[1] Saṃhitā also refers to the most ancient layer of text in the Vedas, consisting of mantras, hymns, prayers, litanies and benedictions.
[3] Samhita is a Sanskrit word from the prefix sam (सम्), 'together', and hita (हित), the past participle of the verbal root dhā (धा) 'put'.
[4][5] The combination word thus means "put together, joined, compose, arrangement, place together, union", something that agrees or conforms to a principle such as dharma or in accordance with justice, and "connected with".
[1] Samhitā (संहिता) in the feminine form of the past participle, is used as a noun meaning "conjunction, connection, union", "combination of letters according to euphonic rules", or "any methodically arranged collection of texts or verses".
These contain mantras – sacred sounds with or without literal meaning, as well as panegyrics, prayers, litanies and benedictions petitioning nature or Vedic deities.
[3] Vedic Samhita refer to mathematically precise metrical archaic text of each of the Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda).
[16] Thus, the root hymn that later became the Rathantara (Excellent Chariot) mantra chant is found in both Rigveda and Samaveda Samhitas, as follows,[16] The Yajur Veda consists of: 1.
A hymn in the Atharva Veda Samhita, for example, is a woman's petition to deity Agni, to attract suitors and a good husband.