Yajurveda: Encyclopedia - Yajurveda

Yajurveda

Shruti

• Vedas
  • Rig Veda
  • Sama Veda
  • Yajur Veda
  • Atharva Veda
• Brahmanas
• Aranyakas
• Upanishads

Smriti

• Itihāsas
  • Mahābhārata
    • Bhagavad Gītā
  • Ramayana
  • Puranas (List)
• Tantras
• Sutras (List)
• Stotras
• Ashtavakra Gita
• Gita Govinda
• Hatha Yoga Pradipika

The Yajurveda (Sanskrit यजुर्वेदः yajurveda, a tatpurusha compound of yajus "sacrifice" + veda "knowledge") is one of the four Hindu Vedas; it contains religious texts focussing on liturgy and ritual. The Yajurveda was written sometime during the Vedic period between 1500 BC and 500 BC, along with the other Vedas. (see Vedas)

Yajurveda - Versions

There are two primary versions of the Yajurveda: Shukla (white) and Krishna (black). The Shukla Yajurveda consists of vedic hymns, while the Krishna Yajurveda includes all the text also in the Shukla Yajurveda, and has additional prose commentary.

Yajurveda - Shukla Yajurveda

There are two, almost identical, recensions (shakhas) of the Shukla Yajurveda:

• vājasaneyi madhyandina (VS)
• kānva

The text consists of 40 books of hymns.

Yajurveda - Krishna Yajurveda

There are four recensions of the Black Yajurveda:

• taittirīya saṃhita (TS)
• maitrayani saṃhita (MS)
• caraka-katha saṃhita (KS)
• kapiṣṭhala-katha saṃhita (KapS)

The best known of these is TS. It consists of 8 books or kandas, subdivided in chapters or prapathakas, further subdivided into individual hymns.

Some individual hymns have gained importance in Hinduism, e. g. TS 4.5 and 4.7 correspond to the Shri Rudram Chamakam, and 1.8.6.i to the Shaivaite Tryambakam mantra. The formula bhūr bhuvaḥ suvaḥ prefixed to the (rigvedic) Gayatri mantra is also from the Yajurveda, appearing four times.

Each of the recensions has a Brahmana associated with it, and some of them also have associated Shrautasutras, Grhyasutras, Aranyakas, Upanishads and Pratishakhyas.

Yajurveda - Large numbers

The Yajurveda documents the earliest known use of numbers up to a trillion (parardha). It even discusses the concept of numeric infinity (purna "fullness"), stating that if you subtract purna from purna, you are still left with purna. [1]

See also: History of large numbers.

Yajurveda - Literature

• Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith, The Texts of the White Yajurveda. Translated with a Popular Commentary (1899).
• Devi Chand, The Yajurveda. Sanskrit text with English translation. Third thoroughly revised and enlarged edition (1980).
• The Sanhitâ of the Black Yajur Veda with the Commentary of Mâdhava ‘Achârya, Calcutta (Bibl. Indica, 10 volumes, 1854-1899)
• Kumar, Pushpendra, Taittiriya Brahmanam (Krsnam Yajurveda), 3 vols., Delhi (1998).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Yajurveda", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki