Brahmana texts
Also called: Brahmanas · Topic: The Vedic Age · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Brāhmaṇas are prose texts attached to each Veda. They explain how sacrificial rituals (yajñas) should be performed and what each step means. They form the second layer of every Veda, after the samhitā (the collection of hymns). They show that rituals became more and more complex during the later Vedic period.
Example
The Aitareya Brāhmaṇa belongs to the Ṛigveda. The Shatapatha Brāhmaṇa ('of a hundred paths') belongs to the Shukla (White) Yajurveda. The Shatapatha is one of the longest and most detailed ritual texts of the Vedic age.
Don't confuse with
- Brahman: the idea of the one Ultimate Universal Being in the Upaniṣhads. It is a concept, not a text.
- Brāhmaṇa / Brahmin (varṇa): the social group linked to studying and teaching the Vedas and performing yajñas. Neither the texts nor this group is the god Brahmā.
Related concepts
- Vedas
- Rigveda
- Rig Veda family books
- Yajurveda
- Samaveda
- Atharvaveda
- Aranyakas
- Upavedas
- Vedangas
- Kalpa sutras