458 ox THE ve'das. 



On the Sa'mave'da. 



A peculiar degree of holiness seems to be at- 

 tached, according to Indimi notions, to the Sama- 

 'veda ; if reliance may be placed on the inference 

 suggested by the etymology of its name, which 

 indicates, according to the derivation * usually 

 assigned to it, the efficacy of this part of the 

 Vedas in removing sin. The prayers, belonging to 

 it, are, as before observed, composed in metre, 

 and intended to be chanted, and their supposed 

 efficacy is apparently ascribed to this mode of ut« 

 tering them. 



Not having yet obtained a complete copy of 

 this VedOy or of any commentary on it, I can only 

 describe it, imperfectly, from such fragments as I 

 have been able to collect. 



A principal, if not the first, part of the Samct- 

 *veda is that entitled A 'ixhica. It comprises prayers, 

 among which I observe many, that constantly re- 

 cur in rituals o^ Samaved'iya^ or Chliandoga priests, 

 and some of which have been translated in former 

 essays f. They are here arranged, as appears from 

 two copies of the A'rchicaX, in six chapters (pra- 

 pat'aca) subdivided into half chapters, and into 

 sections (das'ati) ; ten in each chapter, and usually 



* From the root Sho, convertible into so and s6, and signify- 

 ing ' to destroy.' The derivative is expounded as denoting sonie- 

 Ujing ' which destroys sin.' 



t Asiatic Researches, Vol. V. and VII. 



I One of them dated nearly two centuries ago, in 1672 Sammt. 

 This copy exhibils the further title of Ch'handasi Sanhitd. 



