Within the Vedic tradition, the Samaveda is understood not as the product of a single human author, but as sacred sound first “heard” by ancient seers, the ṛṣis, and then entrusted to specific lineages for preservation. Traditional accounts describe it as part of the great division of the primordial Veda, with the sage Jaimini, a disciple of Vyāsa, remembered as the primary figure who received, organized, and systematized this corpus for ritual use. In this view, the text is both eternal in origin and historically shaped by those who bore the responsibility of transmitting it. The spiritual imagination thus sees the Samaveda as a bridge between the uncreated wisdom of Brahman and the careful labor of human custodianship.

From a textual and ritual perspective, the Samaveda is essentially a liturgical and musical reworking of earlier Vedic material, especially verses from the Ṛgveda. The vast majority of its mantras are rearranged Ṛgvedic verses, adapted and set to specific melodies for chanting in soma and fire rituals, rather than newly composed hymns. Over time, priestly specialists known as udgātṛs shaped this material into a coherent body of chant, arranging the verses according to ritual function and musical requirement. This process gradually gave rise to distinct śākhās, or recensions—most notably the Kauthuma, Rānāyanīya, and Jaiminīya traditions—each preserving its own arrangement and melodic notation while drawing on a shared core of mantras.

The Samaveda thus stands as a testament to both revelation and refinement: a sacred sound-stream received by seers, then patiently ordered by sages and chanting lineages for the precise needs of Vedic sacrifice. Its compilation cannot be reduced to a single moment or a lone author; rather, it reflects centuries of contemplative listening, ritual experimentation, and disciplined transmission. In this way, the text embodies a dynamic interplay between the timeless and the historical, where divine speech is continually shaped into living chant by those devoted to its preservation.