This article is about a scripture of Hinduism. For the field of traditional Indian medicine, seeAyurveda.
Yajurveda
A page from theVajasneyi samhita found in the Shukla Yajurveda (Sanskrit, Devanagari script). This version of the manuscript opens with salutations to Ganesha and Sadashiva (Shaivism).
TheYajurveda (Sanskrit:यजुर्वेद,IAST:yajurveda, fromयजुस्, "worship",[3] andवेद, "knowledge") is theVeda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.[4] 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 theyajña fire.[4] Yajurveda is one of the fourVedas, and one of the scriptures ofHinduism. The exact century of Yajurveda's composition is unknown, and estimated by Witzel to be between 1200 and 800 BCE, contemporaneous withSāmaveda andAtharvaveda.
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.[5] The black Yajurveda has survived in four recensions, while two recensions of white Yajurveda have survived into modern times.[6]
Two of the oldest surviving manuscript copies of theShukla Yajurveda sections have been discovered inNepal and WesternTibet, and these are dated to the 12th-century CE.[12]
Yajurveda text describes formula and mantras to be uttered during sacrificial fire (yajna) rituals, shown. Offerings are typicallyghee (clarified butter), grains, aromatic seeds, and cow milk.
Yajurveda is a compound Sanskrit word, composed ofyajus (यजुस्) andVeda (वेद). Monier-Williams translatesyajus as "religious reverence, veneration, worship, sacrifice, a sacrificial prayer, formula, particularly mantras uttered in a peculiar manner at a sacrifice".[13]Veda means "knowledge". Johnson statesyajus means "(mostly) prose formulae or mantras, contained in the Yajur Veda, which are muttered".[14]
Michael Witzel interprets Yajurveda to mean a "knowledge text of prose mantras" used in Vedic rituals.[4] Ralph Griffith interprets the name to mean "knowledge of sacrifice or sacrificial texts and formulas".[15] Carl Olson states that Yajurveda is a text of "mantras (sacred formulas) that are repeated and used in rituals".[16]
The core text of the Yajurveda falls within the classical Mantra period ofVedic Sanskrit at the end of the 2nd millennium BCE – younger than theRigveda, and roughly contemporary with theAtharvaveda, the RigvedicKhilani, and theSāmaveda.[17] The scholarly consensus dates the bulk of the Yajurveda and Atharvavedahymns to the early IndianIron Age, after c. 1200 and before 800 BCE.[1]
The Yajurveda text includes Shukla Yajurveda of which about 16 recensions (known asShaakhaas) are known, while the Krishna Yajurveda may have had as many as 86 recensions.[6] 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.[6] In contrast to Shukla Yajurveda, the four surviving recensions of Krishna Yajurveda are very different versions.[6]
The samhita in the Shukla Yajurveda is called theVajasaneyi Samhita. The nameVajasaneyi is derived from Vajasaneya, the patronymic ofYajnavalkya, and the founder of the Vajasaneyi branch. There are two (nearly identical) surviving recensions of the Vajasaneyi Samhita (VS):Vajasaneyi Madhyandina andVajasaneyi Kanva.[6] The lost recensions of the White Yajurveda, mentioned in other texts of ancient India, includeJabala,Baudhya,Sapeyi,Tapaniya,Kapola,Paundravatsa,Avati,Paramavatika,Parasara,Vaineya,Vaidheya,Katyayana andVaijyavapa.[18]
There are four surviving recensions of the Krishna Yajurveda –Taittirīya saṃhitā,Maitrayani saṃhitā,Kaṭha saṃhitā andKapiṣṭhala saṃhitā.[22] A total of eighty six recensions are mentioned to exist in Vayu Purana, however vast majority of them are believed to be lost.[23] The Katha school is referred to as a sub-school ofCarakas (wanderers) in some ancient texts of India, because they did their scholarship as they wandered from place to place.[24] 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).[25]
Śatādhyāya Brāhmaṇa (only exists in fragments)[31]
Katha Aranyaka (almost the entire text from a solitary manuscript)
Kathaka Upanishad,
Katha-Shiksha Upanishad
The most modern recensions is theTaittirīya saṃhitā. Some attribute it to Tittiri, a pupil ofYaska and mentioned byPanini.[32] The text is associated with theTaittiriya school of the Yajurveda, and attributed to the pupils of sage Tittiri (literally,partridge birds).[33]
TheMaitrayani 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.[34]
TheKāṭhaka saṃhitā or theCaraka-Kaṭha saṃhitā, according to tradition was compiled by Katha, a disciple ofVaisampayana.[34] Like the Maitrayani Samhita, it offers much more detailed discussion of some rituals than the youngerTaittiriya samhita that frequently summarizes such accounts.[34] TheKapiṣṭhala saṃhitā or theKapiṣṭhala-Kaṭha saṃhitā, named after the sage Kapisthala is extant only in some large fragments and edited without accent marks.[34] This text is practically a variant of theKāṭhaka saṃhitā.[29]
Each regional edition (recension) of Yajurveda hadSamhita,Brahmana,Aranyakas,Upanishads as part of the text, withShrautasutras,Grhyasutras andPratishakhya attached to the text. In Shukla Yajurveda, the text organization is same for both Madhayndina and Kanva shakhas.[6][18] The texts attached to Shukla Yajurveda include theKatyayana Shrautasutra,Paraskara Grhyasutra andShukla 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.[5][34]
The former is a variant of the soma sacrifice which involves a chariot race, and the latter is a variant of the soma sacrifice in which a king is consecrated.
Symbolic sacrifice ofPurusha (Cosmic Man). Nominal victim played the part, but released uninjured after the ceremony, according toMax Muller[45] and others.[46] A substitute forAshvamedha (horse sacrifice). The ritual plays out the cosmic creation.
Stated to be more important thanPurushamedha 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 andmoksha, who is offered "curd and ghee (clarified butter)".
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.
This chapter is not an external sacrifice ritual-related. It isIsha 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.
The various ritualmantras in the Yajurveda Samhitas are typically set in a meter, and call on Vedic deities such as theSavita (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),[52]
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 !
The titleSatapatha Brahmana means "Brahmana of the Hundred Paths".[53] It is one of the largestBrahmana text that has survived.[53] It includes, states Staal, a "veritable encyclopedia of meandering opinions on ritual and other matters".[53]
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 supportany theory".[53] 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 ofGnosticism.[53][54]
TheBrihadaranyaka Upanishad is found in the White Yajurveda.[5] It is one of theMukhya Upanishads, and among the largest and oldest as well (~700 BCE).[10] It is a key scripture ofHinduism that has influenced all schools ofHindu philosophy. The text is a treatise onĀtman (Soul, Self), with passages on metaphysics, ethics and a yearning for knowledge that influenced variousIndian religions, ancient and medieval scholars.[55][56][57]
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is among the earliest extensive discussions of the Hindu concept ofdharma,karma andmoksha (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.[58] 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 thePrajna (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[59]
TheIsha Upanishad is found in the White Yajurveda.[5] It is one of the shortestUpanishads, embedded as the final chapter of the Shukla Yajurveda. A key scripture of theVedanta sub-schools of Hinduism, its name is derived from "hidden in the Lord (Self)".[60]
The Isha Upanishad discusses the Atman (Soul, Self) theory of Hinduism, and is referenced by bothDvaita (dualism) andAdvaita (non-dualism) sub-schools of Vedanta.[61][62] It is classified as a "poetic Upanishad" along with Kena, Katha, Shvetashvatara and Mandukya Upanishads.[63]
TheTaittiriya Upanishad is found in the black Yajurveda.[5] It is the seventh, eighth and ninth chapters of TaittiriyaAranyaka, which are also called, respectively, theSiksha Valli, theAnanda Valli and theBhrigu Valli.[5][64]
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 Vedicgurukul (schools), partly a treatise on allegory, and partly philosophical instruction.[5]
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.[65] 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."[65]
TheKatha Upanishad is found in the black Yajurveda.[5] The Upanishad is the legendary story of a little boy,Nachiketa – the son of sage Vajasravasa, who meetsYama – the Indian deity of death. Their conversation evolves to a discussion of the nature of man, knowledge, Ātman (Soul, Self) and moksha (liberation).[66]
The Kathaka Upanishad is an important ancient Sanskrit corpus of theVedanta 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, asDvaita (dualistic)[67] and asAdvaita (non-dualistic).[68][69][70]
The Katha Upanishad found in the Yajurveda is among the most widely studied Upanishads. Philosophers such asArthur Schopenhauer praised it,Edwin Arnold rendered it in verse as "The Secret of Death", andRalph Waldo Emerson credited Katha Upanishad for the central story at the end of his essayImmortality, as well as his poem "Brahma".[68][71]
TheShvetashvatara Upanishad is found in the black Yajurveda.[5] 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?[72] 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".[73]
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.[73][74] The text is also notable for its multiple mentions of bothRudra andShiva, along with other Vedic deities, and of crystallization of Shiva as a central theme.[74]
TheMaitrayaniya Upanishad, also known as the Maitri Upanishad, is found in the black Yajurveda. It consists of sevenPrapathakas (lessons). The firstPrapathaka is introductory, the next three are structured in a question-answer style and discuss metaphysical questions relating toAtman (Self, Soul), while the fifth to seventhPrapathaka are supplements.[75] However, several manuscripts discovered in different parts of India contain lesser number ofPrapathakas, with a Telugu-language version showing just four.[76]
The common kernel of the Maitri Upanishad across different recensions, statesMax Muller, is a reverence for soul, that can be summarized in a few words as, "(Man) is the Self – the immortal, the fearless, theBrahman".[76] The Maitrayaniya Upanishad is notable for its references to theories also found inBuddhism, elements of theSamkhya andYoga schools of Hinduism, as well as theAshrama system.[77]
The Yajurveda hadShrautasutras andGrhyasutras 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.[78] Of these nine have survived, along with portions of Kaundinya.[78]
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.[79] These are AB Keith's translation of Taittiriya Samhita of the Black Yajurveda,[80] and Juliu Eggeling's translation of Satapatha Brahmana of the White Yajurveda.[54]
Ralph Griffith published an early translation of White Yajurveda Samhita.[81] However,Frits Staal has questioned his translations and considers them "fantasies and best discarded".[82]
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.[83]
In 18th century, French Jesuits publishedEzourvedam, claiming it to be a translation of a recension of the Yajurveda.[84][85] The Ezourveda was studied byVoltaire,[86] and later declared a forgery, representing Jesuit ideas to Indians as a Vedic school.[85]
The text is a useful source of information about the agriculture, economic and social life during the Vedic era.[87] The verses, for example, list the types of crops considered important in ancient India,
May myrice plants and my barley, and my beans and mysesame, and my kidney-beans and my vetches, and mypearl millet and myproso millet, and mysorghum and my wild rice, and mywheat and mylentils, prosper by sacrifice.
^Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin,ISBN978-0143099864, pages 149–153, Quote: "The Satapatha is one of the largest Brahmanas..."
^Michael Witzel; Qinyuan Wu (2019).The Two Oldest Veda Manuscripts: Facsimile Edition of Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā 1–20 (Saṃhitā- and Padapāṭha) from Nepal and Western Tibet (c. 1150 CE). Harvard University Press (Harvard Oriental Series 92). pp. 1–8.ISBN9780674988262.
^Monier Monier Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Entry for Yajus, page 839
^Max Muller,The Sacred Books of the East, p. 407, atGoogle Books, Volume 44, Part 5, Oxford University Press; Also see A Weber's agreement that this was symbolic on page 413
^Oliver Leaman (2006), Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Routledge,ISBN978-0415172813, 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".
^Deussen, Paul (1908), The philosophy of the Upanishads
^Taittiriya Upanishad SS Sastri (Translator), The Aitereya and Taittiriya Upanishad, pages 57–192
^abMax Muller, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 15, Oxford University Press, Chapter 3: Taittiriya Upanishad, see Siksha Valli – Tenth Anuvaka
^Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass,ISBN978-8120814684, pages 269–273
^Ariel Glucklich (2008), The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective, Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0-19-531405-2, page 70
^abSH Nasr (1989), Knowledge and the Sacred: Revisioning Academic Accountability, State University of New York Press,ISBN978-0791401767, 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".
^Kathopanishad, in The Katha and Prasna Upanishads with Sri Shankara's Commentary, Translated by SS Sastri, Harvard College Archives, pages 1–3
^Patrick Olivelle (1996), The Early Upanishads: Annotated Text & Translation, Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0195124354, Introduction Chapter
^R White (2010), Schopenhauer and Indian Philosophy, International Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 50, issue 1, pages 57–76
^Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass,ISBN978-8120814684, pages 305 with footnote 2
^Devi Chand (1980), The Yajurveda, 3rd Edition, Munshiram Manoharlal,ISBN978-8121502948
^Urs App (2011), The Birth of Orientalism. Chapter 1: Voltaire's Veda, University of Pennsylvania Press, pages 433–435
^abLudo Rocher (1984), Ezourvedam: A French Veda of the Eighteenth Century, University of Pennsylvania Studies on South Asia,ISBN978-0915027064, pages 61–66
^Moriz Winternitz and V. Srinivasa Sarma (2010), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN, page 11 footnote 1
