Brahmanas
Also known as: Brahmana Texts, Vedic Brahmanas, Brāhmaṇas
The Brahmanas are Vedic prose scriptures that explicate sacrificial ritual, embed cosmogonies, and preserve mythic narratives attached to each Veda. They systematize ritual meanings while transmitting foundational myths, priestly lore, and the theological logic of yajña.
Description
Attached to the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda, the Brahmanas comprise priestly exegesis that explains rites, mantras, altar geometry, and the salvific logic of sacrifice. Their prose blends instruction with myth, deriving cosmology and ethics from ritual performance. Among the most influential are the Aitareya and Kauṣītaki (Rigveda), the Taittirīya and Śatapatha (Yajurveda), the Pañcaviṃśa/Tāṇḍya and Jaiminīya (Samaveda), and the Gopatha (Atharvaveda). The texts preserve motifs such as Prajāpati’s creative sacrifice, the flood of Manu, and analyses of the Aśvamedha and Agnicayana. They also frame meters, seasons, animals, and social roles as cosmic correspondences. Late strata shade into Āraṇyakas and early Upaniṣads, signaling a transition from ritual hermeneutics to speculative theology.
Historiography
Surviving Brahmanas reflect distinct śākhās; some are fragmentary or lost. The Śatapatha is richly preserved (Mādhyandina and Kāṇva recensions) and widely translated. Aitareya’s Shunahshepa narrative became a touchstone for Vedic myth and ethics. Nineteenth–twentieth-century Indological editions and translations (e.g., Eggeling, Haug) fixed a working canon, while later philology revised datings and relationships with Āraṇyakas/Upaniṣads. Ritual archaeology and altar-geometry studies have refined readings of Agnicayana materials.
Date Notes
Composed and redacted across regions and schools; chronology varies by Veda and recension (e.g., Śatapatha Brahmana later than Aitareya).
Themes
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Prajapati
- Agni
- Indra
- Soma
- Varuna
Myths
- Ritual Exegesis of Sacrifice
- Myths Explaining Vedic Rites
- Cosmogonic Speculations
Facts
- Brahmanas are prose ritual expositions attached to each of the four Vedas.
- Major recensions include Aitareya, Kauṣītaki, Taittirīya, Śatapatha, Pañcaviṃśa (Tāṇḍya), Jaiminīya, and Gopatha.
- They systematize yajña by linking rite, mantra, myth, meters, and cosmic correspondences.
- Śatapatha Brahmana preserves a detailed flood narrative featuring Manu and a saving fish.
- Aitareya Brahmana contains the Shunahshepa episode, pivotal for discussions of sacrifice and substitution.
- Agnicayana materials codify bird-shaped altar geometry and layered cosmology.
- Royal rites such as Rājasūya and Aśvamedha receive extensive mythic-theological justification.
- Late strata transition toward Āraṇyakas and early Upaniṣads, marking a move from ritual to speculation.
- Prajāpati often functions as a creator whose self-sacrifice models cosmic generation.
- Different śākhās preserve divergent sequences, explanations, and ritual variants.