Sama Veda has been named after ‘Saman’ (melody) and it concentrates on melody or songs. While the entire text has 1875 hymns, historians argue that 75 are original and the rest have been taken from the Sakala branch of the Rig Veda.
It consists of hymns, detached verses and 16,000 raga (musical notes) and raginis. It is because of the lyrical nature of the text that it has also been called the ‘book of chants’. It also shows us how Indian music has developed in the Vedic period.