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The Yajurveda (Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
  , a tatpurusha compound of "sacrificial formula', + "knowledge") is one of the four canonical texts of Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
, the Vedas. Estimated to have been composed between 1,400 and 1000 BCE, the Yajurveda 'Samhita', or 'compilation', contains the liturgy
Liturgy

A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions. The word may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Mass , or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish Jewish services....
 (mantras) needed to perform the sacrifices
Yajna

In Hinduism, Yaj?a is a ritual of sacrifice derived from the practice of Historical Vedic religion times. It is performed to please the Deva or to attain certain wishes....
 of the religion of the Vedic period
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....
, and the added 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....
 and Shrautasutra add information on the interpretation and on the details of their performance.

e are two primary versions or Samhitas of the Yajurveda: Shukla (white) and Krishna (black).






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The Yajurveda (Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
  , a tatpurusha compound of "sacrificial formula', + "knowledge") is one of the four canonical texts of Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
, the Vedas. Estimated to have been composed between 1,400 and 1000 BCE, the Yajurveda 'Samhita', or 'compilation', contains the liturgy
Liturgy

A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions. The word may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Mass , or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish Jewish services....
 (mantras) needed to perform the sacrifices
Yajna

In Hinduism, Yaj?a is a ritual of sacrifice derived from the practice of Historical Vedic religion times. It is performed to please the Deva or to attain certain wishes....
 of the religion of the Vedic period
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....
, and the added 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....
 and Shrautasutra add information on the interpretation and on the details of their performance.

Recensions

There are two primary versions or Samhitas of the Yajurveda: Shukla (white) and Krishna (black). Both contain the verses necessary for rituals, but the Krishna Yajurveda includes the 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....
 prose discussions within the Samhita, while the Shukla Yajurveda has separately a Brahmana text, the Shatapatha Brahmana.

Shukla Yajurveda

There are two (nearly identical) shakha
Shakha

A shakha , is a Hindu theological school that specializes in learning certain Vedas texts, or else the traditional texts followed by such a school....
s or recensions of the Shukla (White) Yajurveda, both known as Vajasaneyi-Samhita (VS):
  • Vajasaneyi Madhyandiniya (VSM), originally of Bihar
  • Vajasaneyi Kanva of originally of Kosala
    Kosala

    Kosala was an ancient Indian region, corresponding roughly in area with the region of Oudh in the present day Uttar Pradesh state. According to the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya and the Jaina text, the Bhagavati Sutra, Kosala was one of the Solasa Mahajanapadas in 6th century BCE and its cultural and political strength earned...
     (VSK)


The former is popular in North India, Gujarat, parts of Maharashtra (north of Nashik) and thus commands a numerous following. The Kanva Shakha is popular in parts of Maharashtra (south of Nashik), Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Sureshvaracharya, one of the four main disciples of Jagadguru Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara ; , also known as ' and ', was an Indian philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, the most influential sub-school of Vedanta....
, is said to have followed the Kanva shakha
Shakha

A shakha , is a Hindu theological school that specializes in learning certain Vedas texts, or else the traditional texts followed by such a school....
. The Guru himself followed the Taittiriya Shakha with the Apastamba Kalpasutra. The Vedic rituals of the Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam
Srirangam

Srirangam , also known as Thiruvarangam, is an island and a zone in the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India. Srirangam is bounded by the Kaveri River on one side, and the Kaveri distributary Kollidam on the other side....
, the second biggest temple in India, are performed according to the Kanva shakha. The White Yajurveda has two Upanishads associated with it: the Isha Vasya and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishads. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is the most voluminous of all Upanishads.

The VS has forty chapters or adhyayas (but 41 in Orissa), containing the formulas used with the following rituals:
1.-2.: New and Full Moon sacrifices
3.: Agnihotra
Agnihotra

Agnihotra is a Historical Vedic religion yaj?a performed by Orthodoxy Hindu communities. A modern version of the Vedic Agnihotra has been promoted by various individuals and groups as a non-sectarian ritual for the healing and purification of the atmosphere and as a primary source of vibhuti or sacred ash....
4.-8.: Somayajna
9.-10.: Vajapeya and Rajasuya
Rajasuya

Rajasuya was a sacrifice, described in detail in the Mahabharata, performed by the epic india of India who considered themselves powerful enough to be an emperor....
, two modifications of the Soma sacrifice
11.-18.: construction of altars and hearths, especially the Agnicayana
Agnicayana

The Atiratra Agnicayana or piling of the Vedic fire altar of Agni is a Srauta yajna of the historical Vedic religion.The entire ritual takes twelve days to perform, in the course of which a great bird-shaped altar, the uttaravedi "northern altar" is built out of 10,800 bricks....
19.-21.: Sautramani, a ritual originally counteracting the effects of excessive Soma-drinking
22.-25.: Ashvamedha
Ashvamedha

The Ashvamedha was one of the most important royal rituals of historical Vedic religion, described in detail in the Yajurveda . The Rigveda does have descriptions of horse sacrifice, notably in hymns RV 1.162-163 , but does not allude to the full ritual according to the Yajurveda....
26.-29.: supplementary formulas for various rituals
30.-31.: Purushamedha
Purushamedha

Purushamedha is a Historical Vedic religion yajna described in the Yajurveda . The verse describes people from all classes and of all descriptions tied to the stake and offered to Prajapati....
32.-34.: Sarvamedha
35.: Pitriyajna
36.-39.: Pravargya
Pravargya

The parvargya rite is an exalted Historical Vedic religion performed by an Arya to the ashvins and offers a glimpse of the fusion of the two ancient ritual streams of the pre-Rigvedic past....
40.: the final adhyaya is the famous Isha Upanishad
Isha Upanishad

The Isha Upanishad is one of the shortest of the Upanishads, consisting of 17 or 18 verses in total; like other core texts of the vedanta, it is considered revealed scripture by diverse traditions within Hinduism....


The VSM was edited and published by Weber (London and Berlin, 1852), and translated into English by Ralph Griffith (Benares, 1899).

Krishna Yajurveda

There are four recensions
Shakha

A shakha , is a Hindu theological school that specializes in learning certain Vedas texts, or else the traditional texts followed by such a school....
 of the Krishna ("black") Yajurveda:
  • (TS) originally of Panchala
    Panchala

    Panchala is an ancient region of northern India, which corresponds to the geographical area around the Ganges River and Yamuna River, the upper Gangetic plain in particular....
  • (MS) originally of the area south of Kurukshetra
    Kurukshetra

    This article is about a place. For the Malayalam film on Kargil war see Kurukshetra Kurukshetra is a district in Haryana state of India....
  • (KS) originally of Madra
    Madra

    Madra or Madraka is the name of an ancient region and its inhabitants, located in the north-west division of the ancient Indian sub-continent....
     and Kurukshetra
    Kurukshetra

    This article is about a place. For the Malayalam film on Kargil war see Kurukshetra Kurukshetra is a district in Haryana state of India....
  • (KapS) of the southern Panjab, Bahika


Each of the recensions has or had a 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....
 associated with it, and most of them also have associated Shrautasutras, Grhyasutras, Aranyaka
Aranyaka

The Aranyakas are part of the Hinduism sruti , the four Vedas; these religion texts were composed in Late Vedic Sanskrit typical of the Brahmanas and early Upanishads; indeed, they frequently form part of either the Brahmanas or the Upanishads....
s, Upanishad
Upanishad

The Upanishads are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings of Vedanta. They do not belong to any particular period of Sanskrit literature: the oldest, such as the Brhadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads, date to the late Brahmana period , while the latest were composed in the medieval and early modern period....
s and Pratishakhyas.

The Taittiriya Shakha
Taittiriya Shakha

The Taittiriya Shakha is a notable shakha of the Black Yajurveda. The Vishnu Purana attributes it to a pupil of Yaska named Tittiri. It is most prevalent in south India....
: The best known and best preserved of these recensions is the TS, named after Tittiri, a pupil of Yaska
Yaska

, was a Sanskrit grammarian who preceded Panini. His famous text is Nirukta, which deals with etymology, lexical category and the semantics of words....
. It consists of 7 books or kandas, subdivided in chapters or prapathakas, further subdivided into individual sections (anuvakas). Some individual hymns in this Samhita have gained particular importance in Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
; e.g. TS 4.5 and TS 4.7 constitute the Rudram Chamakam, while 1.8.6.i is the Shaivaite Tryambakam mantra. The beejas prefixed to the (rigvedic
Rigveda

The Rigveda is an ancient Indian subcontinent sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns dedicated to the Rigvedic deities . It is counted among the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas....
) Savitur Gayatri
Gayatri

Gayatri is the feminine form of , a Sanskrit word for a song or a hymn.Originally the personification of the Gayatri mantra, revered by both Buddhists and Hindus worldwide, the goddess Gayatri is considered the veda mata, the mother of all Vedas and also the personification of the all-pervading Brahman, the ultimate unchangin...
 mantra are also from the Yajurveda. The Taittiriya recension of the Black Yajurveda is the shakha now most prevalent in southern India. Among the followers of this Shakha, the Apastamba Sutras are the common. The Taittiriya Shakha consists of Taittiriya Samhita (having seven kandas), Taittiriya Brahmana (having three kandas), Taittiriya Aranyaka (having seven prashnas) (See Aranyaka Literature), Taittiriya Upanishad (having three prashnas or vallis - Shiksha valli, Ananda valli and Bhrigu valli) and the Mahanarayana Upanishad. The Taittiriya Upanishad and Mahanarayana Upanishad are considered to be the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth prashnas of the Aranyaka. The words prapathaka and kanda (meaning sections) are interchangeably used in Vedic literature. Prashna and valli refer to sections of the Aranyaka.

Three recensions have been edited and published: the Taittiriya by Albrecht Weber in "Indische Studien", XI, XII (Berlin, 1871-72), the Maitrayani by Leopold von Schroeder (Leipzig, 1881-86) and the Kathaka by von Schroeder (Leipzig, 1900-09). Translations of the Taittiriya Samhita into English were composed by A.B. Keith (Oxford 1913) and Devi Chand.

Legend

According to tradition, the vedic seer 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....
 studied the Yajurveda collection under the tutelage of sage Vaishampayana maternal uncle of Yajnavalkya. Yajnavalkya's birth was with a purpose as purported by Gods. He was an Ekasandhigrahi, meaning he learnt anything with just once teaching. The two came to have serious differences in interpretation. On one occasion, Vaishampayana was so enraged that he demanded the return of all the knowledge he had imparted to Yajnavalkya. Yajnavalkya returned in indignation or (literally vomited) all the knowledge he had learnt. The other disciples of Vaishampayana, eager to receive this knowledge, assumed the form of tittiri birds and absorbed while being recited during the return (or ate the knowledge). Thus, that knowledge came to be called the Taittiriya Samhita (a derivation of tittiri). After having regurgitated the knowledge acquired from his teacher, Yajnavalkya worshipped Surya
Surya

In Hinduism, Surya is the chief solar deity, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives Aditi, of Indra, or of Dyaus Pitar . The term "Surya" also refers to the Sun, in general....
 (the Sun God) and acquired new knowledge directly from Narayana
Narayana

Narayana or Narayan is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha....
  who taught the Shukla Yajurveda taking the shape of a stallion (vaji-rupa).

Large numbers

The Yajurveda documents the earliest known use of numbers up to a trillion (parardha). It also discusses the concept of numeric infinity
Infinity

Infinity comes from the Latin infinitas or "unboundedness." It refers to several distinct concepts – usually linked to the idea of "without end" – which arise in philosophy, mathematics, and theology....
 (purna "fullness"), stating that if you subtract purna from purna, you are still left with purna.

Literature

  • Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith, The Texts of the White Yajurveda. Translated with a Popular Commentary (1899).
  • Devi Chand, The Yajurveda. Sanskrit text with English translation. Third thoroughly revised and enlarged edition (1980).
  • The Sanhitâ of the Black Yajur Veda with the Commentary of Mâdhava ‘Achârya, Calcutta (Bibl. Indica, 10 volumes, 1854-1899)
  • Kumar, Pushpendra, Taittiriya Brahmanam (Krsnam Yajurveda), 3 vols., Delhi (1998).


See also

  • Yajna
    Yajna

    In Hinduism, Yaj?a is a ritual of sacrifice derived from the practice of Historical Vedic religion times. It is performed to please the Deva or to attain certain wishes....
  • Kalpa (Vedanga)
    Kalpa (Vedanga)

    Kalpa is one of the six disciplines of Vedanga, treating ritual.Tradition does not single out any special work in this branch of the Vedanga; but sacrificial practice gave rise to a large number of systematic sutras for the several Vedic priesthood....
  • Shatapatha Brahmana
    Shatapatha Brahmana

    The Shatapatha Brahmana is one of the prose texts describing the Historical Vedic religion ritual, associated with the Shukla Yajurveda. It survives in two recensions, Madhyandina and Kanva , with the former having the eponymous 100 brahmanas in 14 books, and the latter 104 brahmanas in 17 books....
  • Mahidhara
    Mahidhara

    Mahidhara was a 16th century commentator of the Vedas, author of the Mantramahodadhi and Vedadipa ...
  • Vedas
    Vedas

    The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in History of India. They form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu scripture of Hinduism....


External links

  • Freely downloadable, carefully edited Sanskrit texts of Taittiriya-Samhita, Taittiriya-Brahmana, Taittiriya-Aranyaka, Ekagni-Kanda etc. as well as English translations of the Taittiriya-Samhita etc.
  • Ralph Griffith, 1899, full text, (online at sacred-texts.com)
  • A. Berridale Keith, 1914, full text, (online at sacred-texts.com)