Prachi Prajna (Jun 2021)
SĀMAVEDA: ROOT OF INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC
Abstract
Indic classical music has an unbroken tradition and an accumulated heritage of centuries that has been traced back to the Vedic Sanskrit period. Pupils and maestros of Indic classical music recognize Sāmaveda to be the source of music. Both the well-organized classical music and the classical dance traditions consider Sāmaveda to be root of their melodies and rhythms. The Sāmaveda is organized into two formats. One part is based on the musical meter, another by the aim of the rituals. Sāmaveda is linked to music through Yajña. The Yajña-s were at the very heart of the vedic way of living. The Sāmaveda Saṁhitā has two segments. The first segment is called Sāmayoni (Adhara) mantra Saṁhitā, meaning that it is the basic text. Throughout, Sāmaveda is arranged in two streams of classification. The two often interrelate. One is Ārcika - the way in which Sāma-veda text is structured and the way its Ṛks are grouped. The other is Gana, the musical aspect which details the manner of singing the Sāma Ṛks. As regards the singing (gāna) of the Ṛks included under the second Ārcika, it basically consisted two kinds of songs: Ūha-gāna (numbering 936) sung during the Soma Yajña and Ūhya- gāna (numbering 209) singing within oneself. The Sāmaveda Saṃhitā came to be compiled, essentially, for the use and guidance of Udgāthru -s . They were usually a group of three singers. Vedabhāṣyakāra Sāyaṇa and Nārada have called the seven vowels of Sāma-veda as first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. When these seven vowels were applied to Indian music, they became the modern conventional naming of the seven vowels from Ṣaḋaj to Niṣāda. From the above discussion it is evident that the seven tones of Mārgasaṅgita were born from the seven tones of Vedic and Sāma-gāna. Music experts like Swami Prajñānananda and Ramasvamī Ayyar have acknowledged the Vedic nature of Mārgasaṅgita and Sāma-veda as the source of Mārgasaṅgita.
