Yajurveda

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The Yajurveda ( Sanskrit , m., यजुर्वेद, yajurveda, yajus = "sacrificial proposition") is one of the four Vedas , the sacred texts of Hinduism . It contains the sacrificial formulas or mantras that the Adhvaryu, one of the priests in the Vedic sacrificial ritual , must master. Two versions of the Yajurveda have been handed down, the “white” (shukla) and the “black” (kṛṣna / krishna) Yajurveda.

Each of the four Vedas - these are Rigveda , Sāma-Veda , Atharvaveda and Yajurveda - comprises four layers of text. The oldest layer are the Samhitās (hymns), the next layer are the Brāhmanas (ritual texts), then come the Āranyakas ( forest texts ) and finally the Upanishads (philosophical teachings).

In contrast to the other three Vedas , the Brāhmanas (explanations of sacrificial theology) belonging to the black Yajurveda are not written separately, but are interwoven with the text of the Veda itself. For the black Yajurveda there are the following collections, each belonging to a school: the Kapishthala-Samhita, the Kathaka-Samhita, the Maitrayani-Samhitā and the Taittirīya Samhitā (although a Taittirīya-Brāhmana is also passed on as a separate text, but this is not Brāhmana to Samhitā is). In white Yajurveda, however, Samhitā and Brāhmana are separate. There are two schools, Kanva and Madhyandina, each of which includes Shatapatha-Brāhmana .

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