Khanda 2.19

Key teachings

• • The fivefold Sama (Hinkāra, Prastava, Udgītha, Pratihāra, Nidhana) is mapped onto the human body: hair, skin, flesh, bone, and marrow respectively, establishing the body itself as a sacred Vedic chant. • This meditation is called the Yajñāyajñīya Sāma — the Sāma worthy of sacrifice — because it transforms the physical body into an altar of worship. • The knower becomes 'Aṅgī' — the possessor or master of the limbs — and is never separated from his bodily faculties; he gains full lifespan, longevity, abundant progeny, cattle, and great fame. • A vow (vrata) accompanies this knowledge: one should not eat marrow for a year, signifying reverence for the Nidhana (marrow) as the culminating point of the bodily Sāma. • The reward of this contemplative practice is attainment of the corresponding loka — the celestial realm of those who have realized the body's sacrificial nature.