A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, so far as it illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans c9.s2.18

c9.s2.18

In the Brâhmaṇa of the Chhandogas it is evident that, after the principal collection was finished (called the prauḍha or pañchaviṁśa-brâhmaṇa, *i. e.* consisting of twenty-five sections), a twenty-sixth Brâhmaṇa was added which is known by the name of Shaḍviṁśa-brâhmaṇa. This Brâhmaṇa together with the Adbhuta-brâhmaṇa must be of very modern date. It mentions not only temples (Devâyatanâni), but images of gods (daivata-pratimâ) which are said to laugh, to cry, to sing, to dance, to burst, to sweat, and to twinkle. These two have long been supposed to be the only Brâhmaṇas of the Chhandogas, and they constitute, no doubt, the most important part of that class of literature. It is curious, however, that whenever the Brâhmaṇas of the Chhandogas are quoted, their number is invariably fixed at eight. Kumârila Bhaṭṭa, i. 3¹, says, “in the eight Brâhmaṇas, together with the Upanishads, which the Chhandogas read, no single accent is fixed.” Still more explicit is a statement by Sâyaṇa which I quoted in the introduction to the first volume of my edition of the Rig-veda.² Here Sâyaṇa says: “There are eight Brâhmaṇas; the Prauḍha is the first, (this means the large Brâhmaṇa, or the Panchavinśa); the one called Shaḍvinśa or Shaḍvinśad-brâhmaṇa, is the second; then follows the Sâmavidhi; then the Ârsheya-brâhmaṇa, the Devatâdhyâya-brâhmaṇa, and the Upanishad. These with the Sanhitopanishad and the Vanśa are called the eight books.” Of these the Sâmavidhâna-brâhmaṇa was well known, the very quotation of Sâyaṇa being taken from his commentary on this very curious work. It might have been difficult, however, to identify the other five works if there had not been among the MSS. of Professor Wilson’s collection at the Bodleian Library, one (No. 451) containing four of these small tracts, the Sanhitopanishadam-brâhmaṇam, the Devatâdhyâyaḥ, the Vanśa-brâhmaṇam, and the Ârsheya-brâhmaṇam.¹ The only Brâhmaṇa, therefore, on which any doubt could remain, was the Upanishad, and here we shall probably not be wrong if we adopt one of Professor Weber’s less bold conjectures, that Sâyaṇa intended this for the Chhândogya-upanishad.² With the exception of this and the Sâmavidhâna, which contains most important information on questions connected with Âchâra or customs, all the other tracts are of comparatively small importance.