- Taittiriya Shakha
The Taittiriya Shakha is a notable "
shakha " ("rescension") of theBlack Yajurveda . TheVishnu Purana attributes it to a pupil ofYaska named Tittiri. It is most prevalent insouth India . The "shakha" consists of:
*TheTaittiriya Samhita — (TS) which consists of 8 books or "kaandas", subdivided in chapters or "prapathakas", further subdivided into individual hymns. Some individual hymns in this Samhita have gained particular importance inHinduism ; e.g. TS 4.5 and TS 4.7 constitute theShri Rudram Chamakam , while 1.8.6.i is theShaivaite Tryambakam mantra.
*TheTaittiriya Brahmana (having three kaandas). Part of kathaka "shakha"brahmana is also included in this shakha.
*the TaittiriyaAranyaka (having seven prashnas)
**TheTaittiriya Upanishad (having three "prashnas" or "vallis" - Sheeksha valli, Ananda valli and Bhrigu valli)
**TheMahanarayana Upanishad
*The ApastambaShrautasutra The Taittiriya Upanishad and Mahanarayana Upanishad are considered to be the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth prashnas of the Taittiriya Aaranyaka. The words "prapaathaka" and "kaanda" (meaning sections) are interchangeably used in the Vedic literature. "Prashna" and "valli" refer to sections of the Aaranyaka.
Editions
*Albrecht Weber, "Die IAST|Taittirîya-Saṃhitâ," Leipzig, Indische Studien 11-12, Brockhaus (1871, 1872) [http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/ind/aind/ved/yvs/ts/ts.htm etext]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.