A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s7.17

v1.c8.s7.17

To the Sāmaveda belongs the Tāṇḍya-Mahā-Brāhmaṇa,² also called Pañcaviṃśa, *i.e.* "Brāhmaṇa consisting of twenty-five books." This is one of the oldest Brāhmaṇas and contains some important old legends. Of special interest are the Vrātyastomas, and the description of sacrificial ceremonies by means of which the Vrātyas were received into the community of the Brahmans.³ The Ṣaḍviṃśa-Brāhmaṇa, *i.e.* "the twenty-sixth Brāhmaṇa,"⁴ is only a completion of the Tāṇḍya which consists of twenty-five books. The last part of the Ṣaḍviṃśa is the so-called "Adbhuta-Brāhmaṇa," a Vedāṅga-text on miracles and omens.⁵ (The Jaiminīya-Brāhmaṇa of the Sāmaveda is even older than the Tāṇḍya-Mahā-Brāhmaṇa. This work is of special interest for the history both of religion and legend, but unfortunately the manuscript material is so fragmentary that it cannot be edited. Hitherto only portions of it have been made known.¹