Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c32.37

c32.37

The Pañcaviṃśa and Taittirīya Brāhmaṇas are the most archaic of the regular Brāhmaṇas.² The Pañcaviṃśa, though its home apparently lay farther east, yet contains a minute description of sacrifices performed on the rivers Sarasvatī and Dṛṣadvatī, and has no allusion to the Kuru-Pañcālas; hence it was apparently composed before the blending,³ and while the Kurus still reigned at Hastināpura and over Kurukṣetra (say) about 830 B.C. The Taittirīya refers to the united Kuru-Pañcālas,⁴ and was therefore composed after the fusion, (say) soon after 800 B.C. ‘A more recent group is formed by the Jaiminīya, the Kauṣītaki and the Aitareya Brāhmaṇas. The first of these is probably the oldest, while the third seems, on linguistic grounds at least, to be the latest of the three.’ The Śatapatha is posterior to these. Latest of all are the Gopatha Brāhmaṇa and the short Brāhmaṇas of the Sāmaveda.⁵ All these would be posterior to the fusion of the Kurus and Pañcālas, and so the Jaiminīya refers repeatedly to the Kuru-Pañcālas, and they are mentioned in the Śatapatha and Gopatha.⁶ The Brāhmaṇa period ended apparently before or about 600 B.C.;⁷ hence the Śatapatha may be placed somewhat before that date, and it will probably not be far wrong to put the Jaiminīya, the Kauṣītaki and the Aitareya about half-way between the Taittirīya and the Śatapatha, in the last quarter of the eighth century and the first quarter of the seventh, the Jaiminīya first and the Aitareya third.