The Sankhayana-Aranyaka, of which a revised critical edition is being placed before scholars through the Vishveshvaranand Indological Research Series, No. 70, is one of the two available aranyaka-texts of the Rgveda, the other being the Aitareya-Aranyaka. This work has been edited before, chs. I-II by Walter Friedlander, chs. III-VI, being the Kausitaki-Upanisad, by E.B. Cowell and others, chs. VII-XV by A.B. Keith and the whole work, chs. I-XV, in one volume, by Shridhar Shastri Pathak. However, in spite of the efforts made, the text pre-sented through the said editions had remained imperfect, except for chs. II-VI, which had been popular as an independent Upanisad and had been commented upon by scholiasts. Thus Keith says:
"I am aware that in several places, my version is unsatisfactory and I should have preferred if I could have found it possible to obtain further manuscript material for the constitution of the text of Adhyayas vii to xv."s Pathak was able to use more manuscripts and also correct some of the errors in Keith's edition. But Pathak's edition, too, was far from perfect; besides, it failed to give, in many places, the variant readings found in the manuscripts used. A revised critical edition of the Sankhayana-Aranyaka was still a desideratum.
2. Genesis of the present edition
Keenly Aware of this necessity, Pt. Bhim Dev Shastri who retired from the V.V.R. Institute in 1965, took up the task of producing a revised critical edition of the work, in his personal capacity. Towards this, he made detailed collation of the manuscripts used by Pathak, and four more manuscripts of the work available in the Vishveshvaranand Institute and the Sarasvati Bhavana, Varanasi. He had the advantage also of the acumen gained by his close collaboration with Acharya Dr. Vishva Bandhu in the multifarious work of the Institute, including the Vedic Word Concordance from its very inception and also in the revision of the Samhita Part of the Concordance. However, by the time that the edition was ready for the press, he passed away, on March 3, 1976. Pt. Bhim Dev's work is, therefore, being published posthumously by the Institute.
3. Special features
Apart from presenting an authentic text of the Sankhayana-Aranyaka, based, as stated earlier, on the basis of earlier editions and fresh manuscripts, it may be noted that the edition incorporates certain special features from the utilitarian point of view:
(i) As an improvement upon the earlier editions, the text has been more perfectly divided into paragraphs in accordance with the topics treated in them and duly numbered for the sake of easy documentation.
(ii) Verses occurring in the text have been properly demarcated.
(iii) The Vedic citations in the text have all been identified, documented and printed in smaller type in order to set them off from the text which is printed in bolder type.
(iv) The footnotes have been given in two sections, the two having been marked in the text by superior numerals 1, 2, 3, etc. and letters a, b, c, respectively.
(v) The first section of the footnotes records the variants from the earlier editions and the new manuscripts.
(vi) In the second section of the footnotes are given the meanings of uncommon words, the uncommon meanings of common words, documentation of passages parallel to textual passages in the present work, textual and grammatical notes and other relevant remarks. These footnotes would be extremely useful towards comparative studies, tracing the sources of passages etc.
(vii) In Appendix I are gathered together in alphabetical order the large number of mantras cited in the text edited.
(viii) Appendix II forms a detailed Word-Index to the work, with cross-references in the case of compound words etc.
The above special features of the edition, it is to be hoped, would facilitate the study of the text from different points of view, including textual, historical, linguistic, comparative and the like.
4. Aranyakas: Their nature
While the term brahmana refers, in Vedic parlance, to the elucidation, exegesis and supplementation of Vedic mantras and of the ideas contained in them, the Brahmana texts attached to the different Vedic Samhitas elucidate select mantras and set out related ritualistic and esoteric matters. The Aranyakas form a continuation of their respective Brahmanas and sometimes incorporate into themselves Upanisadic texts. The Sankhayana-Aranyaka exemplifies both these aspects. Thus, while it continues the subject of the Sankhayana-Brahmana, some manuscripts of the work even number the first two chapters of the Aranyaka in continuation of the last chapter of the Brahmana. Two Upanisads, current also as independent texts are also included in the Sankhayana-Aranyaka, viz., Kausitaki-Upanisad, being its chs. III-VI, and Samhitopanisad being its chs. VII-VIII. A brief idea of the contents of the Aranyaka might be given here.
Astrology (115)
Ayurveda (106)
Gita (76)
Hinduism (1356)
History (143)
Language & Literature (1743)
Learn Sanskrit (26)
Mahabharata (29)
Performing Art (69)
Philosophy (453)
Puranas (117)
Ramayana (49)
Sanskrit Grammar (256)
Sanskrit Text Book (32)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist