Vishnupurana 3.4.3
The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition 3.4.3
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3.4.3
There was but one Yajur-veda; but dividing this into four parts, Vyása instituted the sacrificial rite that is administered by four kinds of priests: in which it was the duty of the Adhwaryu to recite the prayers (Yajush) (or direct the ceremony); of the Hotri, to repeat the hymns (Richas); of the Udgátri, to chaunt other hymns (Sáma); and of the Brahman, to pronounce the formulæ called Atharva. Then the Muni, having collected together the hymns called Richas, compiled the Rigveda; with the prayers and directions termed Yajushas he formed the Yajur-veda; with those called Sáma, Sáma-veda; and with the Atharvas he composed the rules of all the ceremonies suited to kings, and the function of the Brahman agreeably to practice.
3.4.3.n1
From this account, which is repeated in the Váyu P., it appears that the original Veda was the Yajush, or in other words was a miscellaneous body of precepts, formulæ, prayers, and hymns, for sacrificial ceremonies; Yajush being derived by the grammarians from Yaj, 'to worship.' The derivation of the Váyu Puráńa, however, is from Yuj, 'to join,' 'to employ;' the formulæ being those especially applied to sacrificial rites, or set apart for that purpose from the general collection: ### again, ### The commentator on the text however, citing the former of these passages from the Váyu, reads it, confining the derivation to Yaj, 'to worship.' The concluding passage, relating to the Atharvan, refers, in regard to regal ceremonies, to those of expiation, Śánti, &c. The function of the Brahman is not explained; but from the preceding specification of the four orders of priests who repeat at sacrifices portions of the several Vedas, it relates to the office of the one that is termed specifically the Brahman: so the Váyu has 'He constituted the function of the Brahman at sacrifices with the Atharva-veda.'
Linked texts (1)
- Viṣṇupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit