. This version is called as gaņa
found only in books specializing in Sāmaveda singing. The text of
the gaņa or song is displayed elsewhere as a gif file. For
example, the first verse of Sāmaveda (whose text is same as RV
6.16. 10) has three gaņa versions or gaņās named after the rişhi
who 'heard' it or developed it and their names as Gotama's parka,
Kashyap's parka. The rişhi Gautama is a son or descendent of rişhi
Gotama.
Thus from the basic 1875 verses, we
get 2722 gaņās which are sung. The ganās are divided into four
categories, grāmageya (ordinary folk), araņyageya (wood), ūha
(guess or extrapolation), ūhya (secret), the corresponding numbers
being 1197, 294, 1026 and 205. |
