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1072
GITA-RAHASYA OR KARMA-YOGA
वेदानां सामवेदोऽस्मि देवानामस्मि वासवः । इन्द्रियाणां मनश्चास्मि भूतानामस्मि चेतना ॥ २२ ॥
Maruta-s; I (am) the Moon, among the lunar asterisms. (22) I am the Sama-veda, among the Vedas; (I) am Indra, among the gods; (I) am the Mind, among the senses; (I) am the cetana, (that is, the movement of vitality) in created beings.
[Just as it is stated here, that "I am the Sama-Veda among the Vedas that is to say, that the Sama-Veda is the principal Veda, so also is it stated in the Anusāsanaparva of the Mahabharata (14. 317) that "samavedaś ca vedānāṁ yajuṣām śatarudriyam". But in the Anu-gītā, supreme importance among the Vedas is given to the Om-kära by the words "Om-kāraḥ sarva-vedānām, etc." (Asva. 44. 6); and it has been stated in the Gita itself, in a previous chapter (GI. 7. 8), that "pranavaḥ sarvavedeṣu" (that is, "I am the pranava (Om-kara) in all the Vedas-Trans.). So also in the Gitā (9. 17) a higher place has been given to the Rg-Veda than to the Sama-Veda by the words "rk-samayajur eva ca "; and the ordinary belief is the same. As these statements have been looked upon as mutually contradictory, several persons have come out with different explanations about them. In the Chandogy opanisad, the Om-kāra is given the name 'udgitha': and it is stated there, that this 'udgitha' is the summary of the Sama-Veda, and that the Sama-Veda is the summary of the Rg-Veda (Chan. 1. 1. 2). This statement in the Chandogya harmonises the various statements regarding which is the most superior among the Vedas; because, even in the SamaVeda, the hymns have been taken from the Rg-Veda. But, some persons are not satisfied with that; and say that there must be some deep reason for giving prominence to the Sama-Veda in the Gita in this place. Although the SamaVeda has been given prominence in the Chandogy opanisad, yet, Manu has said the voice of the Sama-Veda is impure (Manu. 4. 124). From this fact, one critic has drawn the inference that the Gita, which gives prominence to the Sama-Veda, must be anterior in point of time to
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