The Yajurveda (Sanskrit यजुर्वेदः yajurveda, a Tatpurusha Samasa (compound) of yajus "sacrifice" + veda "knowledge") is one of the four Hindu Vedas. It contains religious texts focusing on liturgy, rituals and sacrifices, and how to perform the same. The Yajurveda was probably written around 900 BCE.
Collections
There are two primary collections or samhitas of the Yajurveda: Shukla (white) and Krishna (black). Both contain the verses necessary for rituals, but the Krishna Yajurveda has additional prose commentary and detailed instructions within the work itself.
Krishna Yajurveda
There are four recensions of the Krishna ("black" or "dark") Yajurveda:
- taittirīya saṃhita (TS) of Panchala
- maitrayani saṃhita (MS)
- caraka-katha saṃhita (KS) of Madra
- kapiṣṭhala-katha saṃhita (KapS) of Bahika
Each of the recensions has a Brahmana associated with it, and some of them also have associated Shrautasutras, Grhyasutras, Aranyakas, Upanishads and Pratishakhyas.
The best known of these recensions is the TS, named after Tittiri, a pupil of Yaska. It consists of 8 books or kandas, subdivided in chapters or prapathakas, further subdivided into individual hymns. Some individual hymns in this Samhita have gained particular importance in Hinduism; e.g. TS 4.5 and TS 4.7 constitute the Shri Rudram Chamakam, while 1.8.6.i is the Shaivaite Tryambakam mantra. The formula bhūr bhuvaḥ suvaḥ prefixed to the (rigvedic) Gayatri mantra is also from the Yajurveda, appearing four times.
The Taittiriya Shakha: The Taittiriya Shakha (or branch) of the Krishna Yajur Veda is the shakha most prevalent in southern India. Among the followers of this Shakha, the Apastamba Sutras is the common Shrautasutra associated with the Shakha. The Taittiriya Shakha consists of Taittiriya Samhita (having seven kaandas), Taittiriya Braahmana (having three kaandas), Taittiriya Aaranyaka (having seven prashnas) (See Aranyaka Literature), Taittiriya Upanishad (having three prashnas or vallis - Sheeksha valli, Ananda valli and Bhrigu valli) and the Mahaanaarayana Upanishad. The Taittiriya Upanishad and Mahaanaarayana Upanishad are considered to be the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth prashnas of the Aaranyaka. The words prapaathaka and kaanda (meaning sections) are interchangeably used in the Vedic literature. Prashna and valli refer to sections of the Aaranyaka.
Shukla Yajurveda
There are two shakhas or recensions of the Shukla ("white" or "bright") Yajurveda:
- Vajasaneyi Madhyandiniya
- Vajasaneyi Kanva of Kosala
The former is popular in North India and Orissa, and thus commands a numerous following. The Kanva Shakha is popular in Karnataka, Kerala Andhrapradesh and Tamil Nadu. Jagadguru Adi Shankara is said to have followed the Kanva Shakha (recension). The Vedic rituals of the Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam, the biggest temple in India, are performed according to the latter Shakha. Kanva matha the only mutt formed on the basis of Veda known as Veda matha was established by saint Madhava thirtha during 1898 who got sanyasa ashrama by sri lakshmi manohara thirtha of sirur math of Udupi one of the ashtamata established by sage Madhvacharya to conduct pooja kainkaryas to lord Udupi Krishna.the Kanva matha has its headquarter at Hunasihole at Gulbarga district of Karnataka state with sri sri Vidyabhaskara thirtha swamiji as its head now.
The Shukla Yajur Veda has two Upanishads associated with it: the Isa Vasya and the Brihadaranyaka upanishads. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is the most voluminous of all Upanishads.
Legend
Legend has it that the vedic seer Yajnavalkya studied the Yajurveda collections under the tutelage of sage Vaishampayana maternal uncle of Yajnavalkya. Yajnavalkya's birth was with a purpose as purported by Gods. He was an `Ekasandhigraahi' meaning he learns with just once teaching it self, he was too intellegent. 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 has imparted to Yajnavalkya. Yagnavalkya regurgitated all the knowledge he had learnt in the form of flesh. The other disciples of Vaishampayana assumed the form of tittiriya birds and ate that flesh, eager to receive the knowledge. Thus, that knowledge came to be called the Taittiriya Samhita (from the word tittiriya). There is a very secret meaning in this. As we know; it is impossible to regurgiate a knowledge or learning. but the words are used in `srimad bhaagavata'. It is also of interest to know why the Guru him self did not taught the vedaas he tought to yaajnyavalkya instead asked his deciples to eat the fellings. Any way, after having regurgitated out the knowledge acquired from his teacher, Yajnavalkya worshipped Surya (the Sun God) and acquired new knowledge directly from God Narayana (suryantargata narayana)who preached Shukla yajurveda by taking vaaji rUpa,(god with horse face) which was compiled to become the Shukla Yajurveda.this is recorded in srimad bhaagavata.( haya, vaaji, ashwa, turaga are names referring horse in different lokaas)
Large numbers
The Yajurveda documents the earliest known use of numbers up to a trillion (parardha). It even discusses the concept of numeric infinity (purna "fullness"), stating that if you subtract purna from purna, you are still left with purna. [1] See also: History of large numbers.
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).
External links
- Sanskrit Web 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.
- Sacred Texts Electronic text of the 1914 Arthur Berriedale Keith translation at sacred-texts.com