Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s10.t3.13

v1.c7.s10.t3.13

The Yajurveda, with contents much different from the Rigveda, narrates events in the central part of north India. It mainly contains mantras needed to perform sacrifices, and most of these mantras are in prose, while some are in verse, and they are to be lowly chanted at the sacrifices. Generally, the Yajurveda is supposed to have close connection with the *Brahmanas*, and might have been composed between 1000- 800 BCE. Now, it has two versions, one is called “Black Yajurveda” and the other is “White Yajurveda”. The Black Yajurveda consists of the texts of the *Samhita* and that of the Brahmana, which is difficult to be distinguished, that's why it's called “black”. It also contains some commentaries. While the White Yajurveda separates the *Samhita* from its *Brahmanas* clearly. The Yajurveda has 40 chapters, and 18 of them have an earlier origin, and the rest might have been added into it later on.