Fetching
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Fetching
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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1myth of Apala, Ind. Slud. IV, p. 8. 3 K. B. Ill, 25 ; cf. Weber, Ind. Stud, II, 313. * Cf. Max Miiller, Upanishads, I, p. 39 note. * See, for instance, Stii. Br. II, 4, 3, 1, where a legend of this kind seems to be directly ascribed to Ya^wavalkya. INTRODUCTION. XXV positions— and, assuredly, it cannot be a very high one— to the Sanskrit student these works (together with their supplements, the Ara;^yakas ; and their metaphysical ap- pendages, the Upanishads) are of the highest importance as the only genuine prose works which the Sanskrit, as a popular language, has produced. For the com- parative study of syntax, which has been taken up with such signal success by Professor Delbruck and other scholars, the Brahmawas offer a rich field of enquiry. Nor is the style of these compositions— with its compact gram- matical forms and expressive particles, and its habitual employment of the oratio directa instead of dependent clauses— without a certain rough beauty of its own, which, however, almost entirely evaporates in a rendering into modern analytical speech. And notwithstanding the general emptiness of the speculations of the Indian theologians, 'there are,' as Professor Max Muller observes \ 'passages in the Brahmawas full of genuine thought and feeling, and most valuable as pictures of life, and as records of early struggles, which have left no trace in the literature of other nations.' Although the Adhvaryus, who had to perform all the manual work connected with the sacrifice, were originally looked upon as a subordinate class of priests, their ofiice seems to have risen in the general estimation with the increasing importance that was attributed to the endless details of the ceremonial. In a passage of the Taittiriya Upanishad (2, 3), the Ya^us is said to be the head, the Ri\i the right side, the Saman the left side, the Ade^a the soul, and the Atharvahgiras (Atharva-veda) the tail. With better reason the Ya^ur-veda might be called the body of the sacrifice, since it contains almost the entire apparatus of sacrificial formulas, while the other ritualistic works are concerned, either chiefly or entirely, with the Soma-sacrifice. As a matter of fact, no other Veda has given rise to so large a number of schools as the \a^ur- 1 History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 408. tit /c ., < fi,<. nih 2 That is, the Brahmawa, according to 5ankara. In 5at. Br. I\ . 6. 7- «>• tie «<* and Saman are identified with Speech, and the Ya-ns with the Mind. XXVI .JATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
2\a^ur- 1 History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 408. tit /c ., < fi,<. nih 2 That is, the Brahmawa, according to 5ankara. In 5at. Br. I\ . 6. 7- «>• tie «<* and Saman are identified with Speech, and the Ya-ns with the Mind. XXVI .JATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA. veda\ The numerous subdivisions of the Adhvaryus trace their origin to either of two principal schools, an older and a younger one, the latter of which is itself an offshoot of the former. The oral transmission of the large body of exegetic and legendary matter attached to the sacrificial formulas could hardly fail, in course of time, to produce considerable variations, in different localities, both as regards the wording and the arrangement of these works. Different schools would naturally arise, — each with its own approved recension of the traditional texts, — which in their turn would sooner or later become liable to the same process of disintegration. Such, indeed, has been the case, more or less, with all the Vedic texts, until mechanical means were devised to arrest this process of change. The names of many such subdivisions of the older Ya^ur-veda are recorded ; but hitherto the recensions of only three of them have come to light, — viz. the Ka/Z-aka, the Maitraya;/i-sa;;/hita, and the Taittiriya-sawhita. The two former texts belong to subdivisions of the Ka///as and Maitraya/^iyas, two branches of the old school of the TTarakas or /iTarakadhvaryus. The Taittiriyas, on the other hand, seem to have been an independent branch of the old Ya^us", the origin of which is ascribed to a teacher named Tittiri. Their text has come down to us in the recension of one of its subdivisions '^ the Apastambins. The chief characteristic of the old Ya^us texts consists, as has already been indicated, in the constant inter- ' Except, perhaps, the Sama-veda, which, in the ^ara«avyuha, is said to have counted a thousand schools; though that work itself enumerates only seven schools, one of them with five subdivisions. The number of teachers mentioned in connection with this Veda is, however, very considerable. ^ As such, at least, the Taittiriyas are mentioned in the ^arawavyiiha. The term A'araka, however, is also (e. g. in the Prati^jla-siitra) applied to the schools of the Black Ya^us generally. If the Berlin MS.
3on with this Veda is, however, very considerable. ^ As such, at least, the Taittiriyas are mentioned in the ^arawavyiiha. The term A'araka, however, is also (e. g. in the Prati^jla-siitra) applied to the schools of the Black Ya^us generally. If the Berlin MS. of the Ka/Aaka professes, in the colophon, to contain the A'araka text of the work (which Professor Weber takes to refer to the A'araya«iya/t), the A'araka-sakha of the Ka'Aaka has perhaps to be understood in contradistinction to those portions of the Ka/Aaka which have been adopted by the Taittiriyas and incorporated into their Brilhmawa. " The Taittiriyas divide themselves into two schools, the Aukhiyas and the Kha'if/ikiyas ; the Apastambins are a subdivision of the latter branch. We have also the list of the contents (anakramawi) of the Atreyas, a subdivision of the Aukhiyas. INTRODUCTION. XXvIl mingling of the sacrificial formulas and the explanatory or Brahma;/a portions. It was with the view of remedying this want of arrangement, by entirely separating the exegetic matter from the formulas, that the new school of Adhvaryus was founded. The name given to this school is Va^asaneyins, its origin being ascribed to Ya^/7avalkya Va^asaneya. The result of this new redaction of the Ya^us texts was the formation of a Sa;;/hita, or collection of mantras^ and a Brahma;/a. This re-arrangement was doubtless undertaken in imitation of the texts of the Hotrt priests, who had a Brahmawa^ of their own, while their sacrificial prayers formed part of the Rtk-sa7/ihita.. Indeed, the Taittiriyas themselves became impressed with the desirability of having a Brahmawa of their own, — and attained their object by the simple, if rather awkward, expedient of applying that designation to an appendage to their Sa;//hita, which exhibits the same mixture of mantra and brahma/^a as the older work. They also incorporated a portion of the Ka///aka text into their Brahma/^a and its supplement, the Taittiriyara/zyaka. Of all the schools of the old Ya^us those of the Taittiriyas seem to have attracted by far the greatest number of adherents ; and in southern India their texts have continued pre-eminently the subject of study till the present day. In northern India^ on the other hand, they have been largely superseded by their later rivals. On account of the lucid arrangement of their sacred texts, the Va^asaneyins called them the White (j-ukla) Ya^ur-veda ; the term of Black or Dark (kr/shz/a) Ya^ur-veda being, for the opposite reason, applied to the texts of the older schools.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1myth of Apala, Ind. Slud. IV, p. 8. 3 K. B. Ill, 25 ; cf. Weber, Ind. Stud, II, 313. * Cf. Max Miiller, Upanishads, I, p. 39 note. * See, for instance, Stii. Br. II, 4, 3, 1, where a legend of this kind seems to be directly ascribed to Ya^wavalkya. INTRODUCTION. XXV positions— and, assuredly, it cannot be a very high one— to the Sanskrit student these works (together with their supplements, the Ara;^yakas ; and their metaphysical ap- pendages, the Upanishads) are of the highest importance as the only genuine prose works which the Sanskrit, as a popular language, has produced. For the com- parative study of syntax, which has been taken up with such signal success by Professor Delbruck and other scholars, the Brahmawas offer a rich field of enquiry. Nor is the style of these compositions— with its compact gram- matical forms and expressive particles, and its habitual employment of the oratio directa instead of dependent clauses— without a certain rough beauty of its own, which, however, almost entirely evaporates in a rendering into modern analytical speech. And notwithstanding the general emptiness of the speculations of the Indian theologians, 'there are,' as Professor Max Muller observes \ 'passages in the Brahmawas full of genuine thought and feeling, and most valuable as pictures of life, and as records of early struggles, which have left no trace in the literature of other nations.' Although the Adhvaryus, who had to perform all the manual work connected with the sacrifice, were originally looked upon as a subordinate class of priests, their ofiice seems to have risen in the general estimation with the increasing importance that was attributed to the endless details of the ceremonial. In a passage of the Taittiriya Upanishad (2, 3), the Ya^us is said to be the head, the Ri\i the right side, the Saman the left side, the Ade^a the soul, and the Atharvahgiras (Atharva-veda) the tail. With better reason the Ya^ur-veda might be called the body of the sacrifice, since it contains almost the entire apparatus of sacrificial formulas, while the other ritualistic works are concerned, either chiefly or entirely, with the Soma-sacrifice. As a matter of fact, no other Veda has given rise to so large a number of schools as the \a^ur- 1 History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 408. tit /c ., < fi,<. nih 2 That is, the Brahmawa, according to 5ankara. In 5at. Br. I\ . 6. 7- «>• tie «<* and Saman are identified with Speech, and the Ya-ns with the Mind. XXVI .JATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
2\a^ur- 1 History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 408. tit /c ., < fi,<. nih 2 That is, the Brahmawa, according to 5ankara. In 5at. Br. I\ . 6. 7- «>• tie «<* and Saman are identified with Speech, and the Ya-ns with the Mind. XXVI .JATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA. veda\ The numerous subdivisions of the Adhvaryus trace their origin to either of two principal schools, an older and a younger one, the latter of which is itself an offshoot of the former. The oral transmission of the large body of exegetic and legendary matter attached to the sacrificial formulas could hardly fail, in course of time, to produce considerable variations, in different localities, both as regards the wording and the arrangement of these works. Different schools would naturally arise, — each with its own approved recension of the traditional texts, — which in their turn would sooner or later become liable to the same process of disintegration. Such, indeed, has been the case, more or less, with all the Vedic texts, until mechanical means were devised to arrest this process of change. The names of many such subdivisions of the older Ya^ur-veda are recorded ; but hitherto the recensions of only three of them have come to light, — viz. the Ka/Z-aka, the Maitraya;/i-sa;;/hita, and the Taittiriya-sawhita. The two former texts belong to subdivisions of the Ka///as and Maitraya/^iyas, two branches of the old school of the TTarakas or /iTarakadhvaryus. The Taittiriyas, on the other hand, seem to have been an independent branch of the old Ya^us", the origin of which is ascribed to a teacher named Tittiri. Their text has come down to us in the recension of one of its subdivisions '^ the Apastambins. The chief characteristic of the old Ya^us texts consists, as has already been indicated, in the constant inter- ' Except, perhaps, the Sama-veda, which, in the ^ara«avyuha, is said to have counted a thousand schools; though that work itself enumerates only seven schools, one of them with five subdivisions. The number of teachers mentioned in connection with this Veda is, however, very considerable. ^ As such, at least, the Taittiriyas are mentioned in the ^arawavyiiha. The term A'araka, however, is also (e. g. in the Prati^jla-siitra) applied to the schools of the Black Ya^us generally. If the Berlin MS.
3on with this Veda is, however, very considerable. ^ As such, at least, the Taittiriyas are mentioned in the ^arawavyiiha. The term A'araka, however, is also (e. g. in the Prati^jla-siitra) applied to the schools of the Black Ya^us generally. If the Berlin MS. of the Ka/Aaka professes, in the colophon, to contain the A'araka text of the work (which Professor Weber takes to refer to the A'araya«iya/t), the A'araka-sakha of the Ka'Aaka has perhaps to be understood in contradistinction to those portions of the Ka/Aaka which have been adopted by the Taittiriyas and incorporated into their Brilhmawa. " The Taittiriyas divide themselves into two schools, the Aukhiyas and the Kha'if/ikiyas ; the Apastambins are a subdivision of the latter branch. We have also the list of the contents (anakramawi) of the Atreyas, a subdivision of the Aukhiyas. INTRODUCTION. XXvIl mingling of the sacrificial formulas and the explanatory or Brahma;/a portions. It was with the view of remedying this want of arrangement, by entirely separating the exegetic matter from the formulas, that the new school of Adhvaryus was founded. The name given to this school is Va^asaneyins, its origin being ascribed to Ya^/7avalkya Va^asaneya. The result of this new redaction of the Ya^us texts was the formation of a Sa;;/hita, or collection of mantras^ and a Brahma;/a. This re-arrangement was doubtless undertaken in imitation of the texts of the Hotrt priests, who had a Brahmawa^ of their own, while their sacrificial prayers formed part of the Rtk-sa7/ihita.. Indeed, the Taittiriyas themselves became impressed with the desirability of having a Brahmawa of their own, — and attained their object by the simple, if rather awkward, expedient of applying that designation to an appendage to their Sa;//hita, which exhibits the same mixture of mantra and brahma/^a as the older work. They also incorporated a portion of the Ka///aka text into their Brahma/^a and its supplement, the Taittiriyara/zyaka. Of all the schools of the old Ya^us those of the Taittiriyas seem to have attracted by far the greatest number of adherents ; and in southern India their texts have continued pre-eminently the subject of study till the present day. In northern India^ on the other hand, they have been largely superseded by their later rivals. On account of the lucid arrangement of their sacred texts, the Va^asaneyins called them the White (j-ukla) Ya^ur-veda ; the term of Black or Dark (kr/shz/a) Ya^ur-veda being, for the opposite reason, applied to the texts of the older schools.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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