Yajurveda

The Yajurveda (Sanskrit यजुर्वेदः yajurveda, a tatpurusha 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 composed in the early Iron Age, around the 10th century BC, reflecting the practices of the historical Vedic religion at the time. It is associated with the Adhvaryu, the class of officiating priests in post-Rigvedic times.

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.

Shukla Yajurveda

There are two (nearly identical) shakhas or recensions of the Shukla (White) Yajurveda, both known as Vajasaneyi-Samhita (VS):

• Vajasaneyi Madhyandiniya (VSM)
• Vajasaneyi Kanva of Kosala (VSK)

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. The Vedic rituals of the Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam, the biggest temple in India, are performed according to the latter shakha. The White Yajurveda has two Upanishads associated with it: the Isa Vasya and the Brihadaranyaka upanishads. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is the most voluminous of all Upanishads.

The VS has fourty chapters or adhyayas, containing the formulas used with the following rituals:

1.-2.: New and Full Moon sacrifices

3.: Agnihotra

4.-8.: Somayajna

9.-10.: Vajapeya and Rajasuya, two modifications of the Soma sacrifice

11.-18.: construction of altars and hearths, especially the Agnicayana

19.-21.: Sautramani, a ritual originally counteracting the effects of excessive Soma-drinking

22.-25.: Ashvamedha

26.-29.: supplementary formulas for various rituals

30.-31.: Purushamedha

32.-34.: Sarvamedha

35.: Pitriyajna

36.-39.: Pravargya

40.: the final adhyaya is a late addition, containing not Vedic formulas but the Isha Upanishad

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 Taittiriya Shakha: 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 recension of the Black Yajurveda 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.

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 of the Taittiriya-Samhita at sacred-texts.com