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{{Hindu scriptures}}
[[File:1636 CE Samaveda, Sadvimsha Brahmana (Pañcaviṃśabrāhmaṇa supplement), Benares Sanskrit college, Edward Cowell collection, sample i, Sanskrit, Devanagari.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|A 17th-century manuscript page of Sadvimsha Brahmana, a Pañcaviṃśa-Brāhmaṇa supplement (Sanskrit, Devanagari). It is found embedded in the [[Samaveda]].]]
The '''Brahmanas''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|r|ɑː|m|ə|n|ə|z}}; [[Sanskrit]]: {{lang|sa|ब्राह्मणम्}}, [[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration|IAST]]: ''Brāhmaṇam'') are [[Vedas|Vedic]] [[śruti]] works attached to the [[Samhita]]s (hymns and mantras) of the [[Rigveda|Rig]], [[Samaveda|Sama]], [[Yajurveda|Yajur]], and [[Atharvaveda|Atharva]] Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of [[Sanskrit]] texts embedded within each Veda, which explain and instruct on the performance of [[Yajna|Vedic rituals]] (in which the related Samhitas are recited). In addition to explaining the symbolism and meaning of the [[Samhita]]s, Brahmana literature also expounds scientific knowledge of the [[Vedic period|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 [[Aranyaka]]s and [[Upanishad]]s.<ref name=":5" />
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.<ref>Klaus Klostermaier (2007), A Survey of Hinduism, Third Edition, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791470824}}, page 47</ref> The oldest Brahmana is dated to about 900 [[BCE]], while the
== Nomenclature and etymology ==
''Brahmana'' (or ''Brāhmaṇam'', [[Sanskrit]]: ब्राह्मणम्) can be loosely translated as '[[explanation]]s of sacred knowledge or [[doctrine]]' or '[[Brahmin|Brahmanical]] explanation'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&script=hk&tran_input=brAhmaNas&direct=se&anz=100|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit: 'brahmana'|website=spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2020-01-24}}</ref> According to the [[Monier Monier-Williams|Monier-Williams]] Sanskrit dictionary, 'Brahmana' means:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://faculty.washington.edu/prem/mw/b.html|title=Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary – b: 'brāhmaṇa'|website=faculty.washington.edu|access-date=2020-01-24|archive-date=25 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325053343/http://faculty.washington.edu/prem/mw/b.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 'Explanations of sacred knowledge or doctrine [especially] for the use of the [[Brahmin|Brāhmans]] in their [[Yajna|sacrifices]]'.
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=== Abbreviations and schools ===
For ease of reference, academics often use common [[abbreviation]]s to refer to particular Brahmanas and other Vedic, post-Vedic (e.g. [[Puranas]]), and [[Sanskrit]] literature. Additionally, particular Brahmanas linked to particular Vedas are also linked to (i.e. recorded by) particular [[Shakha]]s or schools of those Vedas as well. Based on the abbreviations and Shakhas provided by works cited in this article (and other texts by [[Maurice Bloomfield|Bloomfield]], [[Arthur Berriedale Keith|Keith]], [[William Dwight Whitney|W. D, Whitney]], and H.W. Tull),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15782|title=A Vedic Concordance (1906)|last=Bloomfield|first=Maurice|date=1906|pages=xv–xxii|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PaH4uKI7MaEC&q=Chandogya+Brahmana+CB&pg=PR10|title=The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads|last=Keith|first=Arthur Berriedale|date=1970|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass
* "--" indicates the abbreviation or school has not been provided or found
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=== Recensions by Disciples of Vyasa ===
S. Sharva states that in 'the brahmana literature this word ['brahmana'] has been commonly used as detailing the ritualism related to the different sacrifices or [[yajna]]s... The known [[recension]]s [i.e. schools or [[Shakha]]s] of the [[Vedas]], all had separate brahmanas. Most of these brahmanas are [[Lost literary work|not extant]].... [<nowiki/>[[Pāṇini|Panini]]] differentiates between the old and the new brahmanas... [he asked] Was it when [[Vyasa|Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa]] had propounded the Vedic recensions? The brahmanas which had been propounded prior to the exposition of recensions by [<nowiki/>[[Vyasa]]] were called as old brahmanas and those which had been expounded by his disciples were known as new brahmanas'.<ref name=":1" />
== Rigveda ==
The [[Aitareya Brahmana|Aitareya]], Kausitaki, and [[Sankhyayana Brahmana|Samkhyana]] Brahmanas are the two (or three) known extant Brahmanas of the [[Rigveda]]. [[Arthur Berriedale Keith|A.B. Keith]], a translator of the Aitareya and Kausitaki Brahmanas, states that it is 'almost certainly the case that these two [[Sankhyayana Brahmana|[Kausitaki and Samkhyana] Brahmanas]] represent for us the development of a single tradition, and that there must have been a time when there existed a single... text [from which they were developed and diverged]'.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.84867|title=Rigveda Brahmanas The Aitareya And Kausitaki Brahmanas Of The Rigveda|last=Keith|first=Arthur Berriedale|date=1920|pages=22, 28, 37–38 (Kausitaki), 49 (Kausitaki date), 348 (Kausitaki quote: 1.2)}}</ref> Although S. Shrava considers the Kausitaki and Samkhyana Brahmanas to be separate although very similar works,<ref name=":1" /> M. Haug considers them to be the same work referred to by different names.<ref name=":4" />
=== Aitareya Brahmana ===
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{{blockquote|The [[sun]] does never set nor rise. When people think the sun is setting (it is not so). For, after having arrived at the end of the day, it makes itself produce two opposite effects, making night to what is below and day to what is on the other side...Having reached the end of the night, it makes itself produce two opposite effects, making day to what is below and night to what is on the other side. In fact, the sun never sets. Nor does it set for him who has such a knowledge. Such a one becomes united with the sun, assumes its form, and enters its place.|source=Aitareya Brahmanam of the RigVeda, translated by Martin Haug (1922), Book 3, Chapter 4, Section 44<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/aitareyabrahmana04hauguoft|title=The Aitareya Brahmanam of the Rigveda|last=Haug|first=Martin|date=1922|publisher=Bahadurganj, Allahabad Sudhindra Nath Vasu|others=Robarts – University of Toronto|pages=[https://archive.org/details/aitareyabrahmana04hauguoft/page/163 163]–164}}</ref>}}
[[File:1827 CE manuscript copy, Vedic era Aitareya Brahmana, Schoyen Collection Norway.jpg
As detailed in the main article, the [[Aitareya Brahmana]] (AB) is ascribed to the sage Mahidasa Aitareya of the [[Shakala Shakha]] (Shakala school) of the [[Rigveda]], and is estimated to have been recorded around 600-400 [[Common Era|BCE]].<ref name=":3" /> It is also linked with the Ashvalayana Shakha.<ref name=":0" /> The text itself consists of eight ''pañcikā''s (books), each containing five ''adhyaya''s (chapters
Haug states that the legend about this Brahmana, as told by [[Sayana]], is that the 'name "Aitareya" is by Indian tradition traced to ''Itara''... An ancient [[Rishi|Risi]] had among his many wives one who was called ''Itara''. She had a son ''Mahidasa'' by name [i.e. Mahidasa Aitareya]... The Risi preferred the sons of his other wives to Mahidasa, and went even so far as to insult him once by placing all his other children in his lap to his exclusion. His mother, grieved at this ill-treatment of her son, prayed to her family deity (''[[Kuladevata]]''), [and] the Earth ([[Bhūmi|Bhumi]]), who appeared in her celestial form in the midst of the assembly, placed him on a throne (''[[simhasana]]''), and gave him as a token of honour for his surpassing all other children in learning a boon (vara) which had the appearance of a Brahmana [i.e. the Aitareya]'.<ref name=":4" /> P. Deussen agrees, relating the same story.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8mSpQo9q-tIC&q=mahidasa+itara+sayana&pg=PA7|title=Sechzig Upaniṣad's des Veda|last=Deussen|first=Paul|date=1980|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-1468-4|pages=7|language=en}}</ref> Notably, The story itself is remarkably similar to the legend of a [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnava]] boy called [[Dhruva]] in the [[Puranas]] (e.g. [[Bhagavata Purana]], Canto 4, Chapter 8-12).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/4/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 4: The Creation of the Fourth Order|last=Prabhupada|first=A.C.|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-01-25}}</ref>
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{{blockquote|The [[Deva (Hinduism)|gods]] and the [[Asura]]s were in conflict over these worlds. From them [[Agni]] departed, and entered the seasons. The gods, having been victorious and having slain the Asuras, sought for him; [[Yama (Hinduism)|Yama]] and [[Varuna]] discerned him. Him (the gods) invited, him they instructed, to him they offered a boon. He chose this as a boon, '(Give) me the fore-offering and the after-offerings for my own, and the [[ghee]] of the waters and make of plants.' Therefore they say 'Agni's are the fore-offerings and the after-offerings; Agni's is the butter.' Then indeed did the gods prosper, the Asuras were defeated. He prospers himself, his foe is defeated, who knows thus.|source=Rigveda Brahmanas: The Aitareya And Kausitaki Brahmanas Of The [[Rigveda]], translated by [[Arthur Berriedale Keith]] (1920), Kausitaki Brahmana, Adhyaya I, Verse 2<ref name=":3" />}}
[[File:Tools used for Yajna.jpg|thumb|Tools used for [[Yajna]].]]
The [[Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts]] (IGNCA) states that the
Keith estimates that the
==== Kaushitaki Brahmana Upanishad ====
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=== Samavidhana Brahmana ===
Caland states that the Samavidhana Brahmana of the Kauthuma Shakha is 'in 3 prapathakas [books or chapters]... its aim is to explain how by chanting various samans [hymns of the [[Samaveda]]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/saman|title=Saman, Sāman, Shaman, Śāman: 2 definitions|last=www.wisdomlib.org|date=2019-01-04|website=www.wisdomlib.org|access-date=2020-01-27}}</ref> some end may be attained. It is probably older than one of the oldest dharmasastras, that of Gautama'.<ref name=":7" /> M. S. Bhat states that it is not properly a Brāhmaṇa text, but belongs to the [[Vidhāna]] literature.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bhat |first=M. S. |title=Vedic Tantrism: A Study of Ṛgvidhāna of Śaunaka with Text and Translation |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |year=1998 |orig-date=1987 |isbn=8120801970 |page=16}}</ref>
=== Daivata Brahmana ===
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{{Main articles|Shatapatha Brahmana}}{{Verse translation|tarhi videgho māthava āsa <nowiki>|</nowiki> sarasvatyāṃ sa tata eva prāṅdahannabhīyāyemām pṛthivīṃ taṃ gotamaśca rāhūgaṇo videghaśca māthavaḥ paścāddahantamanvīyatuḥ sa imāḥ sarvā nadīratidadāha sadānīretyuttarādgirernirghāvati tāṃ haiva nātidadāha tāṃ ha sma tām purā brāhmaṇā na tarantyanatidagdhāgninā vaiśvānareṇeti|Mâthava, the Videgha, was at that time on the (river) Sarasvatî. He ([[Agni]]) thence went burning along this earth towards the east; and Gotama Râhûgana and the Videgha Mâthava followed after him as he was burning along. He burnt over (dried up) all these rivers. Now that (river), which is called 'Sadânîrâ,' flows from the northern (Himâlaya) mountain: that one he did not burn over. That one the Brâhmans did not cross in former times, thinking, 'it has not been burnt over by Agni Vaisvânara.'|lang=en|attr1=Satapatha Brahmnana, [[transliteration]] of Kanda I, Adhyâya IV, Brâhmana I, Verse 14<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/1_sanskr/1_veda/2_bra/satapath/sb_01_u.htm|title = Satapatha-Brahmana 1}}</ref>|attr2=Satapatha Brahmana, [[translation]] by [[Julius Eggeling]] (1900), Kanda I, Adhyâya IV, Brâhmana I, Verse 14<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe12/sbe1217.htm|title=Satapatha Brahmana Part 1 (SBE12): First Kânda: I, 4, 1. Fourth Adhyâya. First brâhmana|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref>}}
[[File:13th-century Shatapatha Brahmana 14th Khanda Prapathaka 3-4, page 1r and 1v, Sanskrit, Devanagari script.jpg|thumb|Extract from a 13th-century manuscript of the [[Shatapatha Brahmana]] (Khanda 14).]]
[[Moriz Winternitz|M. Winternitz]] states that this Brahmana is 'the best known, the most extensive, and doubtless, also on account of its contents, the most important of all the Brahmanas'.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.97551|title=A History Of Indian Literature,vol.1|last=Winternitz|first=M.|date=1927|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.97551/page/n213 187]–225, 192}}</ref> Eggeling states that 'The Brâhma''n''a of the Vâ''g''asaneyins bears the name of ''S''atapatha, that is, the Brâhma''n''a 'of a hundred paths,' because it consists of a hundred lectures (adhyâyas). Both the [[Yajurveda|Vâ''g''asaneyi-sa''m''hitâ]] [Yajurveda] and the [[Shatapatha Brahmana|''S''atapatha-brâhma''n''a]] have come down to us in two different [[recension]]s, those of the [[Madhyandina Shakha|Mâdhyandina]] and the [[Kanva Shakha|Kâ''n''va schools]]':<ref name=":2" />
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{{Main articles|Taittiriya Brahmana}}
{{blockquote|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 ([[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]]). Devas only seek shelter in them and only depend on them.|source=[[Taittiriya Shakha|Taittiriya]] Brahmana, translated by R.L. Kashyap (2017), Ashtaka 1, Prapathaka 2, Anuvaka 5, Verses 1–7<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_8sBtAEACAAJ|title=Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa: Text in Devanāgari and Translation|date=2017|publisher=Sri Aurobindo Kapāli Sāstry Institute of Vedic Culture|isbn=978-81-7994-166-9|pages=107 (Volume 1)|language=en}}</ref>}}
[[File:Taittiriya Samhita Vedas, Devanagari script, Sanskrit pliv.jpg
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 [[Vedas|Vedic]] [[Yajna|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 [[mantra]]s and Brahmans... composed in poetic and prose manner'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://vedicheritage.gov.in/brahmanas/taittiriya-brhamana/|publisher=Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts |title=Taittiriya Brahmana|website=Vedic Heritage}}</ref>
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== Atharvaveda ==
[[File:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png|thumb|250x250px|[[Atharvaveda|Atharva-Veda]] [[samhita]] page.]]According to [[Maurice Bloomfield|M. Bloomfield]], the
* Paippalada, Paippaladaka, Paippaladi, Pippalada, or Paopalayana: A 'patronymic derived from the name of a teacher Pippaladi'.
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=== Gopatha Brahmana ===
{{Main articles|Gopatha Brahmana}}
{{blockquote|These (waters) which having encircled the seed, the ocean, rested into (it); those (waters) flowed together towards the east, south, west, and north. In that those (waters) flowed together (towards it), therefore, it is called samudra (ocean). Frightened they said to the lord, alone may we choose as King. And in that having encircled (the ocean), rested into (it), that became Varana. Him who is (really) Varana they call mystically [[Varuna]]. Gods are fond of mystical (presentation) as it were, and haters of direct (presentation).|source=Gopatha Brahmana, translated by H.C. Patyal (1969), Prapathaka I.1.7<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/151631|title=Gopatha brahmana english translation with notes and introduction|last=Kasjikar|first=C.G.|website=Shodhganga|hdl=10603/151631}}</ref>|author=|title=}}▼
▲{{blockquote|These (waters) which having encircled the seed, the ocean, rested into (it); those (waters) flowed together towards the east, south, west, and north. In that those (waters) flowed together (towards it), therefore, it is called samudra (ocean). Frightened they said to the lord, alone may we choose as King. And in that having encircled (the ocean), rested into (it), that became Varana. Him who is (really) Varana they call mystically [[Varuna]]. Gods are fond of mystical (presentation) as it were, and haters of direct (presentation).|source=Gopatha Brahmana, translated by H.C. Patyal (1969), Prapathaka I.1.7<ref>{{Cite
Bloomfield states that the [[Gopatha Brahmana]] 'does not favour us with a report of the name of its author or authors. it is divided into two parts, the purva-brahmana in five prapathakas (chapters), and the uttara-brahmana in six prapathakas. The purva shows considerable originality, especially when it is engaged in the glorification of the [[Atharvan]] and its priests; this is indeed its main purpose. Its materials are by no means all of the usual Brahmana-character; they broach frequently upon the domain of [[Upanishads|Upanishad]]... The uttara has certainly some, though probably very few original sections'.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.188909|title=The Atharveda And The Gopatha Brahmana|last=Maurice Bloomfield|date=1899|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.188909/page/n18 11]-13 (Shakhas of the ArtharvaVeda), 101–103}}</ref>
S.S. Bahulkar states that the 'Gopatha Brahmana (GB.) is the only brahmana text of AV [<nowiki/>[[Atharvaveda]]], belonging to both the recensions [<nowiki/>[[Shakha]]s], viz. Saunaka and Paippalada'.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z5AydkGbl5gC&q=Gopatha+Brahmana&pg=PA10|title=Vedic texts, a revision: Prof. C.G. Kashikar felicitation volume|last=Bahulkar|first=S. S.|date=1990|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass
== Lost Brahmanas ==
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*[[Vedic Sanskrit]]
==
{{
==External links==
[[Category:Brahmanas|*]]▼
*{{Commonscatinline|Brahmanas}}
[[Category:Hindu texts]]
[[Category:Historical Vedic religion]]
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