A History of Sanskrit Literature c11.19

c11.19

Brāhmaṇas belonging to two independent schools of the *Sāmaveda* have been preserved, those of the Tāṇḍins and of the Talavakāras or Jaiminīyas. Though several other works here claim the title of ritual text-books, only three are in reality Brāhmaṇas. The Brāhmaṇa of the Talavakāras, which for the most part is still unpublished, seems to consist of five books. The first three (unpublished) are mainly concerned with various parts of the sacrificial ceremonial. The fourth book, called the *Upanishad Brāhmaṇa* (probably “the Brāhmaṇa of mystic meanings”), besides all kinds of allegories of the Āraṇyaka order, two lists of teachers, a section about the origin of the vital airs (*prāṇa*) and about the *sāvitrī* stanza, contains the brief but important *Kena Upanishad*. Book V., entitled *Ārsheya-Brāhmaṇa*, is a short enumeration of the composers of the *Sāmaveda*.