The Texts of the White Yajurveda or Vajasaneya Samhita

Download or read book The Texts of the White Yajurveda or Vajasaneya Samhita written by Ralph T.H. Griffith and published by Sanctum Books. This book was released on 2023-11-29 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The four Vedas, Rg, Yajur, Sama and Atharva, the foundations, on which the grand and most ancient edifice of Hindu religion and philosophy are built. The Yajurveda ranks second in importance and is divided into two collections, Taittiriya and Vajasaneya, better known as Krishna or Black and Shukla or White Yajurveda. The latter is called white because its arrangement is systematic, orderly and free of obscurities which bedevil the former. The Yajurveda is actually a handbook or manual for the Adhvaryu priests, who specialized in conducting sacrifices. The White Yajurveda contains 2000 hymns arranged in forty books. Most of the hymns are culled from the Rgveda. The Yajur or sacrificial formulas are in prose, to be intoned in measured cadence. The important sacrifices dealt here are: Asvamedha or horse sacrifice, Purushamedha or sacrifice at full and new moon. Griffith's translation is true to the original. It explains recondite portions with the unobtrusive commentary of Mahidara.