Rik is Sâman, and therefore when a man utters a Sâman verse he neither breathes up nor down.
Sâman is udgîtha, and therefore when a man sings (the udgîtha, Om) he neither breathes up nor down.
5. And other works also which require strength, such as the production of fire by rubbing, running a race, stringing a strong bow, are performed without breathing up or down. Therefore let a man meditate on the udgîtha (Om) as vyâna.
6. Let a man meditate on the syllables of the udgîtha, i. e. of the word udgîtha. Ut is breath (prâna), for by means of breath a man rises (uttishthati). Gî is speech, for speeches are called girah. Tha is food, for by means of food all subsists (sthita).
7. Ut is heaven, gî the sky, tha the earth. Ut is the sun, gî the air, tha the fire. Ut is the Sâma-veda, gî the Yagur-veda, tha the Rig-veda[1].
- ↑ The commentator supplies explanations to all these fanciful etymologies. The heaven is ut, because it is high; the sky is gî, because it gives out all the worlds (giranât); earth is tha, because it is the place (sthâna) of living beings. The sun is ut, because it is high. The wind is gî, because it gives out fire, &c. (giranât); fire is tha, because it is the place (sthâna) of the sacrifice. The Sâma-veda is ut, because it is praised as svarga; the Yagur-veda is gî, because the gods take the oblation offered with a Yagus; the Rig-veda is tha, because the Sâma verses stand in it. All this is very childish, and worse than childish, but it is interesting as a phase of human folly which is not restricted to the Brahmans of India. I take the following passage from an interesting article, 'On the Ogam Beithluisnin and on Scythian Letters,' by Dr. Charles Graves, Bishop of Limerick. 'An Irish antiquary,' he says, 'writing several hundred years ago, proposes to give an account of the origin of the names of the notes in the musical scale.
' "It is asked here, according to Saint Augustine, What is chanting, or why is it so called? Answer. From this word cantalena;
