उपमन्त्रयते सः हिङ्कारः ज्ञपयते सः प्रस्तावः स्त्रिया सह शेते सः उद्गीथः प्रति स्त्रीम् सह शेते सः प्रतिहारः कालम् गच्छति तत् निधनम् पारम् गच्छति तत् निधनम् एतत् वामदेव्यम् मिथुने प्रोतम्
upamantrayate saḥ hiṅkāraḥ jñapayate saḥ prastāvaḥ striyā saha śete saḥ udgīthaḥ prati strīm saha śete saḥ pratihāraḥ kālam gacchati tat nidhanam pāram gacchati tat nidhanam etat vāmadevyam mithune protam
He calls her to him — that is the hiṅkāra; he persuades her — that is the prastāva; he lies with his wife — that is the udgītha; he lies beside his wife — that is the pratihāra; he comes to the term — that is the nidhana, he comes to the end — that is the nidhana. This vāmadevya is woven into union.
6e8ad0098ca8 · published Jul 26, 2026, 10:40:48 PM UTC
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The third sāman — the vāmadevya — is woven where only a scripture that holds all of life holy would dare to enter: into the union of husband and wife: the call is the striking-up, the persuading the setting-forth, the joining the lifting-up, the mutuality the taking-up, the completion a double cadence. mithune protam — "woven into the couple": the act of love too is a sāman, a fivefold song!
The Vedic view knows nothing of our split between "the holy" and "the shameful": that by which life is continued flows in the same concord as a thunderstorm and a sacrifice (the Bṛhadāraṇyaka will directly liken union to an offering). To hallow is not to expose: it is to give back the dignity of order to what falls into chaos without order. The vow of the next verse will complete it: this song is not refused.