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Introduction to Samaveda
This translation of Samaveda is meant for an average
English knowing reader who is keen to know:
What is Veda? What is it all about? Is it old or new?
If it's old, what is its relevance today?And if it is relevant,
is it relevant to me also? Or is it relevant only to some particular
community in some particular country at some particular time?
These are relevant questions especially in an age of
science, democracy and globalism.
Veda is Divine Knowledge in metalanguage. The very
word 'Veda' means knowledge. It is derived from the root 'vid',
which means: 'to be, to know, to think, to benefit from' and ‘to
communicate’.
So whatever is is Veda: the very world of existence is
Veda. The knowledge of the world of existence is Veda. The
extension of knowledge through thought and research further is
Veda. And to use that knowledge for the benefit of mankind with
the protection and preservation of nature and the environment,
without hurting any form of life, that is Veda.
Veda is knowledge, pure and simple, as science is
knowledge. Science is knowledge of nature as nature is and as it
works according to its own laws. In science, there is no story, no
history. Similarly in the Veda, there is no story, no history. And
just as science is knowledge in scientific language free from local
colour and historical variations of form and meaning, so Veda
too is knowledge in scientific language free from local colour
and historical variations. Therefore Vedic language has to be
interpreted and understood according to the laws and technique
of its own structure as stated by seers such as Yaska, Panini and
Patanjali and as explained by Swami Dayananda in his
grammatical works and his notes on Vedic words in his
commentary on the Vedas.
But there is a difference between scientific knowledge
and Vedic knowledge: While science is knowledge of nature to
the extent that man has been able to discover it, Veda is the
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