A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s5.7

v1.c8.s5.7

The first part of our Sāmaveda-Saṃhitā, the Ārcika, consists of five hundred and eighty-five single stanzas (ṛc) to which the various melodies (sāman) belong, which were used at the sacrifice. The word *sāman*, although frequently used for the designation of the text which had been either made or destined for singing, means originally only "tune" or "melody." As we say that a verse is sung "to a certain tune," thus the Indians say the reverse: This or that melody (sāman) is "sung upon a particular stanza." The Vedic theologians, however, conceive the relationship of melody and stanza in such a way that they say, the melody has *originated* out of the stanza. The stanza (ṛc) is therefore called the Yoni, *i.e.* "the womb," out of which the melody came forth. And although naturally a stanza can be sung to various melodies, and one melody can be used for different stanzas, yet there are certain stanzas, which as a rule, may be considered as the texts—the "yonis," as the Indian technical term goes—for certain melodies. The Ārcika, then, is nothing but a collection of five hundred and eighty-five "yonis" or single stanzas, which are sung to about double the number of different tunes.¹ It may be compared to a song-book, in which only the text of the *first stanza* of each song is given as an aid to the recollection of the tune.