The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c30.s1.10

v2.c30.s1.10

In the Soma offering there is added the complications of the recitation of the Sāmans. The rule is that the Sāman is a melody, which is performed on a verse of the Rigveda, and the verses can be sung to different melodies, for which purpose they have to be eked out by the addition of letters, or even of whole syllables, which have themselves no meaning, and of which as many as fifteen are enumerated.² The nature of the tunes must have been varied in the extreme, to judge from the many names recorded, of which the Bṛhat and the Rathantara are the most notorious, but the nature of Indian music is an unsolved problem, and perhaps insoluble.³ Seven notes are mentioned, but their significance is much disputed. Each Sāman is divided into parts, the most usual being that into Prastāva, introduced by the word *hum* (*huṅkāra*), sung by the Prastotṛ, the Udgītha, introduced by *om*, sung by the Udgātṛ, the Pratihāra, introduced by *hum*, sung by the Pratihartṛ, and the Nidhana, or finale, sung by all together. In some cases the Pratihāra is divided into two parts, the latter, the Upadrava, being sung by the Udgātṛ, or the Hiṅkāra is made into a separate element. Moreover there are Upagātṛs, three in number, who accompany the song with the word *ho*. The contempt which through the Indian literature is more or less clearly shown for Sāman singers is justified by the extraordinary stupidity of the position assigned to them.