Samhitopaniṣad Brāhmaṇa
By Swami Harshananda
Significance of Samhitopaniṣad Brāhmaṇa[edit]
Samhitopaniṣad Brāhmaṇa is one of the Brāhmaṇas of the Sāmaveda available now. It is said to have the characteristics of a Samhitā, a Brāhmaṇa and an Upaniṣad. Hence it is named so. It has five khaṇḍas or sections. The following are the brief contents:
First Khanda[edit]
This contains an exposition of three kinds of sāmagāna as:
Second Khanda[edit]
In this section a number of technical terms like:
- Krsaria - prolonging a syllable in a chant by inserting more tones
- Stobha - musical interjections like hā u, hāi, hum
- Characteristics of a yajamāna[1] and the udgātṛ[2]
Third Khanda[edit]
Uhas to be sung in sacrifices are described here. It is also stressed that the sāmans are to be taught only to worthy candidates. Six rules concerning the teaching of the sāmans are also described.
Fourth and Fifth Khandas[edit]
The subjects discussed here includes the greatness of the guru[3] and the qualifications of a disciple, guru-dakṣiṇā or the fees to be paid to the teacher and how a mantra becomes a sāman.
Commentaries[edit]
Two commentaries available on this work are:
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore