by Roshen Dalal
The Shatapatha Brahmana has four vamsha (lineage) lists. The last states: ‘We have received this from the son of Bharadvajo, the son of Bharadvaji, from the son of Vatsi Mandavi’, followed by several people, all mentioned by their maternal names. The forty-fifth is Yajnavalkya, whose teacher is said to be Uddalaka, known from the Upanishads. The fifty-fifth is Kashyapa Naidhruvi, to whom the Shatapatha was revealed by the goddess Vach. ‘She received it from Ambhrini (the voice of thunder) who obtained it from Aditya (the sun).’
The Shatapatha is one of the latest Brahmanas.
ATHARVA VEDA BRAHMANAS
GOPATHA BRAHMANA
The aim of this Brahmana seems to be to incorporate the Atharva in the Vedic ritual, and bring it in line with the other three Vedas. This Brahmana is the same for the Paippalada and Shaunaka shakhas, and is the only existing Brahmana of the Atharva Veda. It has two main sections, the Purvabhaga and the Uttarabhaga. The Purvabhaga is divided into five prapathakas, and the Uttarabhaga into six. Each is further divided into kandikas or subsections. The contents of the Purvabhaga are somewhat different from those of other Brahmanas. It praises the Atharva and its rishis. The Uttarabhaga is similar to other Brahmanas but contains some stories regarding Atharva Veda teachers such as Idhma Angirasa and Barhi Angirasa.
Within the text are Upanishads including the Pranava Upanishad.
The Atharvana Charanavyuha states that the Gopatha originally had 100 prapathakas. The Gopatha Brahmana says the one who knows this text knows everything.
ARANYAKAS AND UPANISHADS
Attached to the Brahmanas are the Aranyakas and Upanishads, in which the brahmana caste and the sacrifice do not have major roles. These texts focus instead on asceticism, knowledge and inquiry. Here is a brief look at these two categories of texts.
ARANYAKAS
The Aranyakas or ‘forest texts’ (aranya means ‘forest’) usually form the second part of the Brahmanas. They are generally believed to have provided instructions for vanaprastha, the traditional third stage of life, when the householder’s life had been renounced and the person had retired to the forests. Alternatively, they are believed to have provided guidance for complex sacrifices that were meant to be practised outside the town area. The contents of the Aranyakas indicate that they form a bridge between the Brahmanas and Upanishads. They include descriptions of special sacrifices, along with comments on the mystical symbolism of sacrifices. There are philosophical sections as well as techniques of focusing on various symbols in order to attain the Absolute. The Aranyakas are closely linked with the Upanishads.
RIG VEDA ARANYAKAS
AITAREYA ARANYAKA
The Aitareya Aranyaka forms part of the Aitareya Brahmana, attached to the Rig Veda, and has five books or sections that describe sacrifices and philosophical concepts. It contains the Aitareya Upanishad. The first book focuses on the mahavrata and the Soma sacrifices. The second includes philosophical concepts and explains the meaning of uktha, while its last four chapters contain the Aitareya Upanishad. The third book discusses the Samhita, Pada and Krama texts, and mentions several rishis. The next two books, with miscellaneous topics, are attributed to the rishis Ashvalayana and Shaunaka. The fourth book includes the Mahanami verses, while the fifth incorporates the nishkevalya shastra (verses of praise) that form a part of the mahavrata ritual.
KAUSHITAKI ARANYAKA
The Kaushitaki Aranyaka, attached to the Kaushitaki Brahmana of the Rig Veda, has contents similar to the Aitareya Aranyaka. It has fifteen sections, of which the third to the sixth form the Kaushitaki Upanishad. It is also known as the Shankhayana Aranyaka. Its first two chapters are similar to a Brahmana.
KRISHNA YAJUR VEDA ARANYAKAS
TAITTIRIYA ARANYAKA
The Taittiriya Aranyaka is a continuation of the Taittiriya Brahmana, which is attached to the Krishna Yajur Veda and has ten prapathakas or sections. The first two prapathakas are known as Kathakani as they are based on the Kathaka shakha of the Yajur. They mainly deal with the agnichayana, or piling of the fire altar. The third prapathaka discusses various sacrifices. The fourth and fifth prapathaka include aspects of the pravargya ritual. The sixth has pitrimedha mantras, recited in funeral ceremonies. The prapathakas from seven to nine form the Taittiriya Upanishad. The tenth, known as the Mahanarayana Upanishad, is a late addition. It is a compilation of mantras from the the Vedic Samhitas.
KATHA ARANYAKA
This text mainly deals with the pravargya ritual.
SHUKLA YAJUR VEDA ARANYAKAS
BRIHADARANYAKA
The Brihad-Aranyaka, or Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, is attached to the Shatapatha Brahmana of the Shukla Yajur Veda, but is considered an Upanishad.
SAMA VEDA ARANYAKAS
The Chhandogya Upanishad of the Sama Veda has a first section similar to an Aranyaka. The Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana is really an Aranyaka, containing the Kena Upanishad. It is also known as the Talavakra Aranyaka and looks at the hidden or inner meanings of certain samans, and provides a spiritual interpretation of some Vedic mantras.
UPANISHADS
The Upanishads form the last part of the Samhitas. The word upanishad is said to mean ‘sitting near the feet of a master’ from upa or ‘near’ and nishad or ‘sitting down’. Another interpretation takes shad as ‘destruction’ and upanishad as ‘that which destroys ignorance’. The original meaning, however, was ‘secret doctrine’.
These texts form the latter part of the Brahmanas and are attached to the Vedic Samhitas. They are called Vedanta, ‘the end of the Vedas’, both because they form the last part of the Vedas and because, in them, the Vedas reach the ultimate or highest philosophy. Philosophically, they are a great advance on the ritualistic nature of the Brahmanas. The earliest Upanishads in their present form, date back to the 6th or 7th century BCE, while altogether fourteen have been dated to before the 3rd century BCE. The earliest are said to be the Aitareya, Kaushitaki, Taittiriya, Brihadaranyaka, Chhandogya and Kena, while slightly later are the Kathaka, Shvetashvatara, Mahanarayana, Isha, Mundaka, Prashna, Maitrayaniya, and Mandukya. There are many later Upanishads and at least two hundred and eighty Upanishads are known today, of which 108 are recognized in classic texts. These 108 are uneven in quality and character.
Most of the early Upanishads have gone beyond all external forms of worship and seek the supreme goal through an exploration of ideas leading to ultimate knowledge.
The Upanishads indicate that anyone, from kings to shudras, could be involved in a philosophical quest, and that a spiritual search was not the preserve of brahmanas. The Vedic Samhitas retained their sanctity but, from an early date, several philosophers, scholars and commentators began to focus on the Upanishads. Badarayana’s Brahma Sutra summarized the key features of the Upanishads, and this sutra was used as the base for all the schools of Vedanta, one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy. All six accept the sanctity of the Vedas.
The Vedic Samhitas were not rejected in the Upanishads, but a continuity was sought to be maintained between them and later ideas. As S. Radhakrishnan points out, passages from the Vedic Samhitas are often quoted in the Upanishads, but new meanings are given to them. Sri Aurobindo and others have pointed out numerous passages from the Samhitas that are explained in the Upanishads.
OTHER TEXTS
Additional texts were composed from an early date, which commented on, clarified, or explained aspects of the Vedas. Among these were the padapathas and anukramanis.
PADAPATHAS
Padapathas or ‘word texts’ were used for the study of the Vedas. Shakala, the compiler of the existing recension of the Rig Veda, is said to have composed one of the earliest for the Rig. The Samhita texts had words in their conjoined forms, whereas the padapatha gives the words separately, unaffected by sandhi. (Sandhi rules join words together in a particular way, changing the ending or beginning.) The kramapatha gives each word twice, once connected with the preceding word, and then with the succeeding word. Another type of arrangement
was the jatapatha, where each pair of words was repeated twice, the second repetition being with the second word first. Hence if ‘a’ and ‘b’ represent the two words, the jatapatha had the order ab, ba, ab. With ‘c’ representing the next word, this would be followed by bc, cb, bc. A further type was the ghanapatha, in which the order of words was arranged in the following way: ab, ba, abc, cba, abc, bc, cb, bcd. These types of texts were aids to memory and ensured that the texts were transmitted correctly. The break-up of the words also helped in understanding the texts and the sandhi that was used.
ANUKRAMANIS
Anukramani is a Sanskrit term for a list, catalogue, or index. Some anukramanis classify and provide details that are not available in the Samhitas. They include lists of hymns, of rishis who composed the hymns, and of metres. The anukramanis are assigned to different authors. A number of anukramanis of the Rig Veda are assigned to Shaunaka. These include the Anuvakanukramani, Arshanukramani, Chandonukramani, Devatanukramani, Padanukramani and Suktanukramani. The Anuvakanukramani is still extant while parts of the others are quoted by Shadgurushishya, a 12th-century commentator on the Vedas. Katyayana composed the Sarvanukramani, a catalogue of everything in the Rig Veda. This incorporates the names of the deities, rishis, and metres of each of the Rig Veda hymns, and has been commented on by Shadgurushishya in his Vedarthadipika. The Anuvakanukramani states that there was a different sequence of hymns in the first mandala. While some feel these anukramanis record authentic names, others feel that family names may be correct in books 2–7, but the rest may not be authentic. Tradition, however, recognizes these as correct.
The Arsheya Brahmana and Jaiminiya Arsheya Brahmana are considered Sama Veda anukramanis. Two indices of the deities and composers of the Sama according to the Naigeya school have been preserved, indirectly providing information on the Kauthuma school.
The Samaveda-arsheyadipa is an anukramani text, assigned to Bhatta-Bhaskara-dhvarindra of a later date. It records metres, deities and rishis for the Sama chanters.
The Yajur Veda has three anukramanis. The Mantrashadhyaya belongs to the Charayaniya shakha of the Vajasaneyi Samhita. Another of the Madhyandina shakha of the Vajasaneyi is ascribed to Katyayana. A third is of the Atreyi shakha of the Taittiriya Samhita.
The Atharva Veda has the Brihatsarvanukramani and Atharvaveda-panchapatalika.
VEDANGAS
From very early times, the Vedas, that is the Vedic Samhitas, were considered difficult to understand. Hence another group of texts emerged, known as Vedangas. These associated texts deal with six subjects considered essential for an understanding of the Vedas: (1) shiksha, phonetics or the science of pronunciation; (2) vyakarana, grammar; (3) chhandas, metre; (4) nirukta, etymology or glossary; (5) jyotisha, astronomy and astrology, essential to fix the right time for ceremonies and sacrifices; and (6) kalpa, rules for sacrifices. There are several texts on these topics. Shiksha, vyakarana, and nirukta are connected, and the subject matter overlaps to some extent.
Most of the Vedangas are written in sutra style, that is in short aphorisms which provide information in a compressed form. The Shadvimsha Brahmana is the earliest text to state that there are six Vedangas, which are called the limbs of the goddess Svaha. The Apastamba Kalpa Sutra, the Manduka Upanishad and the Charanavyuha list the six Vedangas. The main concepts in the Vedangas are derived from the Samhitas, Brahmanas, and sutras, and have been compressed and grouped together.
Some details on the subjects elucidated in the six Vedangas are given below.
SHIKSHA
Shiksha, as a term for phonetics, is first used in the Taittiriya Upanishad, which gives its various components which include varna (individual sounds) and svara (accent).
The pratishakhyas are among the earliest texts on shiksha. Pratishakhya literally means ‘belonging to each shakha’ and there were pratishakhya texts for the various Vedic shakhas or schools. Pratishakhyas describe how the verses in the Vedas are to be pronounced, and also deal with sandhi rules, accents, vowels, and some aspects of grammar useful for pronunciation. They were composed later than the Vedas, and are related to the padapatha texts described earlier. Among the pratishakyas available today are the Rig Veda Pratishakhya, ascribed to Shaunaka. This is also known as the Shakala Pratishakhya, and is said to belong to the Shaishiriya shakha, a branch of the Shakala Shakha. Two pratishakhyas of the Yajur Veda are the Taittiriya Pratishakhya of the Black Yajur Veda and the Vajasaniya Pratishakhya of the Vajasaneyi Samhita or White Yajur Veda, said to be written by Katyayana. The former has references to the Mimamsakas (followers of the Mimamsa philosophy), who are not referred to in any other pratishakhya. Regarding the latter, the Katyayaniyas were a subdivision of the Madhyandina shakha, who were in turn a branch of the Vajasaneyis. Some sutras of this text are repeated in Panini, indicating its relatively early date. The Shaunakiya Chaturadhyayika of the Atharva Veda is attributed to Shaunaka. This is said to belong to the Shaunakiya shakha of the Atharva-vedis. In one source, this text is attributed to Kautsa.
Two pratishakhyas of the Sama Veda are considered to belong to a later date. These are the Riktantra-vyakarana and the Pushpa-sutra. The former is later than Panini, and its contents are related to grammar more than phonetics. The Pushpa-sutra is the main pratishakhya of the Kauthuma–Ranayaniya branch of the Sama Veda. It has both the text and the melodies of the Sama, along with comments on phonetics. It distinguishes between prakriti and vikriti—the basic forms of the chants as they appear in the first two ganas, the Gramageyagana and Aranyakagana, and the derivative form in the Uhagana and Uhyagana. The Pushpa-sutra was written long after the Sama Veda.
Among other related books, the Matra-lakshana deals with the time measurement of svara or a musical sound, and the various laws on the arrangement of notes for the melodies in the four ganas or songbooks. All the melodies in this and its commentary are derived from the Prakriti-gana.
The Panchavidha-sutra looks at chant construction.
Other Texts on Shiksha
There were other texts on shiksha, most of which were later than the pratishakhyas. At least sixty-five such texts on shiksha are known. The Paniniya Shiksha has shloka-type verses and is said to have been composed by Pingala, the younger brother of Panini. The text is much later than the pratishakhyas but quite comprehensive and has, therefore, influenced other shiksha texts. Two recensions of this text relating to the Rig Veda and Yajur Veda are known. Several other shiksha texts have borrowed from the Paniniya Shiksha. Some of them also deal with topics that are not found in the pratishakhyas. Among the other shiksha texts, the Svara-vyanjana Shiksha is important for the Rig Veda, and dates after Panini. The Yajnavalkya Shiksha, for the White Yajur Veda, probably dates to between the 5th and 10th centuries CE, much later than the presumed date of Yajnavalkya. For the Black Yajur Veda, the Vaidikabharana, composed by Gargya Gopala Yajvan around the 14th and 15th centuries, is a late but important work, including quotes from early texts that are unknown today. The Narada Shiksha of the Sama Veda is fairly old and deals particularly with accents and their relationship with musical notes. The Manduki Shiksha is important for the Atharva Veda.
Among some of the interesting aspects of shiksha texts are that they state that good health and a calm mind are necessary prerequisites for correct pronunciation. They also throw some light on the origin of the seven musical notes, stating that they evolved from the three Vedic accents, which were musical in nature.
NIRUKTA (ETYMOLOGY)
Nirukta, in the sense of etymology, is another of the Vedangas. Nirukta texts are important for understanding the archaic language of the Rig Veda. Aspects of etymology exist in earlier texts including the Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads. About six hundred words are explained in these in different ways. There must have been several niruktas, but the one that is still extant is that of Yaska, who probably lived before Panini. These etymologies CE of Vedic words have been classified into three types: those based on both the phonetic and semantic history of the
word; those based on semantic evolution, that is when the meaning or connotation of a word changes over time; and those based on phonetic similarities. Certain texts hold definitions of a nirukta. The Shabda-kalpa-druma says a nirukta explains five aspects of words, that is, how they are added to, transposed and modified, when certain letters can be omitted and, in addition, the meaning of the root word. Conjoined words with the same root, for instance angara-angiras, and homonyms are also used in explanations. Yaska’s Nirukta presents clear insights into etymolgical and grammatical concepts.
Yaska summarizes the importance of nirukta, when he says: ‘Without this (science) there can be no understanding of the Vedic mantras.’ His Nirukta bases itself on an earlier text, the Nighantu, which had five chapters and could be classified into three parts. Part 1, the first three chapters, consisted of words with synonyms; Part 2, the fourth chapter, had words found only in the Vedas; and Part 3, the fifth chapter, had names of deities in the Rig Veda, and hymns and words connected with them. The important part of the Nirukta is the commentary, in which Yaska explains words with illustrative passages of how they were used.
Yaska’s Nirukta has twelve chapters, divided into two parts of six each. The Purva-shatka, or first part, has two sections, Naighantuka Kanda and Naigama Kanda. The Naighantuka Kanda has three chapters, which comment on the first three chapters of the Nighantu. The Naigama Kanda, containing the next three chapters, comments on the fourth chapter of the Nighantu. The Uttara-shatka, or second part, with six chapters, is named the Daivata Kanda and comments on the fifth chapter of the Nighantu. Yaska’s Nirukta thus includes some matter that already existed but was unified, commented on, and given a cohesive form. Yaska also refers to earlier Nirukta writers such as Shakapuni. The Rig Veda is the main text commented on.