Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvadasha Skandha, Shloka 77
Parīkṣit’s Final Absorption, Takṣaka’s Bite, Janamejaya’s Snake Sacrifice, and the Vedic Sound-Lineage
सुकर्मा चापि तच्छिष्य: सामवेदतरोर्महान् । सहस्रसंहिताभेदं चक्रे साम्नां ततो द्विज ॥ ७६ ॥ हिरण्यनाभ: कौशल्य: पौष्यञ्जिश्च सुकर्मण: । शिष्यौ जगृहतुश्चान्य आवन्त्यो ब्रह्मवित्तम: ॥ ७७ ॥
sukarmā cāpi tac-chiṣyaḥ sāma-veda-taror mahān sahasra-saṁhitā-bhedaṁ cakre sāmnāṁ tato dvija
Sukarmā, another disciple of Jaimini, was a great scholar. O brāhmaṇa, he divided the mighty tree of the Sāma Veda into one thousand saṁhitās. Then Sukarmā’s three disciples—Hiraṇyanābha, son of Kuśala; Pauṣyañji; and Āvantya, highly advanced in realization of Brahman—took charge of the sāma mantras.
FAQs
It states that Sukarmā, in the Sāma-veda lineage, divided the Sāma hymns into a thousand saṁhitās (distinct compilations/recensions).
This chapter recounts how Vedic knowledge was preserved and organized through disciplic succession; Sukarmā is cited as the key transmitter who systematized the Sāma Veda into many recensions.
Learn sacred texts from authentic teachers and reliable lineages, preserving meaning through careful study, chanting, and disciplined transmission rather than casual reinterpretation.