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The Shatapatha Brahmana ( , "Brahmana
Brahmana

The s are part of the Hindu texts sruti literature. They are commentaries on the four Vedas, detailing the proper performance of rituals....
 of one-hundred paths", abbreviated ) is one of the prose texts describing the Vedic
Historical Vedic religion

The religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit....
 ritual, associated with the Shukla Yajurveda. It survives in two recensions, Madhyandina (SBM, of the ) and Kanva (SBK, of the ), with the former having the eponymous 100 brahmanas in 14 books, and the latter 104 brahmanas in 17 books.






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The Shatapatha Brahmana ( , "Brahmana
Brahmana

The s are part of the Hindu texts sruti literature. They are commentaries on the four Vedas, detailing the proper performance of rituals....
 of one-hundred paths", abbreviated ) is one of the prose texts describing the Vedic
Historical Vedic religion

The religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit....
 ritual, associated with the Shukla Yajurveda. It survives in two recensions, Madhyandina (SBM, of the ) and Kanva (SBK, of the ), with the former having the eponymous 100 brahmanas in 14 books, and the latter 104 brahmanas in 17 books. Linguistically, it belongs to the Brahmana period of Vedic Sanskrit
Vedic Sanskrit

Vedic Sanskrit is an Old Indic language. It is the language of the Vedas, the oldest shruti texts of Hinduism, compiled over the period of the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BC....
, dated to the first half of the 1st millennium BCE (Iron Age India
Iron Age India

The Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent succeeds the Late Harappan culture, also known as the last phase of the Indus Valley Tradition....
).

Among the points of interest are the mythological sections embedded in it, including myths of creation and the Deluge of Manu
Manu (Hinduism)

In Hindu traditions, Manu is a title accorded to the First man or woman, and also the very first king to rule this earth, who saved mankind from the universal flood....
. The text describes in great detail the preparation of altars, ceremonial objects, ritual recitations, and the Soma
Soma

Soma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic civilization and Greater Iran cultures....
 libation, along with the symbolic attributes of every aspect of the rituals.

The 14 books of the Madhyandina recension can be divided into two major parts. The first 9 books have close textual commentaries, often line by line, of the first 18 books of the corresponding samhita of the Yajurveda
Yajurveda

The Yajurveda is one of the four canonical texts of Hinduism, the Vedas. Estimated to have been composed between 1,400 and 1000 BCE, the Yajurveda 'Samhita', or 'compilation', contains the liturgy needed to perform the yajna of the historical Vedic religion, and the added Brahmana and Shrautasutra add information on the interpretation...
. The following 5 books cover supplementary and ritualistically newer material, besides including the celebrated Brhadaranyaka Upanishad as most of the 14th and last book.

The Shatapatha Brahmana was translated into English by Prof. Julius Eggeling
Julius Eggeling

Hans Julius Eggeling was Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Edinburgh from 1875 to 1914, second holder of its Regius Chair of Sanskrit, and Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society, London....
, in the late 19th century, in 5 volumes published as part of the Sacred Books of the East
Sacred Books of the East

The Sacred Books of the East is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious writings, edited by Max M?ller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910....
 series.

See also

  • Yajnavalkya
    Yajnavalkya

    Sage Yajnavalkya of Mithila was a legendary rishi of Vedic India, credited with the authorship of the Shatapatha Brahmana , besides Yogayajnavalkya Samhita and the Yaj?avalkya Sm?ti....


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