English
In the 30th Adhy&ya a list of people is given who are to be sacrificed at the Purushamedha, and among them we find the Charak&ch&rya, the teachei* of the Gharakas, as the proper victim to be offered to Dush- krita or Sin. This passage, together with simiW hostile expressions in the Hatapatha-br&hmana, were evidently dictated by a feeling of animosity against the ancient schools of the Adhvaryus, whose sacred texts we possess in the Taittiriya-veda, and from whom Y&jnavalkya seceded in order to become him- self the founder of the new Charanas of the ViLjasa- neyins. If we compare the Sanhit& and Brfthmana of the y&jasaneyins with those of the Charakad, we see that the order of the sacrifices is on the whole the same^ and that the chief difference between the two consists in the division of Mantras and Br&hmanas, which is carried out more strictly by Y&jnavalkya than in the ancient text of the Taittirlyas. This was nwst likely the reason why the text of Yftjnavalkya was caUed j^ukla Yajur-veda, which is generally translated by the White Yajur-veda. But some commentators ex- plain l§ukla more correctly by i^uddha^, and translate > Dvivedaganga explains S^AllPt ^SRJf^ bj IJ^lf^ '^Tf CODE OF THE TAITTlBtTAS. 351 it by " cleared," becaase in this new text the Mantras had been cleared and separated from the Brd>hmanas, and thus the whole had been rendered more lucid and intelligible. In opposition to this they suppose that the old text was called Krishna or dark, because in it the verses and rules are mixed together, and less intelligible; or because, as Vidy&ranya says, it contained the rules of the Hotri as well as of the Adhvaryu priests, and thus bewildered the mind of the student.^ It was in the nature of the duties which the Adhvaryus had to perform at the sacrifices, that their hymns and invocations could hardly be sepa- rated from the rules (vidhi), contained in the Br&h- manas. It was not a mere accident therefore that in the Veda of the ancient Adhvaryus the hymns and rules were mixed up, and it must be considered as a mere innovation if what is now called the Sanhitft of the Black Yajur-veda is distinguished by this name from the Br&hmana, which in reality is a continuation of the same work. It is not unlikely that it was the very wish to have, like the Bahvrichas and Chhandogas, a Sanhit&, i. e. a collection of hymns distinct from the ce* remonial rules, which led to the secession of the Yltja- saneyins, and, by a kind of reaction, to the absurd adop- tion of the titles of Sanhitd* and Brd^hmana among the Taittiriyas. In the new code of the V&jasaneyins the most important part was nevertheless the Brfth* mai^ the Sanhit& being a mere collection of verses, makrishna'a Sansk&raganapati. Weber, Ind* Stad. i. 27. 84. 352 COB£ OF THE XAITXIBiYAS. extracted and collected for the convenience of the officiating priest. The differences in the text of these verses and formulas would be marked in the Brih- mana, and transferred from the Br&hmana into the Sanhitft. This is, therefore, the very opposite of what happened with the text of the Sanhitd, and Br&h- mana of the Bahvrichas. Here the Sanhitd, existed long before the Br&hmana, and it had diverged into different j§&kh&s, before the Br^Lhmana of the Aitsu- reyins was composed. The Y^jasaneyi-sanhitd* may possibly represent various readings which existed in the l§d,kh&s of the Taittiriyas ; but these verses were collected and formed into a SanhitA only as an ap- pendix to the i§atapatha-brd,hmana, the real code of the Vfijasaneyins. Where the sacrificial invocations of the V&jasaneyins differ from those of the Taittinyas, we ought to recognise in those differences the last traces of i§d.khd.s which existed previous to the establishment of the Y&jasaneyins. In the beginning, for instance, of the Darsa-pArnamfi-sa sacrifice, the Adhvaryu priest, having called the cows and calves together, has to touch the calves with a branch. This act of the sacrifice was originally accompanied by the words " v&yava stha, upd.yava stha," " you are like the winds," — and the whole ceremony, together with these invocations, is contained in the Taittiriya- sanhitdr. In the M&dhyandina-^kh&, on the con- trary, not only are the words " upd^yava stha " omitted in the Sanhitft, but a distinct warning is given in the Br&hmana not to use these words, be- longing to a different ^dkh&.^ ^ Cf. Sajana, Rig-veda-bh&shja, p. 12.; I§atapatha-br&hinan% i. 7. 3. riwi<iM ^re^ ^i^gira? ^ %i "mv^ f% brIhmanas of the v1jasan£yins. 353 A comparison of the texts of the Taittiiiyas and Y&jasanejins shows that it would be a mistake to call Y&jnavalkya the author, in our sense of the word, of the YlLjasaneyi-sanhitd, and the l§atapatha- brd.hmana. But we have no reason to doubt that it was Y&jnavalkya who brought the ancient Man- tras and Br&hmanas into their present form, and, considering the differences between the old and new text, we must admit that he had a greater right to- be called an author than the founders of the Charanas of other Vedas whose texts we possess. In this sense, K&ty&yana says, in his Anukramant, that Yfljnavalkya received the Yajur-veda from the Sun.^ In the same sense the iSatapatha-br&hmana ends with the assertion that the White Yajur-veda was proclaimed by Y&jnavalkya V&jasaneya^ ; and in the same sense Pd^nini, or rather his editor, says in the first V&rttika to iv. 3. 105. that there were modern f^rft^S^nftf^ ff^ cTOT T "Jf^STrfl^ll l'^ *^e commentary on BaudhSjana's Siitras, a passage from aBrahmana is quoted, which may have belonged to the BaudhayanijaH^khi. ^[^ c^l^ Ml^Of^ H ^^^ Baudh&yanarsiitras enjoin the first sentence for male calves^ the second for female ones, c||€|c| ^frf 4^ vjm€(e| A A 354 brAhmahas of the yIjasakbtihb. Br&hmanas proclaimed by Yftjnavalkya, and that their title differed by its formation from the title given to more ancient Br&hmanas. At the time when these titles were framed Y4jnayalkya was still alive ; and his work, therefore, was not yet considered as one handed down by tradition through several genera- tions. There might seem to be some difficulty in making Y&jnavalkya the author or editor of the whole Yajnr.veda, because there are several portions of the Brihmana where Y&jnavalkya himself is intro- duced as one of the chief interlocutors, so much so that part of the Brihad&ranyaka, the last book of the 6atapatha-brd.hmana, is designated by the name of Yl^navalkiyam k&ndam. But similar instances occur in several of the traditional works of the Brahmans, and in this case the decided traces of a later origin which are to be found in the Brihadftranyaka, would justify us in supposing that these portions were added after Yfljnavalkya's decease, particularly as it is called Yfljnavalkiya, not Y&jnavalkya-k&nda.^ That Y&jnavalkya, though deserting the Charakas, derived great advantage from their Veda, is seen at once by the whole arrangement of his work. I give a list of the various subjects treated in the Y&jasa- neyi-sanhit&, according to Mabidhara. The Sanhit^ of the Vfljasaneyins begins with The Dar&ap{Lrnam&samantr&s, Adhyftya, i. — ii. 28. Then follow : — Pitriyajnamantr^, ii. 29—^34. AgnyfidheyamantrS^, iii. 1 — 8. Agnihotram, iii. 9 — 10. Agnyupasth&nam, iii. 11 — 43. 1 See P&o. y. 4. 105, on the purport of this difference. BBAHIIANAS OF THE VAJASANBYINS. 855 Ch&turma^y&m, iii. 44 — 63. Soma. Agnishtomas, iv. 1 — viii, 23. Sai&pravefias, iv. 1 — 37. Atithyeshtau havirgrahan&dimantr&s, (y^panirm&- nam), v. 1 — fin. Y{Lpasansk&ra (&gnishomiyapa6u) -som&bhishavaman- trfis, vi. 1 — fin. GrahagrahanamantrlLs (up&nfivd^-pradd^n&nta), vii. 1— fin. Tritiyasavanagat4 ^ityagrah^imantr^, viii. 1 — 23. Pr&sangik&s, viii. 24— 63. Vfljapeyas, ix. 1 — 34. R&jasAyas, ix. 35 — 40. R4jas{Lya abhishekd,rthajald.d&nddirlLjas{iyaieshaS| Cha- rakasautr&mani cha, x. 1 — fin. Agnichayanam^ ix. — xviii. Ukh&sambharan&dimantrd,S) xi. UkhdxlMrana, g&rhapatyachayana, kshetrakarshana, aushadhavapan&di) xii. Pushkaraparnd^yupadhd.namantr&s (pratham& cliitih), xiii. DvitiylLdichititrayam, xiv. Panchamachitih, xv. iSatarudriydJchyahomamantr&s, xvi. Chityaparishekfl^imantr&s, xvii. Vasordhfi.r&dimantr&s, xviii. Sauirdmant^ xix. — xxi. Sur&dindr&bhishek&ntam, xix. Sekd.sandyd.di-hautr&ntaniy xx. Y&jyftdi-preshan&ntam, xxi. Asvamedhas^ xxii. — xxv. Homamantrd^, xxii. iSishtam ^svamedhikam, xxiii.^ ^ According to the fortj-eighth AtharvapariiUlifay the thirtj- A A 2 358 brIhmanas of the vAjasaneyins. The Adhyd.yas, which follow the Aivamedha, are distinctly called Khilas or supplements by K&tyllyana.