Thread by @DefiledGod

-- The JyeShTha Samans Pt 1 --

There are 3 sAma veda mantras drawn from Rg Veda, sixth mandala, seventh anuvAka. They are called “jyeShta sAmans” – the most principal sAmans. There is an interesting story behind this in tAndya brAhmaNa of Veda puruSha testing brahmA as below+

prajApatiH prajA asRRijata tA asmAt sRRiShTAH parAchya Ayan natsyati na iti bibhyatyaH

[prajApati created Rg, Yajus and Saman (prajAs). Upon being created, they became distant to him, as they feared he would eat them, ie, employ them without knowledge of Brahman as the end]+

brihadAraNyaka refers to the Rg, Yajus and Saman as offspring created by brahmA. So they are the “prajA” here. “Eating” refers to enjoying or experiencing. The Vedas wanted to test brahmA, to see if he had grasped their essence, so they hid themselves from him+

Vedas were afraid brahmA would use them in kAmya-karmas for material benefits without knowledge of liberation (as warned in gIta 2.42-43). They wanted to know if brahmA understood that all duties must be performed as a means of worshipping Brahman and not for material desires+

so .abravId upa mA vartadhvaM tathA vai vo .atsyAmi yathAdyamAnA bhUyasyaH

[prajApati said to the Vedas, “Remain with me, I will eat you in such a manner, that you being eaten (experienced), will still be abundant (in Brahman who is “bhUman”).] +

brahmA assured the Vedas, “I will engage you in activities dedicated to Brahman, to please him, without desire for their fruits, so you will be abide in Brahman who is bhUman as he has an abundance of auspicious attributes”. BrihadAraNyaka uses “bhUya” in sense of “bhUman”.+

prajaniShyatha iti tAbhyo vainaM RRitaM brUhIty

[Vedas then said, “Speak the Truth - the greatness of Brahman”.]

MB says “Truth” refers to greatness of bhagavAn which is true and always propounded by the shAstra that are true. The Vedas wanted to know if brahmA knew Brahman.+

abruvaMs tAbhya RRitanidhanenartam abravId InidhanenAvayat triNidhanena prAjanayad

[brahmA spoke Truth which is greatness of Brahman by Rtanidhana, he ate them (experienced Brahman) by Inidhana, he made them produce objects of desire by trinidhana sAmans]+

These are the 3 sAmans brahmA chanted to show he knew Brahman. By Rtanidhana, he proclaimed the greatness of bhagavAn. By Inidhana, he experienced the qualities of that Brahman. By Trinidhana, he understood Brahman as the means to attain objects of desire+

etair ha vA idaM sAmabhir mRRityuH prajA atti cha prajanayati

[Through these sAmAns, the Supreme Being known as “mRRityu” (as the innerself of prajApati) eats the Vedas and causes objects of desire to be generated.]+

brahmA attained mastery over the Vedas by singing these sAmans & doing works as service to Brahman, who he knew as sole object of attainment. “mRRityu” refers to Brahman, as antaryAmin of prajApati, to highlight that prajApati knew him as his innerself. This is sharIrAtma bhAva+

dyamAnasya bhUyo bhavati ya evaM veda

[Though eaten (enjoyed), it (the Vedas) becomes Brahman known as “bhUma” or the abundant, for him who knows thus.]

Idea is, even fruitive Vedic works are dedicated to Brahman, the object of attainment, by a jnAni.+

jyeShThasAmAni vA etAni shreShThasAmAni prajApatisAmAni

[These are the principal sAmans (as they were sung by brahmA), these are the most glorious sAmans (as they give knowledge of Brahman), these are the sAmAns of prajApati]+

gachChati jyaiShThayaM shraiShThayaM ya evaM veda

[He who knows this, gains principality or pre-eminence over all & surpassing glory]+

etair vai sAmabhiH prajApatir imAn lokAn sarvAn kAmAn dugdhe

[By these sAmans, brahmA milked the Vedas containing all objects of desire from these vyAhRtIs (imAn lokAn)]

Manu Smriti 1.23 describes brahmA “milking” the Vedas denoted by “sarvAn kAmAn” from the vyAhRtIs+

yad AchyA dugdhe tad AchyA dohAnAm AchyA dohatvam

As he milked them, moving (to Brahman), these sAmans are called “Achyadoha” – milking by going or bending.

AchyA - movement towards Brahman or can also mean “shiro.a~nchitvA” – bending the head in reverence+

sarvAn imAn lokAn kAmAn dugdhe ya evaM vidvAn etais sAmabhiH stute

[He who knows this, who praises Brahman with these sAmans, he milks out all his desires as contained by the Vedas, from the vyAhRtIs]+

ime vai lokA etAni sAmAny ayam evartanidhanam antarikSham InidhanaM dyaus triNidhanam

[These sAmans are the vyAhRtIs. “Rtanidhanam” is the Earth, “Inidhanam” is the intermediate region & “Trinidhanam” is the region of the Gods]

The vyAhRtIs are meditated as the worlds+

yathA kShetraj~naH kShetrANy anusa~ncharaty evam imAn lokAn anusa~ncharati ya evaM veda

[Just as the self which is a knower of the field (kShetrajna) crosses or rules over these bodies which are kShetrAs, he who knows this wins over these worlds in such a manner.]+

A knower of the body as distinct from the self (kShetrajna), conquers his bodies in all births as he is not afflicted by them. Similarly, one who knows these sAmans, wins all objects of enjoyment in the worlds, but is not affected by their fruits.+

agner vA etAni vaishvAnarasya sAmAni

[These sAmans are a praise of agni vaishvAnara]

brahma sUtrAs (sAkShAdapya virodhaM jaiminiH) clarify “agni vaiShvAnara” is not fire, but can be taken as Supreme Brahman who is the ruler of all (vaiShvAnara), leading all to mokSha (agni)+

yatra vA etair ashAntaiH stuvanti tat prajA devo ghAtuko bhavaty

[If they should praise him with these sAmans when they are not appeased (by knowledge of Brahman), then desire becomes capable of hurting the subjects (self, mind, intellect, senses).]+

The idea is, these sAmans should be chanted with knowledge of Brahman. If used otherwise, then lust will hurt the upAsaka. “deva” is used for lust in MB (kAShyapa-aila samvAda) as it shines out sense objects+

How will these sAmans hurt the upAsaka? Agni is the devatA for the sAmans, so some may worship Agni for perishable fruits, rather than paramAtma who is “Agni vaiShvAnara”, indweller of that Agni, who is the actual referrent+

That is why it says, “If he praises him without appeasing (ie, having knowledge)”. If he has no knowledge, how can he praise him? Answer is, even if he propitiates Agni, all praise goes to agni-sharIraka-paramAtma only, even if he may not know it+

agnim upanidhAya stuvate svAyA eva tad devatAyAH sAmyekShAya namaskRRityodgAyati shAntais stuvanti

[They laud with the sAmans having placed a fire nearby (altar).  He offers salutations to the God Agni’s sameness of perception, then praises him with the appeased sAmans]+

“sAmyekShAya” – “sAmya ikShA” – sameness of perception – Seeing this devatA Agni as the same everywhere. Here, “devatA” refers to the antaryAmin of Agni, thus, one should have the view of paramAtma as the antaryAmin of Agni who is the same everywhere in these sAmans+

Some sAmans praise the devAs directly as vibhUtIs of Brahman. But these sAmans, though directed to the god Agni, are not describing qualities of Agni, but are directly describing qualities of his inner controller. That is the meaning here+

Jaiminiya BrAhmaNa has a modified story (kalpa bheda). brahmA created Vedas called “sahasram” as they are infinite & gave it to Gods, who used it. Same story follows, but it is the gods who are tested, not brahmA. Same sAmans are chanted by them+

There is also another story connected to these sAmAns. When the gods received the Vedas from brahmA, they asked the god IShAna (Rudra), to extract the best part as he was the foremost of them in knowledge. Rudra extracted these 3 sAmans+

It means Rudra used these sAmans to instruct devAs on Brahman, to dedicate fruits of their activities to them. Now, this is the lesson in this story -  never consider Vedic praise to merely denote the devatA of that praise alone. All praise goes to nArAyaNa as the innerself+

Now, before wrapping up this story, we need to first understand what these three sAmans are singing about and why they are so highly praised. In my next post, I will translate the meanings of the 3 jyeShTha sAmans//