LITURGICAL STANZAS AND FORMULAS
The
Yajur Veda Samhita; the Veda of rituals, is a book for priests; the Adhvaryu,
containing ritual formulas; utterance of which are to be regulated in
accordance to strict stipulations.
Concept
of yajna
Yajna in simple term can be called as the collaboration
between the cosmic power; God and humans. The gods want to ascend the humans
and take them to a higher level of perfection provided humans aspire to be
perfect; humans should express his thanks to the cosmic powers and express
their adoration. It can be said that ‘yajna is that very series of actions
occupying in our subtle body which propels us to ascent to higher planes of
consciousness – can be called inner yajna’.
However, the performance of the inner yajna was limited to a few people
such as Rishis and Seers, and their disciples. The remaining people do not
either have the interest or the inner concentration needed to perform the inner
yajnas. So sages of the Vedic age realized that if not practiced the Vedas may
fade from the minds of the people. As a result Rishis recognized the need to
develop new methods for making the Vedas accessible to all the people
irrespective of sex and status. So an outward yajna was devised – which was
made up of a series of outward rites of varying complexities. With the passage
of time the yajna became a joyous community festival in which people, not only
the performing family or community, but all the assembled people heard the
harmonious chants of the priests; the Adhvaryu, and witnessed the outward rites
involving the offering of ghee and other articles. The assembled people who
participated in the yajna were bestowed with material well being, i.e. wealth,
children, long life, free of sickness etc.
Formula
In the Yajur Veda a large extent of passages from the Rig
Veda are rearranged for sacrificial purpose, although there are also many new
verses which are mainly ritualistic in nature rather than hymnal, i.e.
concerned with technical details of the sacrifice rather than with the praise
of the gods. The name Yajur; of the Yajur Veda, comes from the root ‘yaj’
meaning ‘to worship’ or ‘to perform worship ritual.’ The formulas of the Yajur Veda are often brief
and concise; mere dedication or swift prayers, accompanying an action, and
sometimes hardly addressed to any one in particular, for example, ‘thee for
Agni’ or ‘this for Agni’ indicate that an object is dedicated to the god Agni. However,
there are others formulas that are long. Some of the famous rituals from the
Yajur Veda are: ritual formulas for full and new moon, the Sri Rudram;
dedicated to Shiva, the Pavamana; an important hymns for the purification in
honor of the soma rasa, the Rajasuya and the Asvamedha sacrifices.
Formation
of two
The disciples of Vaishampayana; Vedavyas assigned Yajur
Veda to Vaishampayana, became the recognized authorities on the Yajur Veda. An
important Rishi among them, Yajnavalkya, son of Devarata, abandoned Vaishampayana
handling back the hymns he had been give; the other disciples immediately took
them, like the quails; tittirah, eat what has been regurgitated by other
animals. Thereafter that particular collection of hymns of the Yajur Veda was
called Taittirya Samhita or Black/Krishna Yajur Veda. After that Yajnavalkya
did tapas; of Surya the deva of the Sun – ‘praying him to reveal the secret
mantra of the Yajur Veda. Surya taking the form of a horse revealed himself to
Yajnavalkya and gave him 15 new chapters, known as Vajasaneyi Samhita, because
they emanated from Surya’s mane,’ they are also called Sukla/White Yajur Veda. Of
the 15 sakhas or recensions of the Sukla Yajur Veda only two popular sakhas are
available: Kanva and Madhyandhina. And, of the 86 sakhas or recensions of the
Krishna Yajur Veda only four sakhas are available: Kathaka, Kapisthala,
Taittiriya and Maitrayani.
Overview
of Yajur Veda
Like already discussed, Yajur Veda has two recensions:
the Sukla/White Yajur Veda Samhita and the Krishna/Black Yajur Veda Samhita,
let’s briefly discuss each one by one.
Short
description of Sukla Yajur Veda
The White/Sukla Yajur Veda is represented by the
Vajasaneyi Samhita; the name is derived from Vajasaneyi the founder of the
branch. The reason why it is called White/Sukla Yajur Veda is because it
consists of an arranged collection of mantras/formulas to be recited at various
sacrifices without any explanatory matter which are collected in separate
Brahmanas. A short description of
Vajasaneyi Samhita is as follows – ‘the Adhyayas I and II give the formula for
the full and new moon sacrifice: darsapurnamasa. Adhyaya III contains the
mantra for daily fire cult: agnihotra. Adhyayas IV to VIII follow the formula
for soma sacrifice. In Adhyayas IX and X we find texts required for the
performance of the two important modification of the soma sacrifice. Adhyayas
XI to XVIII follow the numerous sacrificial formulas for the construction of
the great fire place: Agnichayana. Adhyayas XIX to XXI contains mantra for the
ceremony recommended to expiate and counteract the effect of excessive soma
drinking and a means of assuring victory, success etc. The Adhyayas XXII to XXV
are connected with the horse sacrifice: Asvamedha yajna. Adhyayas XXVI to XXXV
contains supplementary mantra and other material connected with various
sacrifices including the sauramani, the Asvamedha, the human sacrifice; which
is modified upon the Asvamedha yajna, the sacrifice of all property in order to
gain universal success, some litalies, glorification, prayers and formulas
connected with the sacrifice to the deceased ancestors. Adhyayas XXXV to XXXIX
contains prayers like for health, length of days etc. The Adhyaya XL is the Isa
Upanishad which occurs in all collections of Upanishads. ’
Krishna
Yajur Veda explains
The Taittiriya Samhita or Krishna Yajur Veda Samhita has
7 Kandas, 44 prapathakas and 65 anuvakas. Kanda 1; which has 8 prapathakas,
deals with four important yajnas namely darsapurnamasa, agnistoma, vajapeya and
Rajasuya. In prapathakas 1st darsapurnamasa; yajna performed on new
moon and full moon days, is described. The prapathakas 2nd to 4th
constitute the famous agnishotma yajna for the deities Agni and Soma. The prapathakas
5th has over 55 mantras from the Rig Veda. The 6th prapathakas
offer details on the inner yajna occurring in our subtle body. The 7th
prapathakas deals with the vajapeya yajna whose aim is the protection of plenitude
of the life force, and prapathakas deals with Rajasuya yajna. Kanda 2nd
has 6 prapathakas each having several anuvakas yielding a total of 75 anuvakas,
most of the anuvakas are Brahmana passages, the last anuvakas of every
prapathakas consists only of mantras mostly from the Rig Veda Samhita. The
Brahmana passage covers the following: details about performing of the rites
and their benefits, explanation of some mantra in Taittirya Samhita and
Taittiriya Brahmana, and legends; their symbolism and their connection with the
rites. Kanda 3rd has 5 prapathakas, each having 11 anuvakas totaling
to 55 anuvakas. The last anuvakas of all prapathakas have only mantras;
otherwise most of the anuvakas are mainly Brahmana passages. The Kanda has more
information on the new moon and full moon sacrifice and the soma sacrifice.
There are many anecdotes involving Rishis and the conflict between Gods and
Asuras. Kanda 4th is one of the famous Kanda as it contains apart
from the famous Gaytri mantra, the sandhya worship mantra and the Purusha
Sukta, it also contain the Rudra Shiva; shataudriya or namaka hymn in Taittirya
Samhita. The Kanda is also regarded as an Upanishad and is in the list of 108 Upanishads.
Kanda 5th has 7 prapathakas, having 120 anuvakas and unlike Kanda 3rd
and Kanda 4th, it has only one or two mantras from Rig Veda. The last
two anuvakas of the first two prapathakas has only mantras. The Kanda quotes
several brief mantas from Kanda 4th and provide a brief explanation
on it. Kanda 6th is a Brahmana on Kanda 1st In Kanda 7th , one half contains
mantras, the 2nd prapathakas deals
with the adoration of the integers ranging from odd to even numbers and ending
in the very large numbers like ten raised to the power of twelve. The other
half of Kanda 7th is Brahmana which deals with various types of
yajna ranging in duration from one day to one year. A word about Taittiriya
Aranyaka: it has 10 chapters; Adhyayas, of which the chapter 1st is
a Brahmana dealing with construction of fire altar. Chapter 2nd and
Chapter 3rd deals with mantras, for instance, the famous hymn of
Purusha Sukta which occurs in Rig Veda; 10.90, occurs in the Taittiriya
Aranyaka, although the Taittiriya Aranyaka version is slightly different, and
has more mantras than the Rig Veda version. Chapter 5th deals with
funeral rites, while chapter 7th, Chapter 8th and Chapter
9th constitutes the Taittirya Upanishad. And finally Chapter 10th
is the Mahanarayana Upanishad.
In
summation
Jnana, Karma and Bhakti are the form of yoga, i.e. these
are the three ways to live a successful life, and of the three Yajur Veda deals
with Karma, that is why it is also called Karama-kanda. The Yajur Veda
practically serves as a guide book for the Adhvaryu priests who execute
sacrificial act muttering simultaneously the prose prayers and the sacrificial
formula, which are related to the sacrificial fire and carrying out the
ceremonies.
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