Verse 1.8.4

का साम्नो गतिरिति स्वर इति होवाच स्वरस्य का गतिरिति प्राण इति होवाच प्राणस्य का गतिरित्यन्नमिति होवाचान्नस्य का गतिरित्याप इति होवाच ॥ १.८.४ ॥

kā sāmno gatiriti svara iti hovāca svarasya kā gatiriti prāṇa iti hovāca prāṇasya kā gatirityannamiti hovācānnasya kā gatirityāpa iti hovāca || 1.8.4 ||

4. Śilaka asked, ‘What is the support of Sāma?’ ‘It is the voice,’ replied Dālbhya. ‘What is the support of the voice?’ ‘The vital breath,’ answered Dālbhya. ‘What is the support of the vital breath?’ asked Śilaka. Dālbhya replied, ‘Food.’ Then Śilaka asked, ‘What is the support of food?’ Dālbhya said, ‘Water’.

Word-for-word explanation:

Sāmnaḥ kā gatiḥ iti, [Śilaka asked,] what is it that supports Sāma [i.e., the udgītha of the Sāma]; svaraḥ iti ha uvāca, [Dālbhya] replied, it is the voice; svarasya kā gatiḥ iti, what is the support of the voice; prāṇaḥ iti ha uvāca, [Dālbhya] said, prāṇa [the vital breath]; prāṇasya kā gatiḥ iti, what is the support of prāṇa [asked Śilaka]; annam iti ha uvāca, [Dālbhya] replied, it is food; annasya kā gatiḥ iti, what is the support of food; āpaḥ iti ha uvāca, [Dālbhya] replied, water.

Commentary:

Sāma here means the udgītha, the chanting. Dālbhya was asked what supported the chanting, and he replied, ‘The voice.’ Just as a pot is supported by the material of which it is made, which is earth, similarly, the chanting is supported by the voice. But what supports the voice? The vital breath. And the vital breath is supported by food. Similarly, food is supported by water, because it is from water that food grows.