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Sama Veda
The word veda literally means knowledge. The root word is vid, meaning to know. The Vedas are thus texts that provide knowledge. You may be aware that they are held to be most sacred. There are four Vedas, known as the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda. Many years ago, the Vedas were referred to as trayi, meaning three. There must have been some point of time when there were only three Vedas. These are acknowledged to have been the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Sama Veda. The Atharva Veda is believed to have been a later addition to the sacred canon. Presenting herewith, part three.
83 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 28, 2016
11 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Bibek Debroy
158 books399 followersBibek Debroy was an Indian economist, who served as the chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India. He was also the Chairman of the Finance Ministry's 'Expert Committee for Infrastructure Classification and Financing Framework for Amrit Kaal'. Debroy has made significant contributions to game theory, economic theory, income and social inequalities, poverty, law reforms, railway reforms and Indology among others. From its inception in January 2015 until June 2019, Mr. Debroy was a member of the NITI Aayog, the think tank of the Indian Government. He was awarded the Padma Shri (the fourth-highest civilian honour in India) in 2015.
Bibek Debroy's recent co-authored magnum opus, Inked in India, stands distinguished as the premier comprehensive documentation, capturing the entirety of recognized fountain pen, nib, and ink manufacturers in India.
In 2016, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the US-India Business Summit. In 2022, he was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by The Australia India Chamber of Commerce (AICC). In February 2024, Debroy was conferred Insolvency Law Academy Emeritus Fellowship, in recognition of his distinguished leadership, public service, work and contributions in the field of insolvency.
Bibek Debroy died on 1 November 2024, at the age of 69. He had been admitted to All India Institutes of Medical Sciences in New Delhi one month prior.
Bibek Debroy's recent co-authored magnum opus, Inked in India, stands distinguished as the premier comprehensive documentation, capturing the entirety of recognized fountain pen, nib, and ink manufacturers in India.
In 2016, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the US-India Business Summit. In 2022, he was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by The Australia India Chamber of Commerce (AICC). In February 2024, Debroy was conferred Insolvency Law Academy Emeritus Fellowship, in recognition of his distinguished leadership, public service, work and contributions in the field of insolvency.
Bibek Debroy died on 1 November 2024, at the age of 69. He had been admitted to All India Institutes of Medical Sciences in New Delhi one month prior.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 25, 2020
Just wanted to understand things
Appears to be written fairly
This may also be one of the ways of understanding human evolution
Appears to be written fairly
This may also be one of the ways of understanding human evolution
June 12, 2024
"most Indians today pay lip service to the Veda and have no regard for the contents of the text." -Wikipedia.
In my quest to 1-Acquire knowledge and wisdom by reading the ancient texts, and 2-Exploring the indian religions, and in looking at the scriptures of the hindus, one thing is pretty clear: the vedas are pretty darn important, they are what makes someone a Hindu actually, so I thought of I must read one of them. I was glad to find these version by Bibek Debroy which is easy to read and short, that last one is especially good, since in their original form all the Vedas are massive, and it would take lifetimes to read all.
So, how is it then? well the Vedas are separeted into the 'hymns portion' (karma kanda or samhita) and then the Upanishads attached at the end, this is a translation of the hymns portions only, and after reading I understand why whenever someone mentions the Vedas, they only talk about how amazing the Upanishads are, and never actually quote the hymns portion; that's because it is pretty bad.
The four vedas in a nutshell "Oh [insert god here] please grant us cows, riches and destroy our enemies, Oh [insert god here] drink the Soma juice and give us cows, riches and destroy our enemies" repeat ad nauseum. It gets very tiring very fast.
What's funny is that the gods that the Vedas praise over and over are NO LONGER worshipped by hindus! You won't find murtis of Agni, Indra, Uma, Surya, Chandra, Soma, etc... on the house of any indian in modern times, for some reason these gods ran out of fashion and got eventually substitued by the current gods (ganesha, krishna, shiva, durga, so on...), the only exception being Vishnu and Sarawasti, but they are clearly not the same that they are here neither.
Most hindus today get their things from the puranas about their favorite god. Altought these vedic fire rituals are still practiced today by the brahmin caste in India, nobody is personaly prays to these gods anymore.
Btw, what the heck is a Soma? is it green? white? is it a god? a plant? turns out historians don't know what this mysterious Soma juice was, it was most likely a psychedelic though, the rishis were high as a kite when they wrote the Vedas.
Really there's no point reading these sections of the Vedas if not for purely historical reasons, just go straight to the Upanishads.
In my quest to 1-Acquire knowledge and wisdom by reading the ancient texts, and 2-Exploring the indian religions, and in looking at the scriptures of the hindus, one thing is pretty clear: the vedas are pretty darn important, they are what makes someone a Hindu actually, so I thought of I must read one of them. I was glad to find these version by Bibek Debroy which is easy to read and short, that last one is especially good, since in their original form all the Vedas are massive, and it would take lifetimes to read all.
So, how is it then? well the Vedas are separeted into the 'hymns portion' (karma kanda or samhita) and then the Upanishads attached at the end, this is a translation of the hymns portions only, and after reading I understand why whenever someone mentions the Vedas, they only talk about how amazing the Upanishads are, and never actually quote the hymns portion; that's because it is pretty bad.
The four vedas in a nutshell "Oh [insert god here] please grant us cows, riches and destroy our enemies, Oh [insert god here] drink the Soma juice and give us cows, riches and destroy our enemies" repeat ad nauseum. It gets very tiring very fast.
What's funny is that the gods that the Vedas praise over and over are NO LONGER worshipped by hindus! You won't find murtis of Agni, Indra, Uma, Surya, Chandra, Soma, etc... on the house of any indian in modern times, for some reason these gods ran out of fashion and got eventually substitued by the current gods (ganesha, krishna, shiva, durga, so on...), the only exception being Vishnu and Sarawasti, but they are clearly not the same that they are here neither.
Most hindus today get their things from the puranas about their favorite god. Altought these vedic fire rituals are still practiced today by the brahmin caste in India, nobody is personaly prays to these gods anymore.
Btw, what the heck is a Soma? is it green? white? is it a god? a plant? turns out historians don't know what this mysterious Soma juice was, it was most likely a psychedelic though, the rishis were high as a kite when they wrote the Vedas.
Really there's no point reading these sections of the Vedas if not for purely historical reasons, just go straight to the Upanishads.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews