Shatapatha-Brahmana

The Shatapatha - Brahmana (Sanskrit, शतपथ ब्राह्मण Satapatha brāhmaṇa the " Brahmana of one hundred paths " ) is one of the ancient Indian Brahmana texts of the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of Hinduism. It is one of the prose texts describing the with the white Vajurveda ( Shukla Yajur Veda ) connected to Vedic rituals.

Reviews

The Shatapatha - Brahmana is delivered in two reviews: Madhyandina of Vajasaneyi Madhyandina - Shakha and Kanva of Kanva - Shakha, the former having the eponymous 100 brahmanas in 14 books, and the latter 104 brahmanas in 17 books. Linguistically, it belongs to the Brahmana period of Vedic Sanskrit, which is dated to the first half of the 1st millennium BC.

Of interest are the sections with embedded mythological myths of the Creation and the Flood of Manu. The text describes in detail the preparation of the altar, the ceremonial objects, ritual recitations and the Soma libations, along with the symbolic attributes of every aspect of the rituals.

The Beyond - migration of the holy seer Bhrigu, a son of the god Varuna, is contained therein.

The 14 books of the Madhyandina - review can be divided into two large main parts. The first nine books have exact text commentaries, often line by line, of the first 18 books of the corresponding samhita of the Yajurveda. The following 5 books cover supplementary and ritualistically newer material, they also contain the famous Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, which covers almost the whole last book 14.

The Shatapatha - Brahmana was translated into English by Julius Eggeling in the late 19th century. The five volumes are included in the book series Sacred Books of the East.

Quote

"There are two kinds of gods: first, the gods, and then the Brahmins who have learned the Vedas and they recite; these are human gods."

Editions and translations

J. Eggeling: Satapatha Brahmana, in Sacred Books of the East, vols 12, 26, 41, 43, 44 (reprint ), Oxford from 1882 to 1900. ( Online)