page_title: Brahmana
section_title: Krishna (Black) YajurVeda: Taittiriya Brahmana
hierarchical_section_title: Brahmana / YajurVeda / Krishna (Black) YajurVeda: Taittiriya Brahmana
caption_attribution_description: English: The samhita layers of the Vedas were composed between 1500 to 1000 BCE. These were orally transmitted for centuries, and likely written down sometime around the start of the common era. The above manuscript page is from the Taittiriya Samhita, in Devanagari script, Sanskrit language. This 19th-century document is shaped in the form of a palm leaf manuscript reminiscent of the heritage. The image is a part of endangered manuscripts preservation programme supported by Arcadia, a digitization initiative by Chinmaya International Foundation, with archival support provided by the British Library. This is a photo of the 2D historic manuscript. Wikimedia Commons PD-Art licensing guidelines apply.
context_page_description: The Brahmanas are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within each Veda, often explain and instruct Brahmins on the performance of Vedic rituals. In addition to explaining the symbolism and meaning of the Samhitas, Brahmana literature also expounds scientific knowledge of the Vedic Period, including observational astronomy and, particularly in relation to altar construction, geometry. Divergent in nature, some Brahmanas also contain mystical and philosophical material that constitutes Aranyakas and Upanishads.
  Each Veda has one or more of its own Brahmanas, and each Brahmana is generally associated with a particular Shakha or Vedic school. Less than twenty Brahmanas are currently extant, as most have been lost or destroyed. Dating of the final codification of the Brahmanas and associated Vedic texts is controversial, as they were likely recorded after several centuries of oral transmission. The oldest Brahmana is dated to about 900 BCE, while the youngest are dated to around 700 BCE.
context_section_description: When the completion of yajna does not happen in a year (samvatsara) then everything is not stable. Then one has to seek the grace of Vishnu (Vamana) by performing a special rite on the ekadashi day. Yajna means Vishnu (worshipping Vishnu). They perform yajna only for stabilising. They depend on Indra and Agni. Indra and Agni give the abode for Gods (devas). Devas only seek shelter in them and only depend on them.
  — Taittiriya Brahmana, translated by R.L. Kashyap (2017), Ashtaka 1, Prapathaka 2, Anuvaka 5, Verses 1-7
  Ascribed to the sage Tittiri (or Taittiri), the Taittiriya Brahmana of the Taittiriya Shakha consists of three Ashtakas (books or parts) of commentaries on the performance of Vedic sacrificial rituals, astronomy, and information about the gods. It is stated by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) to be 'mixed of mantras and Brahmans... composed in poetic and prose manner'. 
  M. Winternitz adds that the "Taittiriya-Brahmana of the Black YajurVeda is nothing but a continuation of the Taittiriya-Samhita, for the Brahmanas were already included in the Samhitas of the Black YajurVeda. The Taittiriya-Brahmana, therefore, contains only later additions to the Samhita."
  According to the Monier-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary, Taittiri was a disciple of Yaska (300-400 BCE), although according to the Vishnu Purana (Book 3, Chapter 5), Taittiri and Yaska were disciples of Vaiśampáyana (500-600 BCE). According to H.H. Wilson, in the Anukramańí (index of the black YajurVeda), it 'is there said that Vaiśampáyana taught it to Yaska, who taught it to Tittiri, who also became a teacher; whence the term Taittiríya, for a grammatical rule explains it to mean, 'The Taittiríyas are those who read what was said or repeated by Tittiri'.'
caption: Page of the Taittiriya Samhita.
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