CHAPTKH ONE THE KANVA BKAHMii.MiiS ..... ^ .. » ( 1 to 38 ) 1. The Schools of the Sukla Yajurveda, 2. The Kanva School. 3* Settlements of the Kanva brahmanas in ancient India as reflected in epigraphy. 4. The present position of the Kanvas THE KSHVA BiaatAMAS 1. Tht tohoolt of tim Saida YaJiirvda Vhll* datarBlnlng tl» azaet nunbar of the aehools of tha Yajurvedat various authorities hava baan diffaring fros aaeh o^ar, aoro than fra«iuantlx. For instanoat tha SBJUI^ i:sihA ^ of Saunaka givas the nusbar of tfao sohools of tha Yajurvoda as aighty^six, vhila tha ^^t^grraJ^dBirayMYyTlha ^ anunaratas tvanty-four sohools. Tha Muktikopaniyad 3 lists 109 sohools in allt i^il« tha vorks lika Mahabhar^ta ^ Mahithifya,^ Ahtrt^d^mlya SiihUi,^ oto. supoort tha tradition of 101 sohools, Tha K^mwwi^a '^ follows tha tradition of 42 sohools, ¥hila on tha othar hand the text Ca1nirTf4a»toi* aXm^MlM ^ enlists 118 sohools. The tradition^ states that tha Ml§ YilUrYflft, vas proDogated by the saga Yajnavalkya, son of Brataaavmta. He vas tha pupil of Vaiaaiipayana, vho onee by so«a eurae/his ovn son to die, vho vas unknovingly hit by Yaisafflpayana's feat. He asked his deseiples to praetiee a certain jcsiJUi idiieh vould enable him to gat rid of the sin of killing tha Brahaana. Yajnavalkya, seeing the ineapability of his feliov friends told his teaehar that the responsibility of that 3XMXJL should be put on his shoulders, beeause others vare powerless. The teaehar Vaisaapayana became enraged 2 mt the arroganee of Tajnavalkya., so he asked Yajnavalkya to r^twrn ail the kaowledge lapart^ed on r,o hire. Then Yajnavalkya ¥Q«.itt:«d all th« IsJujI portions vhieb, aa had Isarnt atth« f««t of Yaisaflipayanaj the.n h© prayed to lord Sirya and •RtfttAtftd Mia to inpart to M-a^. tJae n«^ V'edaas. Lord Surya ip«veal«cl t.ii« k,n,ovl«dfe of the new'Veda whieh was later on JtflOion ,,5 th« J/iAM^|®Xi„iaffiMlfei or the Sixkla Y^.lurveda. ,-..y^-4:J^rai^a 3.6.g6 states that the sun appeared m th« form of a powerful it«9d and imparted the knowledge af th« ¥«da, while VftYH-Piirjj^a 61.21-23 states that it was Yajnavalkya who had assiamed the form of a horse. Vayu-Puran^ «1,23 it&tes that due to the fact that Yajnavalkya tiai( «s«aii«<fi th« form of a horse, th« Veda was known as the yaJiaaaeltl- Sanfeitl^ iccordlag to Sayana, the word ¥aj«aan«yl aynfeolises the sage laj naval kya. Th« various author 1 ties again differ from each other «a the duestien of the exaet names of the fifteen schools of th« gftklft YtJiiarTe4a. The yayii-Pii^ra^a si.24-26 gires the following naJEiesi! 3 « • ^'WTpT -"inUii-: mram 7nf^?/.%oU: iiirl^'/'. -^^^^'in^'^^ '^i^krr -^^})z^r ^:^)^^^T ^5?crf 3ire5^r:<?>Rt.iRjri?yii!Cif:i Ct,a tm ®-char hand, The By^t^fflj^QdiSi':Purgina 1.35,3^-89 15 j??-^.5 H #:il|htly iiifraying; naiees^ e.g. Pwrtiisp the C^yariavyiiha of Saimaka enuweratej tliese fIft«=•"•" aohools in a still diffarsnt aannsr. It gl'»'es thsir nnm« 3 ?• TTHT^fh??.:-W^ftm: ^ft^^rSVU:^ <3mf^:^J: rj:^mfi^^v? ~^umjr ^vhn -§th77 ar^ifr ihd^zrp^kf^ t Siy&na^^ TOram«nti»g a|»on the V^jjipatieyl SaaMta <'SiaTs.) fl-rag another gat of varying Ba»©s^ e.f. ••"'^^•^^^'^^^c??? arrarft^ryTr -TT^fyncrf^^: -^rnr^ferr <^ ^h/i. -"%WT >aft£W ^^TTeTW %?^: spTcmTliftW: I 111 these authorities an.d others Ilk© JJ,snil-Plirk!« 3.5,20 tsa Bh^f^:«,fc&iParing 12.6.74 »gr^n on th© point; U:;^!, i»'S«¥«l?/*A^ to ''=i«* 8®0«at «»f tfXtUSa ?8irlttlon it bS^*r>'':^'i^ iiffle^t tr? conftrast mn Mn.:lf»rgal list. An •xtTWly ijB]»ort«at Uxt knevn as th« Yaitiyvykya vas uaearthtd by Haghu 71ra P Thi ditoovarr of this t«3ct cesxsst awsa narkg an iaportant etac* in tha study of tba diffar«nt aoiioolfl of tha Vedaa. Ba vritaa about this eharti ** this is what was knonn to us so far. Nov hovavar our knotdodga has vastay inoraasad by tha diseovary of Yaiuyvykya^ a chart on which tha Yaius trea is dravn with its 101 bran^es reaching in a vary reaoto eomar of tha Indian paninsula. Scores of nanes ara ravaaled to us for the first time. The 80 .Si^m of the Jabalas and 24 of tha Galavas «ere entirely unknown. More striking still are the 14 i^lte Kathas. The U schools were all over Xn<!ia. This testifies to the great poptHarity of the rituals and at tha sane time affords the reason for their large nmbar. * The text CftfarW<ia-iitor-Strij^aya vhidi is based on tha CarayaiTYuha of Katyayana gives seventeen major groups of the Sukla Yajurvedai along with fifty other sub-groups of the prior ones. A short description of the followers of these branches is as follows!^^ 1* Jftbllai The brahnanas known as iSkJMMi&SUkt «^ ^^^ settled between the river l^armada and the Vindhya aountain ranges are st^posed to have belonged to this school. Of this school, the JSbIift«|>ti and the gnantlKJi ere available. The Jibalasaahita and the I^ se«B to have had a parallel and similar tradition, and there seems to have 5 •xlsted « negllgibl« ansount of variation b«tv««n tlwa) that la tbe raason why the Narnadlya bralmanaa follow ttot 3M tradition. Tha ganalogf of Jabala eonnaetod vlth this aohool is as follovst Vajisahasrada Jamadagni J ay a Jabala It is evidant that this Jabala is not the same as the one referrad to in the Upanisads as Jabala Satyaksasa. The Ibhira brahnanas who originally had settled near the source of the river God^, belong to this school. They are further sub-divided in four groupst Ibhlra 1. KhanadesI 2. Hanavata (or Kisti) « * 3. ibhira 4. VaJi*Radbyandina The brahaanas Inhabiting the lands on the balvkr of the river Sarayu are termed as the Hadhywidinas. The VSffi SBMy etc. are the texts connected with them. 4. J^StZA t The brahaanas vho had settled in the Amarakantaka country and %Ao are known as the Nagaras, belong to this 6 • . •«.. •oiiool. AaantabhatUy oonswnting on the t%»y^ Pratt iai^hTat has quoUd tMB« ffiantra-pQptlona from the Xett SaJihlta of thl« ichool,^* s. fitihinanlYs* Tbft brahnaaas residing towards the northern side of the Hansada, temed as Hirandeva, follov this school. The Bhrgauda or Bhrgugauda or Bt^agore Naiavl brahaanas belong to this scliool. 7. Paii^ravataa* The frivada brahmanas belonging to the Malava country follow this school. 8. Ixa^lkat This school is followed br the Shi^alavl brahaanas, wbo belong to the Malava country. These brafaBanas are divided into three subgroups, vis., Bhrgod Malavl, Trivad Malavl, and Sri Hiiavl who follow practices similar to those of the Kanvas, Hadhyandinas, and the JabaLas. 9. PafaiaiTftt^tot The Idyagauda brahnanas of the Cauda country follow this s^ool. 7 10. Paraaapya! Th« Gaudagurj j ar brabmaaas of th» Haruddesa follov this school. The Sri Cauda brahnanaa of the Gauda country follow the practices of this school. 12. YftlRftlifYat The KaQKara bralnaaai of the regions of the * 3audhya nountaln belong to this school. 13. ittdtHM: The GuJ iratl brahaanas of the Ourllara cotmtry follov this school. 14. 9ft.l,.1ftyi8lit The brahaianas settling around the Hariiyana Sarovara follov this school. 15. .^iM&s The brahnanas of the faurastra country belong * • • to this sdiool. 16. KS.i;yiyaalyai The present i<asta brahmanas vho originally had settled around the confluence of Bamada belong to this school. 8. The iCanva school The iQnva ss^ool Is the most Inpvrtant branch of the 8 Sukla Yajurv«<ia; indosd It is one of the onl3^ tvo turvlvlng schools of it. The Mahlgy^va ^^ states that ths ^y% sdiool is ons of ths foremost schools of ths Sakla ?ajiirv«(ta, •••n Ylff^ii-Puriyi 3.5.29 and Ihigatila-fttriya is.6.74 saka a mantion of this sehool first of all tha schools. It is traditionally know as tha pratllaffiiaiHfci. Caturvda Sakha Hirnaya ^'^ states that the foil oners of the Kanva school have soread all over the country, and this is the reason vhy ve find that they possess the Cauda and Oravida divisions avongst then. The followers of the Kanva school may be divided into five sub-groups, nanely, desi, Karhade, Kirana, i^aurasa, and Jambu.^^ Mahadevasastr'' itrli Divelcar ^® narrates a legend concerning aasaasB the specific position awarded to the followers of this school in the pepforsiance of the sacrifices. 'Il"*e story runs as follows! Once in a great sacrifice many sages of various Vedic schools had participated. The Hgvedlns and Yajurvedins were assigned the duties respectively at the eastern and western gates of the sacrificial hall. Kanva demanded the assignment towards the eastern gate whidti was turned down by his teacher Yajnavalkya on the ground that his Samhit^ vas impure. Isheartend^ Kanva approached Lord ^rya and entreated him to purify the mantras from the Samhita of the Kanvas. Sage Kanva placed himselfjin the ear of Surya who was reciting the mantras to %*ich the divine horse was y astignlzsig pXLTQ accents. In this process Kanva nlsund«r8too4 th0 nasal sound for the v^ aound. In spit® of this 8lK>rt- coBlng tajnavallqra agread on the point that the ?ada had haan purified and so Kanva vaa offered the aaalgment towards the south»vestem direetlon. lilS^il "^^^8 that the followers of the Itanva and Madhjrandina sehools differ from eadb other on many subtle points involved in the domes tie ritual.