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Vedas and their Shakhas
Rig Veda Shakala Bhashkala
Sama Veda Ranayana Shatyamukhya Vyasa Bhaguri Olundi Goulgulvi Bhanumanoupamayava Karati Mashaka Argya Varshgagavya Kuthuma Shakugitre Jaiminiya
Krishna Yajurveda Taittiriya Samhita Maitrayani Samhita Karaka Katha Samhita Kapisthala Kahta Samhita Kathaka
Shukla Yajurveda Kanava Madhyandin
Atharvaveda Shaunaka Paippalada Stauda Mauda Jajala Jalada Kuntap Brahmavada Devadarsa Caranavaidya
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A shakha (Sanskrit śākhā, "branch" or "limb"), is a Hindu theological school that specializes in learning certain Vedic texts, or else the traditional texts followed by such a school. An individual follower of a particular school or recension is called a śākhin. The term is also used in Hindu philosophy to refer to an adherent of a particular orthodox system.

A related term caraṇa, ("conduct of life" or "behavior") is also used to refer to such a Vedic school: "although the words caraṇa and śākhā are sometimes used synonymously, yet caraṇa properly applies to the sect or collection of persons united in one school, and śākhā to the traditional text followed, as in the phrase śākhām adhite, ("he recites a particular version of the Veda")". The schools have different points of view, described as "difference of (Vedic) school" (śākhābhedaḥ). Each school would learn a specific Vedic Saṃhita (one of the "four Vedas" properly so-called), as well as its associated Brahmana, Aranyakas, Shrautasutras, Grhyasutras and Upanishads.

In traditional Hindu society affiliation with a specific school is an important aspect of class identity. By the end of the Rig Vedic period the term Brāhmaṇa had come to be applied to all members of the priestly class, but there were subdivisions within this order based both on caste and on the shakha (branch) with which they were affiliated. A Brāhmaṇa who changed school would be called "a traitor to his śākhā" (śākhāraṇḍaḥ).

Summary of schools

Map of early Iron Age Vedic India after Witzel (1989). Location hypotheses for Vedic shakhas are shown in green.

The traditional source of information on the shakhas of each Veda is the Caraṇa-vyūha, of which two, mostly similar, versions exist: the 49th pariśiṣṭa of the Atharvaveda, ascribed to Shaunaka, and the 5th pariśiṣṭa of the Śukla (White) Yajurveda, ascribed to Kātyāyana. These have lists of the numbers of recensions that were believed to have once existed as well as those still extant at the time the works were compiled. Only a small number of recensions have survived.

The schools are enumerated below, categorised according to the Veda each expounds.

Rig Veda

Śaunaka's Caraṇa-vyuha lists five shakhas for the Rig Veda, the Śākala, Bāṣkala, Aśvalāyana, Śaṅkhāyana, and Māṇḍukāyana -- of which only the Śākala,Aśvalāyana and Kaushitaki, are now extant (the Asvalayana and Kaushitaki are still learnt by the Nambudiri Brahmins of Kerala)

The Bashkala recension of the Rigveda has the Khilani which are not present in the Shakala text but is prserved in one Kashmir manuscript (now at Pune).[1]

The Shakala has the Aitareya-Brahmana, The Bashkala has the Kausitaki-Brahmana.

Yajur Veda

Śaunaka's Caraṇa-vyuha lists forty-two or forty-four out of eighty-six shakhas for the Yajur Veda, but that only five of these are now extant, with a sixth partially extant. For the Yajur Veda the five (partially in six) shakhas are the (Vajasaneyi Madhandina, Kanva; Taittiriya, Maitrayani, Caraka-Katha, Kapisthala-Katha).

The Yajurvedin shakhas are divided in Shukla (White) and Krishna (Black) schools. The White recensions have separate Brahmanas, while the Black ones have their(much earlier) Brahmanas interspersed between the Mantras.

• Shukla Yajurveda: Vājasaneyi Samhita Madhyandina (VSM), Vājasaneyi Samhita Kānva (VSK): Shatapatha Brahmana (ShBM, ShBK)
• Krishna Yajurveda: Taittirīya Saṃhita (TS) with an additional Brahmana, Taittiriya Brahmana (TB), Maitrayani Saṃhita (MS), Caraka-Katha Saṃhita (KS), Kapiṣṭhala-Katha Saṃhita (KapS).

Shukla

Krishna

Sama Veda

Śaunaka's Caraṇa-vyuha lists twelve shakhas for the Sama Veda out of a thousand that are said to have once existed, but that of these only one or perhaps two are still extant. The two Samaveda recensions are the Jaiminiya and Kauthuma.

The Kauthuma shakha has the PB, SadvB, the Jaiminiya shakha has the Jaiminiya Brahmana.

Atharva Veda

Only one shakha of an original nine is now extant for the Atharvaveda.

The Shaunaka is the only shakha of the Atharvaveda for which both printed texts and an active oral tradition are known to still exist.

For the Atharvaveda, both the Shaunakiya and the Paippalada traditions contain textual corruptions, and the original text of the Atharvaveda may only be approximated from comparison between the two.

The Paippalada tradition was discontinued, and its text is known only from manuscripts collected since the 19th century. However some Orissa Brahmins [2] and Nambudiri Brahmins still continue the tradition of Paippalada. No Brahmana is known for the Shaunaka shakha. The Paippalada is possibly associated with the Gopatha Brahmana.

Notes

References

• List of Pundits from different shakhas in India [3]
• State wise list of shakhas [4]
• Michael Witzel, Tracing the Vedic dialects in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, 1989, 97–265.

• www.nandanmenon.com for Dr Aravinda Kapali Shasrti's articles about shakha.