Yajurveda

Yajurveda

one of the four Vedas.

The main part of the Yajur Veda, called Samhita, contains mantras for performing sacrifices in the Vedic religion. Additional texts, Brahmanas and Shrauta-sutras, describe how to perform rituals and sacrifices and provide a philosophical interpretation of the mantras set out in the main part. According to most scholars, the Yajurveda was compiled around the 10th century BC and reflected the practices of the Vedic religion of those times.

Yajurveda consists of two main Samhitas: Shukla ("white") and Krishna ("black"). Both contain mantras necessary for conducting Vedic rituals, but in Krishna Yajurveda an additional commentary in prose is included in the main Samhita, while in Shukla Yajurveda the commentaries were separated into a separate Brahmana – "Shatapatha-brahmana."