RBSE VU Shukla Yajurveda flashcards

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Vajasaneyi Samhita

The Samhita of the Shukla Yajurveda, arranged in 40 adhyayas, with the Madhyandina and Kanva recensions; it contains the yajus and mantras for the Shrauta rituals and ends with the Ishavasya Upanishad.

Madhyandina recension

The Shukla Yajurveda recension followed in North India, with a 40-adhyaya Samhita and a 14-kanda Shatapatha Brahmana; it is the basis of the Madhyandina school's ritual and recitation.

Kanva recension

The Shukla Yajurveda recension followed in parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat, with a 40-adhyaya Samhita and a 17-kanda Shatapatha Brahmana; it differs from the Madhyandina in arrangement and wording.

Yajnavalkya

The traditional sage of the Shukla Yajurveda, said to have received the Vajasaneyi mantras from the Sun after returning the Yajurveda he had learned from Vaisampayana; he is also a central figure in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

Shatapatha Brahmana

The principal Brahmana of the Shukla Yajurveda, attributed to Yajnavalkya, with 14 kandas (Madhyandina) or 17 kandas (Kanva); it covers the Darsha-purnamasa, Agnicayana, Ashvamedha, and other rites.

Brihadaranyaka Aranyaka

The Aranyaka of the Shukla Yajurveda, embedded in the Shatapatha Brahmana, so called because it was studied in the forest; it contains the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and the Yajnavalkya dialogues.

Ishavasya Upanishad

The 40th adhyaya of the Vajasaneyi Samhita, with 18 mantras, teaching that the whole world is pervaded by the Lord and that one should enjoy by renunciation; it is the shortest of the principal Upanishads.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

The largest Upanishad, with six adhyayas, embedded in the Shatapatha Brahmana; it contains the Yajnavalkya-Janaka dialogues, the neti neti method, and the teaching that the self is Brahman.

Neti neti

The Brihadaranyaka's method of negation, meaning 'not this, not this', used to describe Brahman by denying all limited descriptions; it appears in Brihadaranyaka 2.3.6.

Aham brahmasmi

The Brihadaranyaka's mahavakya (great saying) meaning 'I am Brahman', found in Brihadaranyaka 1.4.10; it expresses the identity of the self with the ultimate reality.

Udatta

The high-pitch Vedic accent, one of the three accents (udatta, anudatta, svarita); it is marked in the Madhyandina recension of the Vajasaneyi Samhita and is preserved in Vedic recitation.

Svarita

The falling-pitch Vedic accent, a combination of high and low pitch, marked with a vertical stroke in the Madhyandina text; it is classified into jatyasvarita, kshaiptasvarita, and other types.

Vajasaneyi Pratisakhya

The phonetic treatise of the Shukla Yajurveda, attributed to Katyayana, describing the sounds, accents, and recitation of the Vajasaneyi Samhita; it is a key source for Vedic phonology.

Vedic subjunctive

A mood preserved in Vedic Sanskrit but largely lost in Classical Sanskrit; it expresses will, possibility, or command and is used in the Vajasaneyi Samhita's prose and verse passages.

Agnicayana

The construction of the fire altar in five layers of bricks, the central rite of the Shukla Yajurveda's adhyayas 11-18; it is described in the Shatapatha Brahmana and the Katyayana Shrauta Sutra.

Darsha-purnamasa

The new-moon and full-moon sacrifice, with the offering of a cake to Agni and Soma; the Shukla Yajurveda's mantras for it are in adhyayas 1-2 and it is a model Shrauta rite.

Agnihotra

The daily offering of milk into the sacred fire at sunrise and sunset, the simplest Shrauta rite; the Shukla Yajurveda's mantras for it are in adhyaya 3.

Ashvamedha

The horse sacrifice, described in the Shukla Yajurveda's adhyayas 22-25; it involves the sacrificial horse, the queen, and the recitation of the Ashvamedha mantras.

Katyayana Shrauta Sutra

The principal Shrauta Sutra of the Shukla Yajurveda, attributed to Katyayana; it guides the practical application of the Vajasaneyi mantras in the Shrauta rituals.

Purusha-sukta

The hymn of the cosmic Purusha (Rigveda 10.90), also found in the Shukla Yajurveda's adhyaya 31; it describes the creation of the world from the sacrifice of the Purusha.

Vedic literature strata

The four strata of Vedic literature: Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka, and Upanishad; the Shukla Yajurveda has all four, with the Vajasaneyi Samhita, Shatapatha Brahmana, Brihadaranyaka, and the Ishavasya and Brihadaranyaka Upanishads.

Shukla vs Krishna Yajurveda

The Shukla Yajurveda separates mantra and brahmana (Vajasaneyi Samhita and Shatapatha Brahmana), while the Krishna Yajurveda mixes them in the Taittiriya, Maitrayani, Kathaka, and Kapishthala Samhitas.

Taittiriya Samhita

The Samhita of the Krishna Yajurveda, arranged in 7 kandas, with the Taittiriya Brahmana; it is the main counterpart of the Shukla Yajurveda's Vajasaneyi Samhita.

Katyayana Grihya Sutra

The Grihya Sutra of the Shukla Yajurveda, attributed to Katyayana; it describes the domestic rituals (samskaras) and complements the Katyayana Shrauta Sutra.

Albrecht Weber

The 19th-century German Indologist who edited the Vajasaneyi Samhita (1849) and the Shatapatha Brahmana (1855); his critical editions remain foundational for Shukla Yajurveda scholarship.

Julius Eggeling

The translator of the Shatapatha Brahmana into English in the Sacred Books of the East (vols. 12, 26, 41, 43, 44); his translation remains a standard reference for the text.

Sayana

The 14th-century commentator who wrote a commentary on the Vajasaneyi Samhita and other Vedic texts; his commentary is a key source for the traditional interpretation of the Shukla Yajurveda.

Recension criticism

The method of comparing the Madhyandina and Kanva recensions of the Shukla Yajurveda to reconstruct the text and its history; it uses manuscript collation and the Pratisakhya literature.

GRETIL

The Gottingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages, a digital database providing machine-readable texts of the Vajasaneyi Samhita and the Shatapatha Brahmana for research.

Pratika

The first words of a mantra, used to cite it in the Brahmana and Sutra literature; the Shukla Yajurveda's Brahmana cites mantras by their pratikas, which helps reconstruct the ritual context.

Purodasha

The sacrificial cake offered in the Darsha-purnamasa and other rites, made of rice or barley and offered to Agni and Soma; the Shukla Yajurveda's mantras for it are in adhyayas 1-2.

Hiranmayena patrena

The closing prayer of the Ishavasya Upanishad (mantra 15-18), asking the Sun to remove the golden lid covering the truth; it is a prayer for the vision of the self.