Yajurveda

The ''Yajurveda'' ( sa, यजुर्वेद, ', from ' meaning "worship", and ''veda'' meaning "knowledge") is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism'' (Editor: Gavin Flood), Blackwell, , pages 76-77 An ancient Vedic Sanskrit text, it is a compilation of ritual-offering formulas that were said by a priest while an individual performed ritual actions such as those before the yajna fire. Yajurveda is one of the four Vedas, and one of the scriptures of Hinduism. The exact century of Yajurveda's composition is unknown, and estimated by Witzel to be between 1200 and 800 BCE, contemporaneous with Samaveda and Atharvaveda.

The Yajurveda is broadly grouped into two – the "black" or "dark" (''Krishna'') Yajurveda and the "white" or "bright" (''Shukla'') Yajurveda. The term "black" implies "the un-arranged, unclear, motley collection" of verses in Yajurveda, in contrast to the "white" which implies the "well arranged, clear" Yajurveda. Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 217-219 The black Yajurveda has survived in four recensions, while two recensions of white Yajurveda have survived into the modern times.

The earliest and most ancient layer of Yajurveda samhita includes about 1,875 verses, that are distinct yet borrow and build upon the foundation of verses in Rigveda. The middle layer includes the Satapatha Brahmana, one of the largest Brahmana texts in the Vedic collection. The youngest layer of Yajurveda text includes the largest collection of primary Upanishads, influential to various schools of Hindu philosophy. These include the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the Isha Upanishad, the Taittiriya Upanishad, the Katha Upanishad, the Shvetashvatara Upanishad and the Maitri Upanishad. Paul Deussen
The Philosophy of the Upanishads
Motilal Banarsidass (2011 Edition), , page 23Patrick Olivelle (1998), Upaniṣhads, Oxford University Press, , pages 1-17

Two of the oldest surviving manuscript copies of the ''Shukla Yajurveda'' sections have been discovered in Nepal and Western Tibet, and these are dated to the 12th-century CE.

Etymology

Yajurveda is a compound Sanskrit word, composed of ''ya jus'' (यजुस्) and ''Veda'' (वेद). Monier-Williams translates ''yajus'' as "religious reverence, veneration, worship, sacrifice, a sacrificial prayer, formula, particularly mantras uttered in a peculiar manner at a sacrifice". ''Veda'' means "knowledge". Johnson states ''yajus'' means "(mostly) prose formulae or mantras, contained in the Yajur Veda, which are muttered".

Michael Witzel interprets Yajurveda to mean a "knowledge text of prose mantras" used in Vedic rituals. Ralph Griffith interprets the name to mean "knowledge of sacrifice or sacrificial texts and formulas". Carl Olson states that Yajurveda is a text of "mantras (sacred formulas) that are repeated and used in rituals".

Dating and historical context

The core text of the Yajurveda falls within the classical Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit at the end of the 2nd millennium BCE - younger than the Rigveda, and roughly contemporary with the Atharvaveda, the Rigvedic Khilani, and the . The scholarly consensus dates the bulk of the Yajurveda and Atharvaveda hymns to the early Indian Iron Age, after c. 1200 and before 800 BCE.

Georg Feuerstein suggest that the dates given to most of these texts is far too late.

Text

Recensions

The Yajurveda text includes Shukla Yajurveda of which about 16 recensions are known, while the Krishna Yajurveda may have had as many as 86 recensions. Only two recensions of the Shukla Yajurveda have survived, Madhyandina and Kanva, and others are known by name only because they are mentioned in other texts. These two recensions are nearly the same, except for a few differences. In contrast to Shukla Yajurveda, the four surviving recensions of Krishna Yajurveda are very different versions.CL Prabhakar (1972), The Recensions of the Sukla Yajurveda, Archiv Orientální, Volume 40, Issue 1, pages 347-353

Shukla Yajurveda

The samhita in the Shukla Yajurveda is called the ''Vajasaneyi Samhita''. The name ''Vajasaneyi'' is derived from Vajasaneya, the patronymic of Yajnavalkya, and the founder of the Vajasaneyi branch. There are two (nearly identical) surviving recensions of the Vajasaneyi Samhita (VS): ''Vajasaneyi Madhyandina'' and ''Vajasaneyi Kanva''. The lost recensions of the White Yajurveda, mentioned in other texts of ancient India, include ''Jabala'', ''Baudhya'', ''Sapeyi'', ''Tapaniya'', ''Kapola'', ''Paundravatsa'', ''Avati'', ''Paramavatika'', ''Parasara'', ''Vaineya'', ''Vaidheya'', ''Katyayana'' and ''Vaijayavapa''.GS Rai
Sakhas of the Yajurveda in the Puranas
Purana, Vol 7, No. 1, pages 11-16

Krishna Yajurveda

There are four surviving recensions of the Krishna Yajurveda – , , and . A total of eighty six recensions are mentioned to exist in Vayu Purana, however vast majority of them are believed to be lost. The Katha school is referred to as a sub-school of ''Carakas'' (wanderers) in some ancient texts of India, because they did their scholarship as they wandered from place to place. In contrast to the Shukla Yajurveda, the saṃhitās of the Krishna Yajurveda contained both mantras and explanatory prose (which would usually belong to the brāhmaṇas).

The best known and best preserved of these recensions is the '. Some attribute it to Tittiri, a pupil of Yaska and mentioned by Panini. The text is associated with the ''Taittiriya'' school of the Yajurveda, and attributed to the pupils of sage Tittiri (literally, partridge birds).A Weber, , Trubner & Co, pages 87-91

The ' is the oldest Yajurveda Samhita that has survived, and it differs largely in content from the Taittiriyas, as well as in some different arrangement of chapters, but is much more detailed.GS Rai
Sakhas of the Krsna Yajurveda in the Puranas
Purana, Vol 7, No. 2, pages 235-253

The ' or the ', according to tradition was compiled by Katha, a disciple of Vaisampayana. Like the Maitrayani Samhita, it offers much more detailed discussion of some rituals than the younger ''Taittiriya samhita'' that frequently summarizes such accounts. The ' or the ', named after the sage Kapisthala is extant only in some large fragments and edited without accent marks. This text is practically a variant of the '.

Organization

Each regional edition (recension) of Yajurveda had Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyakas, Upanishads as part of the text, with Shrautasutras, Grhyasutras and Pratishakhya attached to the text. In Shukla Yajurveda, the text organization is same for both Madhayndina and Kanva shakhas. The texts attached to Shukla Yajurveda include the ''Katyayana Shrautasutra'', ''Paraskara Grhyasutra'' and ''Shukla Yajurveda Pratishakhya''.

In Krishna Yajurveda, each of the recensions has or had their Brahmana text mixed into the Samhita text, thus creating a motley of the prose and verses, and making it unclear, disorganized.

Contents

Samhitas

The ''Vajasaneyi Samhita'' has forty chapters or ''adhyayas'', containing the formulas used with the following rituals:Ralph Griffith
The texts of the white Yajurveda
EJ Lazarus, page i-xvi

;Structure of the mantras
The various ritual mantras in the Yajurveda Samhitas are typically set in a meter, and call on Vedic deities such as the Savita (Sun), Indra, Agni, Prajapati, Rudra and others. The Taittiriya Samhita in Book 4, for example, includes the following verses for the Agnicayana ritual recitation (abridged),

Satapatha Brahmana

The title ''Satapatha Brahmana'' means "Brahmana of the Hundred Paths".Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, , pages 151-152 It is one of the largest Brahmana text that has survived. It includes, states Staal, a "veritable encyclopedia of meandering opinions on ritual and other matters".

The Satapatha Brahmana was translated by Eggeling in late 19th-century, reprinted often and has been well read because of the translation. However, it has been misinterpreted and misused, states Staal, because "it contains enough material to support ''any'' theory". Eggeling, the first translator of Satapatha Brahmana called it "flimsy symbolism rather than serious reasoning", similar to "speculative vaporings" found in the Christian and non-Christian variety of Gnosticism.Julius Eggeling
Satapatha Brahmana
Part 1, Book 1 and 2, Max Muller (Editor), Oxford University Press, page ix Introduction

Upanishads

The Yajurveda has six primary Upanishads embedded within it.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is found in the White Yajurveda. It is one of the Mukhya Upanishads, and among the largest and oldest as well (~700 BCE). It is a key scripture of Hinduism that has influenced all schools of Hindu philosophy. The text is a treatise on Ātman (Soul, Self), with passages on metaphysics, ethics and a yearning for knowledge that influenced various Indian religions, ancient and medieval scholars.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is among the earliest extensive discussions of the Hindu concept of dharma, karma and moksha (liberation from sorrow, freedom, emancipation, self-realization). Paul Deussen calls it, "unique in its richness and warmth of presentation", with profoundness that retains its full worth in modern times. Max Muller illustrated its style as follows,

Isha Upanishad

The Isha Upanishad is found in the White Yajurveda. It is one of the shortest Upanishads, embedded as the final chapter of the Shukla Yajurveda. A key scripture of the Vedanta sub-schools of Hinduism, its name is derived from "hidden in the Lord (Self)". Max Muller, The Upanishads, The Sacred Books of the East, Part 1, Oxford University Press, Reprinted by Routledge in 2013, , Vol. 1, pages 311-319

The Isha Upanishad discusses the Atman (Soul, Self) theory of Hinduism, and is referenced by both Dvaita (dualism) and Advaita (non-dualism) sub-schools of Vedanta. It is classified as a "poetic Upanishad" along with Kena, Katha, Svetasvatara and Mandukya Upanishads.

Taittiriya Upanishad

The Taittiriya Upanishad is found in the black Yajurveda. It is the seventh, eighth and ninth chapters of Taittiriya Aranyaka, which are also called, respectively, the ''Siksha Valli'', the ''Ananda Valli'' and the ''Bhrigu Valli''.

The Taittiriya Upanishad includes verses that are partly prayers and benedictions, partly instruction on phonetics and praxis, partly advice on ethics and morals given to graduating students from ancient Vedic ''gurukul'' (schools), partly a treatise on allegory, and partly philosophical instruction.

The text offers a view of education system in ancient India. It also includes sections on ethics and invocation for one's personal development. Max Muller translates the text's tenth anuvaka, for example, as an affirmation of one's Self as a capable, empowered blissful being. The tenth anuvaka asserts, "I am he who shakes the tree. I am glorious like the top of a mountain. I, whose pure light (of knowledge) has risen, am that which is truly immortal, as it resides in the sun. I (Soul, Self) am the treasure, wise, immortal, imperishable. This is the teaching of the Veda, by sage Trisanku."Max Muller, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 15, Oxford University Press, Chapter 3: Taittiriya Upanishad, see Siksha Valli - Tenth Anuvaka

Katha Upanishad

The Katha Upanishad is found in the black Yajurveda. The Upanishad is the legendary story of a little boy, Nachiketa – the son of sage Vajasravasa, who meets Yama – the Indian deity of death. Their conversation evolves to a discussion of the nature of man, knowledge, Ātman (Soul, Self) and moksha (liberation).

The Kathaka Upanishad is an important ancient Sanskrit corpus of the Vedanta sub-schools. It asserts that "Atman (Soul, Self) exists", teaches the precept "seek Self-knowledge which is Highest Bliss", and expounds on this premise like the other primary Upanishads of Hinduism. The detailed teachings of Katha Upanishad have been variously interpreted, as Dvaita (dualistic) and as Advaita ( non-dualistic).SH Nasr (1989), Knowledge and the Sacred: Revisioning Academic Accountability, State University of New York Press, , page 99, Quote: "Emerson was especially inebriated by the message of the Upanishads, whose nondualistic doctrine contained so lucidly in the Katha Upanishad, is reflected in his well known poem Brahma".Patrick Olivelle (1996), The Early Upanishads: Annotated Text & Translation, Oxford University Press, , Introduction Chapter

The Katha Upanishad found in the Yajurveda is among the most widely studied Upanishads. Philosophers such as Arthur Schopenhauer praised it, Edwin Arnold credited Katha Upanishad for the central story at the end of his essay ''Immortality'', as well as his poem "''Brahma''".

Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is found in the black Yajurveda. The text opens with metaphysical questions about the primal cause of all existence, its origin, its end, and what role if any did time, nature, necessity, chance, the spirit had as primal cause? It then develops its answer, concluding that "the Universal Soul exists in every individual, it expresses itself in every creature, everything in the world is a projection of it, and that there is Oneness, a unity of souls in one and only Self".

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is notable for its discussion of the concept of personal god – Ishvara, and suggesting it to be a path to one's own Highest Self.Max Muller
The Shvetashvatara Upanishad
Oxford University Press, pages xxxii - xliiPaul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 301-304 The text is also notable for its multiple mentions of both Rudra and Shiva, along with other Vedic deities, and of crystallization of Shiva as a central theme.

Maitrayaniya Upanishad

The Maitrayaniya Upanishad, also known as the Maitri Upanishad, is found in the black Yajurveda. It consists of seven ''Prapathakas'' (lessons). The first ''Prapathaka'' is introductory, the next three are structured in a question-answer style and discuss metaphysical questions relating to Atman (Self, Soul), while the fifth to seventh ''Prapathaka'' are supplements.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 327-386 However, several manuscripts discovered in different parts of India contain lesser number of ''Prapathakas'', with a Telugu-language version showing just four.

The common kernel of the Maitri Upanishad across different recensions, states Max Muller, is a reverence for soul, that can be summarized in a few words as, "(Man) is the Self – the immortal, the fearless, the Brahman".Max Muller, The Upanishads, Part 2
Maitrayana-Brahmana Upanishad Introduction
Oxford University Press, pages xliii-lii The Maitrayaniya Upanishad is notable for its references to theories also found in Buddhism, elements of the Samkhya and Yoga schools of Hinduism, as well as the Ashrama system.

Srautasutras

The Yajurveda had Shrautasutras and Grhyasutras attached to it, from fifteen schools: Apastamba, Agastya, Agniveshyaka, Baudhayana, Bharadvaja, Hiranyakeshi, Kaundinya, Kusidaka, Katyayana, Lokaksita, Madhyamdina, Panca-Kathaka, Satyasadha, Sakala, Sandilya, Vaikhanasa, and Vadula.Jan Gonda (1977), A History of Indian Literature: The Ritual Sutras, Vol 1, Fasc 2, Otto Harrassowitz, , page 489 Of these nine have survived, along with portions of Kaundinya.

Manuscripts and translations

Most surviving manuscripts and recensions of Yajurveda's Samhitas, Aranyakas and Brahmanas remain untranslated into Western languages. The two reliable translations are from British India colonial era, and have been widely studied. These are AB Keith's translation of Taittiriya Samhita of the Black Yajurveda, and Juliu Eggeling's translation of Satapatha Brahmana of the White Yajurveda.

Ralph Griffith published an early translation of White Yajurveda Samhita. However, Frits Staal has questioned his translations and considers them "fantasies and best discarded".

Devi Chand published a re-interpreted translation of Yajurveda in 1965, reprinted as 3rd edition in 1980, wherein the translation incorporated Dayananda Saraswati's monotheistic interpretations of the Vedic text, and the translation liberally adds "O Lord" and "the Creator" to various verses, unlike other translators.

Ezourvedam forgery

In 18th century, French Jesuits published Ezourvedam, claiming it to be a translation of a recension of the Yajurveda.Ludo Rocher (1984), Ezourvedam: A French Veda of the Eighteenth Century, University of Pennsylvania Studies on South Asia, , pages 61-66 The Ezourveda was studied by Voltaire,Moriz Winternitz and V. Srinivasa Sarma (2010), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN, page 11 footnote 1 and later declared a forgery, representing Jesuit ideas to Indians as a Vedic school.

Significance

The text is a useful source of information about the agriculture, economic and social life during the Vedic era. The verses, for example, list the types of crops considered important in ancient India,

See also

* Hindu philosophy
* Hinduism
* Kalpa (Vedanga)
* Mahīdhara
* Shatapatha Brahmana
* Vedas
* Yajna
* Sandhyavandanam

References

Sources

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Further reading

*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 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

''About Shukla Yajur Veda''
By a group of Shukla Yajur Vedis


Ralph Griffith Translation (1899)


AB Keith Translation (1914)


, Updated Edition, Harvard University
Bloomfield's Old Edition

The Taittirīya Sanhitá of the Black Yajur Veda
Rámanáráyana Vidyáratna, Mahesáchandra Nyáyaratna, Satyavrata Sámaśramí


Sanskrit text of Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā

''Die Taittirîya-Samhita''
1871

Sanskrit Web
Sanskrit texts of Taittiriya-Samhita,Brahmana,Aranyaka, EkagniKanda etc. with English translations of the Taittiriya-Samhita.

{{Hindudharma

Vedas
Hindu texts