sāma—vedá m. ‘Veda of chants’, N. of one of the three principal Vedas (see veda)
it contains a number of verses or stanzas nearly all of which [except about 78] occur in the Ṛg-veda and which, modified in various ways, are chanted, mostly, by the Udgātṛ priests at Soma sacrifices
the Saṃhitā of the Sāma-veda consists of two parts
the first, called Ārcika [or Pūrvārcika or Chando-grantha], contains 585 verses disjoined from their proper sequence in the Ṛg-veda and arranged in 59 Daśatis or decades, which again are subdivided into Prapāṭhakas and Ardha-prapāṭhakas
the second, called Uttarārcika or Uttarā-grantha, contains 1225 verses, also chiefly from the Ṛk-saṃhitā, but less disjointed than in the first part, and arranged in nine Prapāṭhakas with Ardha-prapāṭhakas, mostly, however, grouped in triplets
the directions for the formation of Sāmans or chants out of these verses are carefully laid down in the Gānas or manuals for chanting, two of which, viz. the Geya-gāna and Āraṇya-gāna, are a directory for the Ārcika portion, and two, viz. Ūha-gāna and Ūhya-gāna, for the Uttarārcikā
in [Mn. i, 23] the Sāma-veda is described as drawn forth from the sun
in [iv, 124] it is described as having a special reference to the Pitṛs or deceased ancestors, and its sound is therefore said to possess a kind of impurity, whereas the Ṛg-veda has the gods for his objects and the Yajurveda men
the Sāma-veda is said to possess 8 Brāhmaṇas [see brāhmaṇa] [Br.]; [ŚāṅkhŚr.] &c. [[IW. 25]]