Samaveda's Upaveda (technical manual) is Gandharvaveda that deals not only with the topics of music but also of dance and theatre. When sung the verses are further altered by prolongation, repetition and insertion of stray syllables (stobha), as well as various modulations, rests and other modifications prescribed in the song-books (Ganas).

There are frequent variations from the text of the Rigveda that are in some cases glosses but in others offer an older pronunciation than that of the Rigveda (such as for common ). The verses have been transposed and re-arranged, without reference to their original order, to suit the rituals in which they were to be employed. It consists of a collection (samhita) of hymns, portions of hymns, and detached verses, all but 75 taken from the Sakala Sakha of the Rigveda, the other 75 belong to the Bashkala Sakha, to be sung, using specifically indicated melodies called Samagana, by Udgatar priests at sacrifices in which the juice of the Soma plant, clarified and mixed with milk and other ingredients, is offered in libation to various deities. Its earliest parts are believed to date from 1700 BC (since all of its verses are from the Rigveda) and it ranks next in sanctity and liturgical importance to the Rigveda.

'The Sama veda (from saman melody and veda knowledge), is second (in the usual order) of the four Vedas, the ancient core Hindu scriptures. Visit Downloads Page for Link to download this E-Book as a PDF File.Īcknowledgement: We are thankful to Veda Prasar Samiti, Chennai for providing the pdf files of Vedas in Devanagari script to us.