The unlimited expansion of the Universe and the ever-evolving Nature are described in the Indian scriptures as the expressions of thy will. The omnipresent reflections of thee could be felt only through the deeper depths of the inner self. We, like the other beings are expressions of the infinite impulse of eternal consciousness but recognize our existence as individual self in a closed domain of our own intrinsic, inherent and self-created sentiments.

The energy waves of a magnetic or electrical force always complete their ‘circuits’ in the respective energy-fields. The same is true of the subliminal currents of emotions and sentiments. The nature and the strength of what we receive from the people around – as their reactions, support or emotional intimacy towards us, or from the omnipresent realms of the Supreme Consciousness – in the form of afflatus, inspirations or intrinsic urge…, depends upon what we transmit in the subtle domains of sentiments. The great risis had understood this sublime science of emotions through depths and had also attained the spiritual power to induce refinement of the subtle world of consciousness and sentiments. Their collective endeavors are said to have educed pious sentiments in all the beings and thus enabled the descent of a divine era in the Vedic Age.

Some distinguished psychologists of the modern times have focussed their research on the latent effects of emotions. The series of experiments conducted by Dr.Laurence D.Wallace are notable in this context. Different samples of people suffering from depression, tension or anxiety were selected in some of these experiments. The subjects were trained to feel that they are living in an emotionally energized field of peace and happiness, which is penetrating their minds to induce similar effects.... The subjects, due to their accumulated negative sentiments of jealous, ego, impatience etc., found it difficult initially to concentrate on positive thoughts and feelings… However, by receiving the adept guidance and support from the Doctor, they began to enjoy the experiments after a few sittings. Almost all of the subjects (in the random samples of sizes around fifty each) responded positively at the end. Their attitude and feelings towards themselves and the circumstances of life had improved significantly within an year. They began to enjoy the nectar of the same life, which, they once wanted to be relieved of....

This sequence of successful experiments was extended in a new direction when Dr.Wallace organized a series of ‘goodwill meetings’ of a group of people, who possessed strong willpower and inner urge for altruist service and welfare of all. These special experiments were organized in different parts of the state. During each experiment, all the members of the group collectively endeavored to focus their thoughts upon the soothing feeling that their serene sentiments of love and peace are spreading in the surroundings and purifying the ambience. Surprisingly, the systematic and statistically justified surveys conducted in the corresponding localities showed that such experiments did result in influencing the surrounding areas in terms of reduction in the rates of crimes and suicides.

The above kinds of experiments may appear to be crude in terms of through scientific standards and may stand as naive and negligible vis-à-vis the spiritual experiments conducted by the risis. Nevertheless, they mark a good beginning and generate the hope that the use of the natural power of emotions would be studied more rigorously and applied for the betterment of life in the years to come. The positive role of music would be inevitable in this regard because of the natural intimacy of music and emotions.

The three streams of expression of the esoteric knowledge encoded in the Vedas are termed as Veda Trayi. The contents are divided into four Vedas that are classified according to the type of mantras. Broadly speaking, the Riga Veda consists of the mantras of the hidden knowledge and prayers of –– the eternal powers of thee and the genesis and expansion of divine virtues. The Yajura Veda consists of the mantras of the philosophy, science and the methods of performing yagnaas. The Saama Veda is a collection of the mantras containing the secrets of swaras, music and the chanting patterns for all the vaidika hymns. The Atharva Veda presents the mantras of the ultimate spiritual knowledge of the Supreme – the Brahm Jnaana. The

Veda Trayi classification according to the possible modes of expressions of mantras is found to be more suitable for describing the associated Saadhana practices in the vedic science of spirituality. Of these, the stream of knowledge pertaining to the rhythmic enunciation and chanting of the specific collections of mantras in the Saama Veda is of predominant significance for the human society, as it directly deals with the science of emotions, which hold the essence of life.

The ancient Grammarian and founder of the science and philosophy of yoga, Maharshi Patanjali mentions of thousand branches of the schools on Saama Veda, as he refers to ‘Sahastra Vartmaa Saama Vedah’; several scholars of the later ages also affirm thia. The names of all the thousand branches are not available in any of the Puraanas or other shastrika scriptures available today, and, some critics even interpret the word ‘Vartmaa’ above to simply indicate different musical patterns of Sama Gaayan (collective chanting). Still, while considering the potential of numerous creations – in terms of the musical aspects of Sabda and Naada – in Saama the existence of over thousand varieties of the Saama Samhitaa appears to be quite logical.

It is unfortunate that most of the ancient branches of Sama Veda are no longer seen. As per the available versions of Prapamca Hradaya,Divyaavadaana, Caranvyuha and Jaimini Grahya Sutra....., etc, only thirteen schools of Saama Veda seem to have been active in the present era. The names of the corresponding Aacaaryas are remembered at the time of performing the ritual of Saamatarpana. The schools of only three of these thirteen Aacaaryas have been found to be having disciples in the recent past. Brief introduction of these three branches is given below.

It is interesting to note that – although the names, Praacya (meaning, eastern) and Udeecya (meaning, northern), of the most ancient branches correspond to the geographical locations of the places of their origin, no school on Saama Veda is now in existence in the eastern or northern parts of India. Whereas, some scholarly activities on the available schools on Saama Veda are still alive in the Western and Southern states. Noted among these are – the Kauthuma School, Raanaayaneeya school and Jaimineeya School.

Study of the ancient scriptures like the Puraanas, and the Brahmanas show that the original number of the mantras and the saama gaanas in the Saama Veda was very much larger than those available in the Samhitaas of the schools of the modern era. For instance, the Satapath Brahmana  mentions of four thousand  brahati mantras – ‘Athetarau Vedom Vyohata | Dwaadasaiva Brahati SahastaanI Astau YajusaaCatwari Saamnaam ||’ (Brah – 10|4|2|23); meaning: 4000 X 36 (= 1,44,000) of the Saama mantras. The number of original saamas (rhythmic hymns) is mentioned to be around 8000 and those of the Saama Gaanas as 14820. As, most of the authentic scriptures cite the same numbers, they appear to be true indicators of the vast expansion of the Saama Veda.

Schemes of Saama Gaana:

As described earlier, the mantras in the Saama Yoni were used by the risis to design the mantras for musical japa and collective chanting. There are four major categories of the singing pattern here viz., (i) graama gaana, also known as prakrati gaana or veya gaana, (ii) aaranyaka gaana, (iii) uha gaana and the (iv) Uhya gaana or rahasya gaana. The mantras in the first five chapters of Poorvarcika are chanted under the different styles of veya gaana. The aaranyaka gaana is applicable for the mantras cited in the Aranya Parva and the uhaand Uhya gaana are used for the specific mantras in the Uttaraarcika as indicated in the corresponding branch (or version) of the Samhita. The distribution of mantras specified by the two main schools under different categories of gaana these days is as follows:

The origin of the Indian classical music is based on these Saama Gaanas. The significance of the effects of this music and the fact that it is derived from the subtle scientific principles is well recognized today. It is indeed unfortunate that such a great development of yore was so much neglected over the centuries that the analysis of its founder principles now appears to be ‘impossible’ or ‘non-comprehensive’ and ‘beyond reach’. The near total absence of experts, especially those with an in-depth knowledge about the swaras, of Saama Gaanahas worsened the hopes of research in this area. Nevertheless, if a dedicated classical singer, having perfection of voice to the tune of

Moorchana, Aaroha and Avaroha, practises a Saama Gaana with due concentration and devotion, he would feel the divine inspiration and emotional enlightenment even if the exact meanings of the involved mantras are not known to him.

According to the classical system of Naarada there are following classes of swaras of Saama: seven basic swaras, three Graamas, twenty-one Moorchanaas and forty-nine Taanas. The seven swaras of Saama and the Venu (the octave of musical notes) have the following correspondence:
————————————————-—————————--------------
Saama – Swara        Venu
——————————————————————————--------------
Pratham   Madhyam (ma)
Dwiteeya  Gaandhaara (ga)
Trateeya  Rasabha (re)
Chaturtha   Sadja (saa)
Panchama   Nisaada(ni)
Sasthama   Dhaivata (dha)
Saptama   Pamcama (pa)
———————————————————————-——--------------
The serial numbers one to seven (in the script used in the written versions of saama) are placed against various words or segments of words of the mantras to indicate the swaras for the Sama Gaana.

The Saama Yoni mantras are chanted according to a Saama Gaanaafter a little variation in the syllables or words of the mantra. This variation is performed according to the indicated phonetic operations. There are six types of such operations of transformation often applied to the mantras in the Sama Yoni these are as illustrated below:

1. Vikaara: This would ‘deform’ a linguistically correct word or a segment of words for appropriate pronunciation (suitable to a specified chanting pattern for that mantra....). For example, the Sanskrit word ‘agni’ would be pronounced as ‘Augneya’....

2. Vislesana: Decomposition of a single word or a compound word formed by liasions in a mantra with repetition of some parts.... Such as – the Sanskrit word ‘veetaye’ will become ‘viyitoyaa voyitoyaayi'for chanting under this operation.

3. Vikarsana: Prolonged accent of one or more swaras; e.g., ‘yeyaayi’ will be pronounced (or sung) as – ‘Ye Yaa aa aa Yi’. In this example, the vowel “aa” in the center is being pronounced at a frequency one –third of that set for the other vowels in that word.

4. Abhyaasa: Repetition of a word in a mantra....; e.g. read /sing a single word ‘Toyaayi’ as – ‘Toyaayi Toyaayi’…., etc.

5. Viraama: Give pause at some syllables or vowels of a word in a mantra. For example, in the chanting of ‘Granaano Havyadaa Taye’ one might apply a pause at the pronunciation of ‘Ha’ if the Viraama operation is symbolized against this letter.

6. Stobha: Insert specific sounds, like that of “o”, “Hovaa”, “Aauvaa”, ...., etc against certain markers in saama-patterns. Stepwise Division of Saama Gaana:

The exact methods of Sama Gaana are too difficult to be described here. Dedicated long term study and practice is required for grasping even a bit of it. However, for the purpose of general information, we have mentioned a few main points of the relevant subject matter. Continuing along these lines, we find that any scheme of Sama Gaanacan be divided into five successive parts as indicated below:

1. Prastaava: This is the first part of the hymn (ricaa) of a mantra that begins with a Sanskrit syllable “Ha” and is chanted by a Ritvija who is of the rank of a Prastotaa. 2. Udgeeta: This portion (of a mantra’s-ricaa) is sung by the Pradhaana(main) Ritvija. Its chanting begins with an “Oam". 3. Pratihaara

: This is like a portion, which links the next parts (steps) of the ricaa with the previous ones. Specific Ritvija called Pratihartaa, sings it. Sometimes, this part of the mantra is broken into two before chanting. 4. Upadrava: This step is sung by the Udgaataa. 5. Nidhana: This represents the last two steps (parts) of the mantra (or its hymn) or only the self-existent syllable, “Oam”, at the end of the mantra. This is ‘sung’ jointly by the Prastotaa, Pratihartaa and Udgaata.

Illustrative Example: Consider the following mantra (from Saama

Veda -1),

Agna Aayaahi Veetaye Granaano Havyadaataye |Ni Hotaa Satsi Barhirsi ||

The above stated five parts of this mantra (hymn) under a scheme of Sama Gaan would be as shown below.

Prastaava: Hu AugyaaeeUdgeeta: Oam Aayahi Veetaye  Granano HavyadaatayePratihaara: Ni Hotaa Satsi Barhirsi

(This portion is again sung – in the next two steps, after being decomposed into two parts.)

Upadrava: Nihotaa Satsi Barhirsi

Nidhana: barhirsi Oam.

Scriptures on Saama Veda:

The following scriptures, though not all in their original forms, are available (or have been mentioned as references in the available treatises) on the Sama Veda.

The Braahmanas: (1) Taandya Braahmana, which is  also called the Praudha or, because of its twenty-five chapters, the Pamcavisa Braahmana. (2) Samvisa Braahmana. This Braahmana is also regarded as the 26th chapter of the Taandya Braahmana; hence the name. It is also named as Adbhuta Braahmana, or the Anubraahmana. This name is given because large numbers of supernatural stories are compiled here. (3)Saama Vidhaana Braahmana (4) Aarseya Braahmana. (5)Devataadhaaya Braahmana. (6) Upanisada Braahmana ( also known as the Samhitopanisada Braahmana or Mantra Braahmana (7) Vams Braahmana.

The Tandya Braahmana and the Chaandogya Upanishad together constitute the Taandya Mahaabrahmana. The Jaimini school also includes Kenopanisada in it's version of the Upanishad Braahmana.As the Jaiminibranch is also called the Tavalkaara Branch,the Kenopanisada is also refered as the Tavalkaareeya Kenopanisada.The Sootras: (1) Masaka kalpaSootra. (2) Ksudra Sootra. (3) Laat Yaayan Sootra. (4) Gobhileeya Grahya Sootra. (5) The Sootras under the Raanaayaneeya branch - namely,the Draahyaayana Srota Sootra, Khaadir Grahya Sootra and the Pushpa Sootra.

The Sootras of the Saama Veda are also termed as 'Praatisaakhya' andshould, as the name suggests, be studied thoroughly, in order to begin a systematic training and research on the vedic swaras.