TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
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Consequently, the "area," for example, of the Taitt. school should be<br />
regarded as its s p h e r e of i n f l u e n c e, with a centre and a (more or less<br />
wide) margin surrounding it. It is important to remember, in this context,<br />
that the Brahmins travelled all over Northern India, cf. the Kuru-Pañcāla<br />
Brahmins at Janaka's court, or Uddālaka in the Madra country.<br />
§ 4.2. PARAMETER OF TIME<br />
By this parameter, the development of Vedic Sanskrit in time is intended, i.e<br />
the slow change in the phonology and the grammatical forms of Vedic. The<br />
(slow) accumulation of text masses, and that of the relative chronology of<br />
texts, both of which are useful as additional arguments, are not included<br />
under this heading, as they cannot be established with the same degree of<br />
certainty. As they are, however, valuable for counter-checking the evidence,<br />
they are introduced here, be it in a brief form.<br />
§ 4.2.1. The criterion of text formation<br />
This criterion has been used very little so far in Vedic studies, outside of the<br />
ŚB (and AB). However, even a very brief look at the texts, which will be<br />
classified below as the level 3, the Yajurveda Saṃhitās, teaches that a number<br />
of safe conclusions can be made from a brief comparison of the contents of<br />
these texts.<br />
All YV Saṃhitās follow a similar pattern: those (KṛṢṇa YV) texts which<br />
mix Mantras and Brāhmaṇas usually start with the Mantras of the New and<br />
Full Moon and of the Soma rituals. One can, therefore, ask whether this is<br />
not the oldest core of YV ritual. Interestingly, the Brāhmaṇa portions dealing<br />
with these two rituals in the Saṃhitās are found only as appendices to the<br />
treatment of other rituals. 38<br />
The mantras of these texts are partly derived from the RV, i.e., before the<br />
redaction of this text; many variants, similar to those found in AV and SV,<br />
are found (see Oldenberg, Prolegomena). Other mantras, especially the short<br />
prose sentences which accompany every action in the ritual, are "new," i.e.,<br />
post-Ṛgvedic, at least in the form they are recorded in the YV. However, they<br />
resemble each other closely enough in all schools allow to suppose a common<br />
38 I will treat this in detail in: The Veda in Kashmir, forthc.; for the time being, see author,<br />
Das Kaṭha Āraṇyaka, diss. Erlangen 1972, introd.; cf. already Oldenberg, Prolegomena on<br />
the smnall Mantra Saṃhitās dealing with the New and Full Moon sacrifice, The Soma<br />
ritual, the Agnicayana, etc. in TS, MS.<br />
18