The Shatapatha Brahmana (, , abbreviated to 'SB') is a part of the Śukla Yajurveda. It is attributed to the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya. Described as the most complete, systematic, and important of the Brahmanas (commentaries on the Vedas), it contains detailed explanations of Vedic sacrificial rituals, symbolism, and mythology.
Particularly in its description of sacrificial rituals (including construction of complex fire-altars).
The Shatapatha Brahmana is also considered significant in the development of Vaishnavism as the origin of several Puranic legends and avatars of Vishnu. Notably, all of them (Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, and Vamana) are listed as the first five avatars in the Dashavatara (the ten principal avatars of Vishnu).
There are two versions (recensions) available of this text. They are the Madhyandina recension and the Kanva recension. This article focuses exclusively on the Madhyandina version of the Shatapatha Brahmana.
Nomenclature The 'Shatapatha Brahmana' (Sanskrit शतपथब्राह्मण) can be loosely translated as 'Brahmana of one hundred paths':
'Brahmana' (Sanskrit ब्राह्मण) means 'explanations of sacred knowledge or doctrine'. 'Shatapatha' (Sanskrit शतपथ) means 'having a hundred paths' or 'proceeding in a hundred ways'.
Kanda and Adhyâya
'Kanda' (or 'Khanda', Sanskrit खंड), means 'chapter', 'division of a book', or more loosely 'book'. It also means 'praise' and 'water'. 'Adhyâya' (Sanskrit अध्याय), means 'chapter' (of a book), 'lesson', 'reading' and 'lecture'.
In relation to the Shatapatha Brahmana, a reference such as '14.1.2' means 'Kanda 14, Adhyaya 1, Brahmana 2', or in English, 'Book 14, Chapter 1, Explanation 2'. The addition of a fourth digit at the end (e.g. 17.7.3.11) refers to the verse number.
Date Arthur Berriedale Keith states that linguistically, the Shatapatha Brahmana belongs to the later part of the Brāhmaṇa period of Vedic Sanskrit (8th-6th century BCE).Keith, Aitareya Āraṇyaka, p. 38 (Introduction): "by common consent, the Shatapatha is one of the youngest of the great Brāhmaṇas"; footnotes: "Cf. Macdonell, Sanskrit Literature, pp. 203, 217. The Jaiminiya may be younger, cf. its use of ādi, Whitney, P.A.O.S, May 1883, p.xii." Asko Parpola dates it to around 700 BCE. J. Eggeling (translator of the Vājasaneyi mādhyandina recension into English), dates the final written version of the text to 300 BCE, although he states that some elements are 'far older, transmitted orally from unknown antiquity'.The Shatapatha Brahmana. Sacred Books of the East, Vols. 12, 26, 24, 37, 47, translated by Julius Eggeling [published between 1882 and 1900]
There are claims of dating the text much further back than the said ranges, and scholars have extensively rejected such claims; Witzel criticizes it for "faulty reasoning" and taking "a rather dubious datum and us[ing] it to reinterpret Vedic linguistic, textual, ritual history while neglect[ing] all the other contradictory data." According to Witzel, the Shatapatha Brahmana does not contain precise contemporary astronomical records, but rather only approximate naked-eye observations for ritual concerns which likely reflect oral remembrances of older time periods; furthermore, the same general observations are recorded in the Babylonian MUL.APIN tablets of c. 1000 BCE. The Shatapatha Brahmana contains clear references to the use of iron, so it cannot be dated earlier than c. 1200–1000 BCE, while it reflects cultural, philosophical, and socio-political developments that are later than other Iron Age texts (such as the Atharvaveda) and only slightly earlier than the time of the Buddha (c. 5th century BCE)
Content and recensions According to the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), the Shatapatha Brahmana survives in two recensions: DivisionsMadhyandina RecensionKanva RecensionKāṇḍas1417Adhyāyas100104Prapathakas68 -Brahmanas436435Kandikas71796806The Madhyandina recension is known as the Vājasaneyi mādhyandina śākhā, and is ascribed to Yājñavalkya Vājasaneya. The Kanva recension is known as the Kāṇva śākhā, and is ascribed to Samkara The 14 books of the Madhyandina recension can be divided into two major parts. The first 9 books have close textual commentaries, often line by line, of the first 18 books of the corresponding samhita of the Śukla (white) Yajurveda. The remaining 5 books of the Shatapatha cover supplementary and ritualistically newer material; the content of the 14th and last book constitutes the Bṛhad-Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad. The IGNCA also provides further structural comparison between the recensions, noting that the 'names of the Kandas also vary between the two (versions) and the sequence in which they appear': KandaMadhyandina No.Kanva No.Ekapat21Haviryajna12Udhari –3Adhvara34Graha45Vajapeya –6Sava5 –Rajasuya –7Ukhasambharana68Hastighata79Citi810Sagniciti (Saciti) –11Sanciti9 –Agnirahasya1012Astadhyayi1113Madhyama1214Asvamedha1315Pravarghya –16Brhadaranyaka1417 The IGNCA adds that 'the division of Kandika is more rational in the Kanva text than in the other... The name 'Shatapatha', as Eggeling has suggested, might have been based on the number of Adhyayas in the Madhyandina which is exactly one hundred. But the Kanva recension, which has one hundred and four Adhyayas is also known by the same name. In Indian tradition words like 'sata' and 'sahasra', indicating numbers, do not always stand for exact numbers'.
Brihadaranayaka Upanishad
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad forms the concluding part of the last Kanda, known as 'Aranyaka' of both recensions of the Shatapatha Brahmana. Swami Madhavananda states that this Upanishad is 'the greatest of the Upanishads... not only in extent; but it is also the greatest in respect of its substance and theme. It is the greatest Upanishad in the sense that the illimitable, all-embracing, absolute, self-luminous, blissful reality – the Brhat or Brahman, identical with Atman, constitutes its theme'.
Significance in early Indian knowledge
Astronomy In relation to sacrifice and astronomical phenomena detailed in texts such as the Shatapatha Brahmana (e.g. sacrifices performed during the waxing and waning of the moon), N. Aiyangar states the fact that 'the Vedic people had a celestial [i.e. astronomical] counterpart of their sacrificial ground is clear', and cites an example of the YajnaVaraha sacrifice in relation to the constellation of Orion. Roy elaborates further on this example, stating that when 'the sun became united with Orion at the vernal equinox...[this] commenced the yearly [YajnaVaraha] sacrifice'. The vernal (March) equinox marks the onset of spring, and is celebrated in Indian culture as the Holi festival (the spring festival of colours).
A.A. Macdonell adds that the Shatapatha in particular is notable as – unlike the Samhitas – in it the Earth was expressly called circular (parimandala), compared to a wheel. This aligns with the traditions of a flat, disc-shaped Earth surrounded by an ocean that later became predominant.
Mathematics
P. N. Sinha states that the number 1,000 represents 'the thousand Maha yugas of every Kalpa' (about 4.32 billion years), illustrated by the 1,000 hoods of the Naga Vasuki/Ananta on which the Earth is supported. According to F. Staal, layering, size, and configuration of bricks to construct sacrificial altars – real and symbolic – as detailed in texts such as the Shatapatha Brahmana had numerous rules, with Staal adding - in relation to similarities with ancient Greek, Babylonian, and Chinese geometry:
Significance in Vaishnavism
A.A. Macdonell, A.B. Keith, J. Roy, J. Dowson, W.J. Wilkins, S. Ghose, M.L. Varadpande, N Aiyangar, and D.A. Soifer all state that several avatars and associated Puranic legends of Vishnu either originate (e.g. Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, and Narasimha) or at least were significantly developed (e.g. Vamana) in the Shatapatha Brahmana (SB). Notably, all constitute the first five avatars listed in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu.
Vishnu Sofia states ''developments that occur in the general character of Visnu in the Brahmana literature have far-reaching influence on the growth and moulding of avataric Visnu... Probably the single most important development, which is first found in the Brahmanas and exerts the most influence over all other factors, is the identification of Vishnu with the sacrifice'. Vishnu is explicitly stated to be sacrifice repeatedly throughout the Shatapatha Brahmana (e.g. SB 1.7.4.20, 1.1.4.9, 3.2.1.38, 3.6.3.3, 5.2.3.6, 5.4.5.1, 5.4.5.18, 11.4.1.4, 12.5.4.11, 14.1.1.13, and 11.4.1.4).
Kanda 14, Adhyaya 1, Brahmana 1 in SB 14.1.1 ('The Pravargya'), the story given is that 'the gods Agni, Indra, Soma, Makha, Vishnu, and the [Visvedevas], except the two Asvins, performed a sacrificial session', which was first attained by Vishnu, hence 'he became the most excellent of the gods'. Upadika ants then agreed with the other gods to gnaw at the bowstring of Vishnu while He rested his head on the Bow, in exchange for the boon to 'find water even in the desert' (as 'all food is water'). The Gharma (hot beverage offered as an oblation) is named after the sound of Vishnu's head hitting the ground (which 'on falling became yonder sun'), and 'inasmuch as he [Vishnu] stretched out (pra-vrig) on the ground, therefrom the Pravargya (took its name)'. The body of Vishnu is encompassed by Indra, who possessed by His glory 'became Makhavat (possessed of makha)'. Vishnu is then divided into three parts, with Agni receiving the first (morning) portion, Indra the second (midday) portion, and the remaining Visvedevas the third portion.
Kurma
Kurma, the tortoise avatar of Vishnu, is inextricably linked in the Puranas with the legend of the churning of the Ocean of Milk, referred to as the Samudra manthan. The tortoise avatar is also synonymous with Akupara, the 'world-turtle' supporting the Earth, as well as the Saptarishi sage, Kasyapa. Accounts from the Shatapatha Brahmana are stated by Varadpande to be the seed of Kurma.
Eggeling adds that the 'kapalas [cups used in ritual sacrifices] are usually arranged in such a manner as to produce a fancied resemblance to the (upper) shell of the tortoise, which is a symbol of the sky, as the tortoise itself represents the universe... In the same way the term kapala, in the singular, is occasionally applied to the skull, as well as to the upper and the lower case of the tortoise, e.g. Sat Br. VII, 5, 1, 2 [7.5.1.2].'
Kanda 1, Adhyaya 6, Brahmana 2
Macdonell also notes another instance in the Taittiriya Samhita (2.6.3; relating to the Krishna (Black) YajurVeda), where Prajapati assigns sacrifices for the gods and places the oblation within himself, before Risis arrive at the sacrifice and 'the sacrificial cake (purodasa) is said to become a tortoise'.
Kanda 6, Adhyaya 1, Brahmana 1
Vak (speech) is female (e.g. SB 1.2.5.15, 1.3.3.8, 3.2.1.19, 3.2.1.22). Used in ritual sacrifices, so is the sacrificial altar (Vedi; SB 3.5.1.33, 3.5.1.35), the spade (abhri; SB 3.5.4.4, 3.6.1.4, 3.7.1.1, 6.3.1.39; see section on Varaha, below), and the firepan (ukha; SB 6.6.2.5). The (generative) principle of gender (i.e. male and female coupling to produce something) is pervasive throughout (as reflected by the Sanskrit language itself).
Kanda 7, Adhyaya 5, Brahmana 1
Originally a form of Prajapati, the creator-god, the tortoise is thus clearly and directly linked with Vedic ritual sacrifice, the sun, and with Kasyapa as a creator (or progenitor). The tortoise is also stated to represent the three worlds (i.e. the triloka). SB 5.1.3.9–10 states 'Pragapati (the lord of generation) represents productiveness... the male means productiveness'. SB 14.1.1, which relates the story of Vishnu becoming the greatest of the gods at a sacrifice of the gods before being decapitated by His bow, states the head of Vishnu became the sun when it fell.
Matsya