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This article is about a scripture of Hinduism. For field of traditional Indian medicine, see Ayurveda.
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The Yajurveda (Sanskrit: यजुर्वेद, yajurveda, from yajus meaning "prose mantra" and veda meaning "knowledge") is the Veda of prose mantras.[1] 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.[1] 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 scholars to be around 1200 to 1000 BCE, contemporaneous with Samaveda and Atharvaveda.[2]

The Yajurveda is broadly grouped into two – the "black" (Krishna) Yajurveda and the "white" (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.[3] The black Yajurveda has survived in four recensions, while two recensions of white Yajurveda has survived into the modern times.[4]

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.[5][6] The middle layer includes the Satapatha Brahmana, one of the largest Brahmana texts in the Vedic collection.[7] 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.[8][9]

Etymology

Yajurveda text describes formula and mantras to be uttered during sacrificial fire (yajna) rituals, shown. Offerings are typically ghee (clarified butter), grains, aromatic seeds, and cow milk.

Yajurveda is a compound Sanskrit word, composed of yajus (यजुस्) and veda (वेद). Monier-Williams translates yajus as "religious reverence, veneration, worship, sacrifice, a sacrificial prayer, formula, particularly mantras muttered in a peculiar manner at a sacrifice".[10] Veda means "knowledge". Johnson states yajus means "(mostly) prose formulae or mantras, contained in the Yajur Veda, which are muttered".[11]

Michael Witzel interprets Yajurveda to mean a "knowledge text of prose mantras" used in Vedic rituals.[1] Ralph Griffith interprets the name to mean "knowledge of sacrifice or sacrificial texts and formulas".[12] Carl Olson states that Yajurveda is a text of "mantras (sacred formulas) that are repeated and used in rituals".[13]

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.[4] 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 few differences.[4] In contrast to Shukla Yajurveda, the four surviving recensions of Krishna Yajurveda are very different versions.[4]

Shukla Yajurveda

The samhita in the Shukla Yajurveda is called the Vajasaneyi Samhita. The name Vajasaneyi is derived from Vajasaneya, patronymic of sage 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.[4] The lost recensions of White Yajurveda, mentioned in other texts of ancient India, include Jabala, Baudhya, Sapeyi, Tapaniya, Kapola, Paundravatsa, Avati, Paramavatika, Parasara, Vaineya, Vaidheya, Katyayana and Vaijayavapa.[14]

Recensions of the White Yajurveda[15]
Recension Name Adhyayas Anuvakas No. of Verses Regional presence Reference
Madhyandina 40 303 1975 Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, North India [16]
Kanva 40 328 2086 Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu [17]

Krishna Yajurveda

There are four surviving recensions of the Krishna Yajurveda – Taittirīya saṃhitā, Maitrayani saṃhitā, Kaṭha saṃhitā and Kapiṣṭhala saṃhitā.[18] A total of eighty six recensions are mentioned to exist in Vayu Purana, however vast majority of them are believed to be lost.[19] 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.[20]

Recensions of the Black Yajurveda[15]
Recension Name No. of Sub-recensions[21] Kanda Prapathaka No. of Mantras Regional presence Reference
Taittiriya 2 7 42 South India [22]
Maitrayani 6 4 54 Western India [23]
Kāṭhaka (Caraka) 12 5 40 3093 Kashmir, North India, East India [21][24]
Kapiṣṭhala 5 6 48 Haryana, Rajasthan [24][25]

The best known and best preserved of these recensions is the Taittirīya saṃhitā. Some attribute it to Tittiri, a pupil of Yaksa and mentioned by Panini.[26] The text is associated with the Taittiriya school of the Yajurveda, and attributed to the pupils of sage Tittiri (literally, partridge birds).[27]

The Maitrayani saṃhitā 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.[28]

The Kāṭhaka saṃhitā or the Caraka-Kaṭha saṃhitā, according to tradition was compiled by Katha, a disciple of Vaisampayana.[28] Like the Maitrayani Samhita, it offers much more detailed discussion of some rituals than the younger Taittiriya samhita that frequently summarizes such accounts.[28] The Kapiṣṭhala saṃhitā or the Kapiṣṭhala-Kaṭha saṃhitā, named after the sage Kapisthala is extant only in some large fragments and edited without accent marks.[28] This text is practically a variant of the Kāṭhaka saṃhitā.[24]

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.[4][14] The texts attached to Shukla Yajurveda include the Katyayana Shrautasutra, Paraskara Grhyasutra and Shukla Yajurveda Pratishakhya.[citation needed]

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.[3][28]

Contents

Samhitas

The Vajasaneyi Samhita has forty chapters or adhyayas, containing the formulas used with the following rituals:[15]

Chapters of the White Yajurveda[15]
Chapter No. Ritual Name Days Nature of Ritual Reference
1-2 Darsapurnamasa (Full and new moon rituals) 2 Offer cow milk to fire. Separate calves from the cows. [29][30]
3 Agnihotra 1 Offer butter and milk to fire. Welcome three chief seasons: Spring, Rains and Autumn. [31]
4-8 Somayajna Bathe in river. Offer milk and soma to fire. Offerings to deities of thought, speech. Prayer to Vishnu to harm no crop, guard the cattle, expel demons. [32]
9-10 Vajapeya and Rajasuya Cup of Victory, Inauguration of a King. Offering of butter and Sura (a kind of beer or wine) to fire. [33]
11-18 Agnicayana 360 Formulas and rituals for building altars and hearths for Agni yajna, with largest in the shape of outspread eagle or falcon. [34]
19-21 Sautramani Offerings of Masara (rice-barley liquor plus boiled millet) to fire. Expiate evil indulgences in soma-drinking. For dethroned king, for soldiers going to war for victory, for regulars to acquire cattle and wealth. [35]
22-25 Ashvamedha 180 or 360 Only by King. A horse is released, followed by armed soldiers, wherein anyone who stops or harms the wandering horse is declared enemy of state. The horse is returned to the capital and is ceremoniously slaughtered by the soldiers. Eulogy to the departed horse. Prayers to deities. [36]
26-29 Supplementary formulas for above sacrifices [37]
30-31 Purushamedha Symbolic sacrifice of Purusha (Cosmic Man). Nominal victim played the part, but released uninjured after the ceremony, according to Max Muller[38] and others.[39] A substitute for Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice). The ritual plays out the cosmic creation. [40]
32-34 Sarvamedha 10 Stated to be more important than Purushamedha above. This ritual is a sacrifice for Universal Success and Prosperity. Ritual for one to be wished well, or someone leaving the home, particularly for solitude and moksha, who is offered "curd and ghee (clarified butter)". [41]
35 Pitriyajna Ritual funeral-related formulas for cremation. Sacrifice to the Fathers and Ancestors. [42]
36-39 Pravargya According to Griffith, the ritual is for long life, unimpaired faculties, health, strength, prosperity, security, tranquility and contentment. Offerings of cow milk and grains to yajna fire. [43]
40 This chapter is not an external sacrifice ritual-related. It is Isha Upanishad, a philosophical treatise about inner Self (Atman, Soul). The verse 40.6 states, "The man who in his Self beholds all creatures and all things that be, And in all beings sees his Self, then he doubts no longer, ponders not. [44]
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),[45]

First harnessing the mind, Savita; creating thoughts and perceiving light, brought Agni from the earth.
Harnessing the gods with mind; they who go with thought to the sky, to heaven, Savita instigates those who will make great light.
With the mind harnessed, we are instigated by god Savita, for strength to go to heaven.

Whose journey the other gods follow, praising the power of the god, who measured the radiant regions of the earth, he is the great god Savita.
God Savita, impel the ritual, impel for good fortune the lord of ritual !
Divine Gandharva, purifier of thought, purify our thoughts ! May the lord of speech make our words sweet !

God Savita, impel for us this ritual,
Honoring the gods, gaining friends, always victorious, winning wealth, winning heaven !

— Taittiriya Samhita 4.1.1, Translated by Frits Staal[45]

Satapatha Brahmana

Main article: Satapatha Brahmana

The title Satapatha Brahmana means "Brahmana of the Hundred Paths".[46] It is one of the largest Brahmana text that has survived.[46] It includes, states Staal, a "veritable encyclopedia of meandering opinions on ritual and other matters".[46]

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".[46] 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.[46][47]

Upanishads

The Yajurveda has six primary Upanishads embedded within it.[9]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is found in the White Yajurveda.[3] It is one of the Mukhya Upanishads, and among the largest and oldest as well (~700 BCE).[8] It is 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.[48][49][50]

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.[51] Max Muller illustrated its style as follows,

But when he [Self] fancies that he is, as it were, a god,
or that he is, as it were, a king,
or "I am this altogether," that is his highest world,
This indeed is his (true) form, free from desires, free from evil, free from fear.

Now as a man, when embraced by a beloved wife,
knows nothing that is without, nothing that is within,
thus this person, when embraced by the Prajna (conscious, aware) Self,
knows nothing that is without, nothing that is within.
This indeed is his (true) form, in which his wishes are fulfilled,
in which the Self only is his wish, in which no other wish is left,
he is free from any sorrow.

— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Chapter 4, Brahmanam 3, Hymns 20-32, Translated by Max Muller[52]

Isha Upanishad

The Isha Upanishad is found in the White Yajurveda.[3] 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)".[53]

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.[54][55] It is classified as a "poetic Upanishad" along with Kena, Katha, Svetasvatara and Mundaka Upanishads.[56]

Taittiriya Upanishad

The Taittiriya Upanishad is found in the black Yajurveda.[3] 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.[3][57]

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.[3]

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 an capable, empowered blissful being.[58] 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."[58]

Katha Upanishad

The Katha Upanishad is found in the black Yajurveda.[3] 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).[59]

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)[60] and as Advaita (non-dualistic).[61][62][63]

The Katha Upanishad found in the Yajurveda is among the most widely studied Upanishads. Philosophers such as Arthur Schopenhauer praised it, Edwin Arnold rendered it in verse as "The Secret of Death", and Ralph Waldo Emerson credited Katha Upanishad for the central story at the end of his essay Immortality, as well as his poem "Brahma".[61][64]

Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is found in the black Yajurveda.[3] 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?[65] 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".[66]

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.[66][67] 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.[67]

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.[68] However, several manuscripts discovered in different parts of India contain lesser number of Prapathakas, with a Telugu language version showing just four.[69]

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".[69] 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.[70]

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.[71] Of these nine have survived, along with portions of Kaundinya.[71]

Dating and historical context

File:Arjuna followed the horse used for Aswameda Yaga.jpg
Ashvamedhika parva of the Hindu epic Mahabharata describes the year long ceremony according to Yajurveda.

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 Sāmaveda.[72] The scholarly consensus dates the bulk of the Yajurveda and Atharvaveda hymns to the early Indian Iron Age, c. 1200 or 1000 BC,[73] corresponding to the early Kuru Kingdom.[74]

The Vedas are notoriously hard to date accurately as they are compilations and were traditionally preserved through oral tradition leaving virtually no archaeological evidence. Scholars such as Georg Feuerstein and others suggest that the dates given to most of these texts is far too late.[75]

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,

May my rice plants and my barley, and my beans and my sesame,
and my kidney-beans and my vetches, and my pearl millet and my proso millet,
and my sorghum and my wild rice, and my wheat and my lentils,
prosper by sacrifice.

— White Yajurveda 18.12, [76]

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.[77] These are AB Keith's translation of Taittiriya Samhita of the Black Yajurveda,[78] and Julius Eggeling's translation of Satapatha Brahmana of the White Yajurveda.[47]

Ralph Griffith published an early translation of White Yajurveda Samhita.[79] However, Frits Staal has questioned his translations and considers them "fantasies and best discarded".[80]

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.[81]

Ezourvedam forgery

In 18th century, French Jesuits published Ezourvedam, claiming it to be a translation of a recension of the Yajurveda.[82][83] The Ezourveda was studied by Voltaire,[84] and later declared a forgery, representing Jesuit ideas to Indians as a Vedic school.[83]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism (Editor: Gavin Flood), Blackwell, ISBN 0-631215352, pages 76-77
  2. ^ Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism (Editor: Gavin Flood), Blackwell, ISBN 0-631215352, pages 68-70
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 217-219
  4. ^ a b c d e f CL Prabhakar (1972), The Recensions of the Sukla Yajurveda, Archív Orientální, Volume 40, Issue 1, pages 347-353
  5. ^ Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN 978-0595269259, pages 273-274
  6. ^ Edmund Gosse, Short histories of the literatures of the world, p. 181, at Google Books, New York: Appleton, page 181
  7. ^ Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN 978-0143099864, pages 149-153, Quote: "The Satapatha is one of the largest Brahmanas..."
  8. ^ a b Paul Deussen, The Philosophy of the Upanishads, Motilal Banarsidass (2011 Edition), ISBN 978-8120816206, page 23
  9. ^ a b Patrick Olivelle (1998), Upaniṣhads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-282292-6, pages 1-17
  10. ^ Monier Monier Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Entry for Yajus, page 839
  11. ^ WJ Johnson (2009), Yajus, A Dictionary of Hinduism, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0198610250
  12. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, page xvii
  13. ^ Carl Olson (2007), The Many Colors of Hinduism, Rutgers University Press, ISBN 978-0813540689, page 13
  14. ^ a b GS Rai, Sakhas of the Yajurveda in the Puranas, Purana, Vol 7, No. 1, pages 11-16
  15. ^ a b c d Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, page i-xvi
  16. ^ GS Rai, Sakhas of the Yajurveda in the Puranas, Purana, Vol 7, No. 1, page 13
  17. ^ GS Rai, Sakhas of the Yajurveda in the Puranas, Purana, Vol 7, No. 1, page 14
  18. ^ Michael Witzel, Early Sanskritization, Origins and Development of the Kuru State, Harvard University (1996)
  19. ^ GS Rai, Sakhas of the Krsna Yajurveda in the Puranas, Purana, Vol 7, No. 2, page 235
  20. ^ GS Rai, Sakhas of the Krsna Yajurveda in the Puranas, Purana, Vol 7, No. 2, pages 236-238
  21. ^ a b GS Rai, Sakhas of the Krsna Yajurveda in the Puranas, Purana, Vol 7, No. 2, pages 238-241
  22. ^ AB Keith, THE VEDA OF THE BLACK YAJUS SCHOOL: Taittiriya Sanhita, Oxford University, pages i-xii
  23. ^ GS Rai, Sakhas of the Krsna Yajurveda in the Puranas, Purana, Vol 7, No. 2, pages 244
  24. ^ a b c Gonda, Jan (1975). A History of Indian Literature: Veda and Upanishads. Vol. Vol.I. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. pp. 326–327. ISBN 3-447-01603-5. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  25. ^ GS Rai, Sakhas of the Krsna Yajurveda in the Puranas, Purana, Vol 7, No. 2, pages 241-242
  26. ^ Dowson, John (1984) [1879]. A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology, and Religion, Geography, History. Calcutta: Rupa & Co. p. 319.
  27. ^ A Weber, History of Indian Literature, p. 87, at Google Books, Trubner & Co, pages 87-91
  28. ^ a b c d e GS Rai, Sakhas of the Krsna Yajurveda in the Puranas, Purana, Vol 7, No. 2, pages 235-253
  29. ^ Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN 978-0143099864, page 124
  30. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 1-16
  31. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 17-25
  32. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 26-70
  33. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 71-86
  34. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 87-171
  35. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 172-204
  36. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 205-234
  37. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 235-254
  38. ^ Max Muller, The Sacred Books of the East, p. 407, at Google Books, Volume 44, Part 5, Oxford University Press; Also see A Weber's agreement that this was symbolic on page 413
  39. ^ Oliver Leaman (2006), Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415172813, page 557, Quote: "It should be mentioned that although provision is made for human sacrifice (purusha-medha) this was purely symbolic and did not involve harm to anyone".
  40. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 255-263
  41. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 264-287
  42. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 288-290
  43. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 291-303
  44. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, pages 304-310
  45. ^ a b Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN 978-0143099864, pages 127-128
  46. ^ a b c d e Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN 978-0143099864, pages 151-152
  47. ^ a b Julius Eggeling, Satapatha Brahmana, Part 1, Book 1 and 2, Max Muller (Editor), Oxford University Press, page ix Introduction
  48. ^ Brihadaranyaka Upanishad with Adi Shankara's commentary S. Madhavananada (Translator)
  49. ^ Brihadaranyaka Upanisad with the commentary of Madhvacharya, Translated by Rai Bahadur Sriśa Chandra Vasu (1933), OCLC 222634127
  50. ^ Patrick Olivelle (1998), Upaniṣhads, Oxford University Press, 1998, pages 1-23
  51. ^ Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, page 482
  52. ^ Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Max Muller, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 15, Oxford University Press
  53. ^ Max Muller, The Upanishads, The Sacred Books of the East, Part 1, Oxford University Press, Reprinted by Routledge in 2013, ISBN 978-0700706006, Vol. 1, pages 311-319
  54. ^ AK Bhattacharyya, Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology, ISBN 978-0595384556, pages 25-46
  55. ^ Madhava Acharya, The Commentary of Sri Madhva on Isha and Kena Upanishad, OCLC 24455623; also Isavasyopanisad bhasya sangraha, ISBN 978-8187177210, OCLC 81882275
  56. ^ Deussen, Paul (1908), The philosophy of the Upanishads
  57. ^ Taittiriya Upanishad SS Sastri (Translator), The Aitereya and Taittiriya Upanishad, pages 57-192
  58. ^ a b Max Muller, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 15, Oxford University Press, Chapter 3: Taittiriya Upanishad, see Siksha Valli - Tenth Anuvaka
  59. ^ Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 269-273
  60. ^ Ariel Glucklich (2008), The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-531405-2, page 70
  61. ^ a b SH Nasr (1989), Knowledge and the Sacred: Revisioning Academic Accountability, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791401767, 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".
  62. ^ Kathopanishad, in The Katha and Prasna Upanishads with Sri Shankara's Commentary, Translated by SS Sastri, Harvard College Archives, pages 1-3
  63. ^ Patrick Olivelle (1996), The Early Upanishads: Annotated Text & Translation, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195124354, Introduction Chapter
  64. ^ R White (2010), Schopenhauer and Indian Philosophy, International Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 50, issue 1, pages 57-76
  65. ^ Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 305 with footnote 2
  66. ^ a b Max Muller, The Shvetashvatara Upanishad, Oxford University Press, pages xxxii - xlii
  67. ^ a b Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 301-304
  68. ^ Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 327-386
  69. ^ a b Max Muller, The Upanishads, Part 2, Maitrayana-Brahmana Upanishad Introduction, Oxford University Press, pages xliii-lii
  70. ^ Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 328-329
  71. ^ a b Jan Gonda (1977), A History of Indian Literature: The Ritual Sutras, Vol 1, Fasc 2, Otto Harrassowitz, ISBN 978-3447018234, page 489
  72. ^ The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools, Michael Witzel, Harvard University
  73. ^ Autochthonous Aryans? Michael Witzel, Harvard University
  74. ^ Early Sanskritization, Michael Witzel, Harvard University
  75. ^ Feuerstein, Georg (2013-09-11). The Yoga Tradition: It's History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice (Kindle Locations 2645-2653). Hohm Press. Kindle Edition. "The dating of the first four historical periods is admittedly speculative, but so is the standard chronology found in college textbooks. The Vedas clearly must be assigned to an era well before the benchmark date of 1900 B.C.E., which will be explained shortly. How much earlier is not yet known with any degree of certainty, though astronomical references in the Vedas themselves, together with the dynastic genealogies (from the Purânas) and the list of sages in the Brâhmanas and Upanishads, justify a date at least two thousand or more years prior to 1200 B.C.E., which is the commonly accepted but patently wrong date for the composition of the Rig-Veda. Just as the Vedas must be assigned to an earlier period, the composition of the original Brâhmanas for very similar reasons must be pushed back in time before 1900 B.C.E. Likewise the oldest Upanishads, generally thought to have been created shortly before the time of the Buddha, ought to be placed much earlier in light of all this."
  76. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus, page 163
  77. ^ Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN 978-0143099864, pages 353, 121-153
  78. ^ AB Keith (1914), Taittiriya Sanhita, Harvard University Press
  79. ^ Ralph Griffith, The texts of the white Yajurveda EJ Lazarus (1899)
  80. ^ Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN 978-0143099864, page 352
  81. ^ Devi Chand (1980), The Yajurveda, 3rd Edition, Munshiram Manoharlal, ISBN 978-8121502948
  82. ^ Urs App (2011), The Birth of Orientalism. Chapter 1: Voltaire's Veda, University of Pennsylvania Press, pages 433-435
  83. ^ a b Ludo Rocher (1984), Ezourvedam: A French Veda of the Eighteenth Century, University of Pennsylvanis Studies on South Asia, ISBN 978-0915027064, pages 61-66
  84. ^ Moriz Winternitz and V. Srinivasa Sarma (2010), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120802643, page 11 footnote 1

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).
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