Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

278
SANSKRIT
[literature.
the Vamsa-brdhmana, a mere list of the Samaveda teachers. To
these works has to be added the Jo/invinvyci- or Talctvcclc&vct-
brdhmana, discovered by the late Dr A. Burnell, but as yet only
known by a few extracts. From Prof. AVhitney s account of
it,1 2 * the work stands much on a level with the Brahmanas of the
E,ik and Yajurveda. A portion of it is the well-known Kena-
(or Talavakdra-) upanishctd, on the nature of Brahman, as the
supreme of deities.
Sama- If the Samaveda has thus its ample share of Brahmana-literature,
veda- though in part of a somewhat questionable character, it is not
sutras. less richly supplied with sutra-treatises, some of which probably
belong to the oldest works of that class. There are three Srauta-
sutras, which attach themselves more or less closely to the
Panchavimsa-brahmana:—Masaka’s Arsheya-Tcal'pa, which gives the
beginnings of the sam’ans in their sacrificial order, thus supplement¬
ing the Arsheya-brahmaria, which enumerates their technical
names; and the Srauta-sutras of Ldtydycma2 and Drdhydyana,
of the Kauthuma and Ranayaniya schools respectively, which
differ but little from each other, and form complete manuals of the
duties of the udgatars. Another sutra, of an exegetic character,
the Anupada-sdtra, likewise follows the Panchavimsa, the difficult
passages of which it explains. Besides these, there are a con¬
siderable number of sutras and kindred technical treatises
bearing on the prosody and phonetics of the sama-texts. The
more important of them are—the Riktantra, apparently intended
to serve as a Pratisakhya of the Samaveda ; the Niddna-sutra? a
treatise on prosody ; the Rushpa- or Pkulla-sdtra, ascribed either
to Gobhila or to Vararuchi, and treating of the phonetic modi¬
fications of the rich in the samans ; and the Sdmatantra, a treatise
on chants, of a very technical nature. Further, two Grihya-siUras,
belonging to the Samaveda, are hitherto known, viz., the Drdhyd-
yana-grihya, ascribed to Khadira, and that of Gobhila4 * (who is also
said to have composed a srauta-sutra), with a supplement, entitled
KarmapradApa, by Katyayana. To the Samaveda seems further
to belong the Gautama-dharmasdstra? composed in sutras, and
apparently the oldest existing compendium of Hindu law.
Samhitas C. Yajur-veda.—This, the sacrificial Yeda of the Adhvaryu
of Black priests, divides itself into an older and a younger branch, or, as
Yajur- they are usually called, the Black (krishna) and the White (sukla)
veda. Yajurveda. Tradition ascribes the foundation of the Yajurveda to
the sage Yaisampayana. Of his disciples three are specially named,
viz., Katha, Kalapin, and Yaska Paingi, the last of whom again
is stated to have communicated the sacrificial science to Tittiri.
How far this genealogy of teachers may be authentic cannot now
be determined ; but certain it is that in accordance therewith we
have three old collections of Yajus-texts, viz., the Kdthaka, the
Kdldpaka or Maitrdyant Samhitd,6 and the Taittirbya-samhitd.7
The Kathaka and Kalapaka are frequently mentioned together;
and the author of the “ great commentary ” on Panini once remarks
that these works were taught in every village. The Kathas and
Kalapas are often referred to under the collective name of Charakas,
which apparently means “wayfarers” or itinerant scholars; but
according to a later writer (Hemachandra) Charaka is no other
than Vaisampayana himself, after whom his followers would have
been thus called. From the Kathas proper two schools seem early
to have branched off, the Prachya- (eastern) and Kapishthala-
Kathas, the text-recension of the latter of whom has recently
been discovered in the Kapishthala-katha-samhitd. The Kalapas
also soon became subdivided into numerous different schools.
Thus from one of Kalapin’s immediate disciples, Haridru, the
Haridraviyas took their origin, whose text-recension, the Hdri-
dravika, is quoted together with the Kathaka as early as in Yaska’s
Mrukta ; but we do not know whether "it differed much from the
original Kalapa texts. As regards the Taittiriya-samhita, that
collection, too, in course of time gave rise to a number of different
schools, the text handed down being that of the Apastambas;
while the contents of another recension, that of the Atreyas, are
known from their Anukramani, which has been preserved.
The four collections of old Yajus texts, so far known to us, while
differing more or less considerably in arrangement and verbal
points, have the main mass of their textual matter in common.
This common matter consists of both sacrificial prayers (yajus) in
verse and prose and exegetic or illustrative prose portions (brah-
inana). A prominent feature of the old Yajus texts, as compared
with the other Yedas, is the constant intermixture of textual and
exegetic portions.. The Charakas and Taittiriyas thus do not
recognize the distinction between Samhita and Brahmana in the
sense of two separate collections of texts, but they have only a
Samhita, or collection, which includes likewise the exegetic or
1 Proceedings of Am. Or. Soc., May 1883.
2 Edited with Atfnisvamin's commentary, and the v. 11. of the Drahvayan
sutra, hy Anandachandra Vedtataydgisa, Bibl. Ind., 1872.
s Two chapters published hy A. Weber, Ind. St., viii.
, 'vitlj a commentary, by Chandrakanta Tarkahmkara, BiU. Ind.
• diced by A. Stenzler ; translated by G. Buhler, Sacred Books, vol. ii.
o In process of publication by L. v. Schroeder.
• 7D?f,rtly ?ublished> with Sayan a’s commentary, by E. Roer, E. B. Cowell, &
In BioL Ind. ’
Brahmana portions. The Taittiriyas seem at last to have been
impressed with their want of a separate Brahmana and to have set
about supplying the deficiency in rather an awkward fashion :
instead of separating from each other the textual and exegetic
portions of their Samhita, they merely added to the latter a
supplement (in three books), which shows the same mixed con¬
dition, and applied to it the title of Taittirtya-brdhmana.8 * But,
though the main body of this work is manifestly of a supple¬
mentary nature, a portion of it may perhaps be old, and may once
have formed part of the Samhita, considering that the latter con¬
sists of seven ashtakas, instead of eight, as this term requires,
and that certain essential parts of the ceremonial handled in the
Brahmana are entirely wanting in the Samhita. Attached to
this work is the Taittiriya-dranyaka? in ten books, the first six
of which are of a ritualistic nature, while of the remaining books
the first three (7-9) form the Taittirtyopanishad (consisting of
three parts, viz., the Sikshavalli or Samhitopanishad, and the
Anandavalli and Bhriguvalli, also called together the Varuni-
upanishad), and the last book forms the Harayaniya- (or Yajniki-)
upanishad.
The Maitrdyant Samhita, the identity of which with the original
Kalapaka has been proved pretty conclusively by Dr L. v.
Schroder, who attributes the change of name of the Kalapa-
Maitrayaniyas to Buddhist influences, consists of four books,
attached to which is the Maitri- (or Maitrdyani) upanishad.9 The
Kdthaka, on the other hand, consists of five parts, the last two of
which, however, are perhaps later additions, containing merely the
prayers of the hotar priest, and those used at the horse-sacrifice.
There is, moreover, the beautiful Katha- or Kdthaka-upanishad,™
which is also ascribed to the Atharvaveda, and in which Dr Roer
would detect allusions to the Sankhya philosophy, and even to
Buddhist doctrines.
The defective arrangement of the Yajus texts was at last Samhita
remedied by a different school of Adhvaryus, the Yajasaneyins. of White
The reputed originator of this school and its text-recension is Yajur-
Yajnavalkya Vajasaneya (son of Vajasani). The result of the re- veda.
arrangement of the texts was a collection of,sacrificial mantras, the
Vdjasaneyi-samhitd, and a Brahmana, the Satapatha. On account
of the greater lucidity of this arrangement, the Yajasaneyins
called their texts the White (or clear) Yajurveda,—the name of
Black (or obscure) Yajus being for opposite reasons applied to the
Charaka texts. Both the Samhita and Brahmana of the Vajasaneyins
have come down to us in two different recensions, viz., those of the
Mddhyandina and Kdnva schools ; and we find besides a consider¬
able number of quotations from a Yajasaneyaka, from which we
cannot doubt that there must have been at least one other recension
of the Satapatha-brahmana. The difference between the two extant
recensions is, on the whole, but slight as regards the subject-matter;
but in point of diction it is quite sufficient to make a comparison
especially interesting from a philological point of view. Which of
the two versions may be the more original cannot as yet be
determined; but the phonetic and grammatical differences will
probably have to be accounted for by a geographical separation of
the two schools rather than by a difference of age. In several
points of difference the Kanva recension agrees with the practice of
the Rik-samhita, and there probably was some connexion between
the Yajus school of Kanvas and the famous family of rishis of that
name to which the eighth mandala of the Rik is attributed.
The Vdjasaneyi-samhitd11 consists of forty adhyayas, the first
eighteen of which contain the formulas of the ordinary sacrifices.
The last fifteen adhyayas are doubtless a later addition,—as may
also be the case as regards the preceding seven chapters. The last
adhyaya is commonly known under the title of Vajasaneyi-samhita-
(or Isavasya-) upanishad.12 Its object seems to be to point out the
fruitlessness of mere works, and to insist on the necessity of man’s
acquiring a knowledge of the supreme spirit. The sacrificial texts
of the Adhvaryus consist, in about equal parts, of verses (rich) and
prose formulas (yajus). The majority of the former occur likewise
in the Rik-samhita, from which they were doubtless extracted.
Not unfrequently, however, they show considerable discrepancies
of reading, which may be explained partly from a difference of recen¬
sion and partly as the result of the adaptation of these verses to
their special sacrificial purpose. As regards the prose formulas,
though only a few of them are actually referred to in the Rik, it is
quite possible that many of them may be of high antiquity.
The Satapatha-brdhmana,™ or Brahmana of a hundred paths, Brah-
derives its name from the fact of its consisting of 100 lectures mana
(adhyaya), which are divided by the Madhyandinas into fourteen, by of White
- 1 Yajur-
8 Edited, with SHyana’s commentary, by Rajendral&la Mitra, Bibl. Ind. veda.
9 Text and translation published by E. B. Cowell, Bibl. Ind.
10 Text, commentary, and translation published by E. Rber, Bibl. Ind.
11 Edited, in the Madhyandina recension, with the commentary of Mahidhara,
and the v. 11. of the Kftnva text, by A. Weber, 1849.
12 Translation by E. Roer, Bibl. Ind.; by F. M. Muller, Sacred Books of the
East, i.
13 Edited by A. Weber, who also translated the first chapter into German. In
Sacred Books of the East, a translation, by J. Eggeling, is being published,—2
vols., containing the first four books, haying appeared.