[Advaita-l] sAmaveda rUdraM

[Anand Hudli]

Shankara Jayanti Greetings! bhava shankara deshika me sharaNam.

Sri Abhinava Vidya Tirtha Trust, Chennai published the sAmarudrasaMhitA
with the bhAShya of tyAgarAja makhin called tattvArthachandrikA. This book,
published in 1979, should still be available at the Sringeri Math bookstore
in Bengaluru, which is where I found it a few years ago. As per this
bhAShya, by a descendent of none other than appayya dIkShita, the sAmaveda
rudra consists of eleven sAmans. They are- one sAman based on the Rik
mantra "Avo rAjAnam..", four sAmans based on the Rik mantra "tadvogAya..",
three sAmans based on the Rik mantra "mUrdhAnaM divaH...", three sAmans
called devavratas, not based on any Rik mantra, consisting entirely of
stobha aksharas. Thus the sAmavedarudra hymn has eleven sAmans.

The recital of this sAmaveda rudra and performance of rudrAbhiSheka with
this hymn, which has the qualities of both mantratva and gAnatva, will
please Paramehsvara, as stated in the sAmavidhAna brAhmaNa.

"AvorAjA tadvovargaM AjyadohAni devavratAni caiShA raudrInAma saMhitA etAM
prayunjan rudraM prINAti" iti sAmavidhAnabrAhmaNe shravaNAt.

Anand