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The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇa'') are a collection of ancient Indian texts with commentaries on the four Vedas. They are primarily a digest incorporating myths, legends, the explanation of Vedic rituals and in some cases philosophy.〔〔Klaus Klostermaier (1994), A Survey of Hinduism, Second Edition, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791421093, pages 67-69〕 They are attached to each Veda, and form a part of the Hindu ''śruti'' literature.〔("Brahmana" ). ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''〕 The ''Brahmanas'' are particularly noted for their instructions on the proper performance of rituals, as well as explain the symbolic importance of sacred words and ritual actions in the main text.〔(Brahmana ) Encyclopædia Britannica (2013)〕 ''Brahmanas'' lack a homogeneous structure across the different Vedas, with some containing chapters that constitute Aranyakas or Upanishads in their own right.〔 Each Vedic ''shakha'' (school) has its own ''Brahmana''. Numerous ''Brahmana'' texts existed in ancient India, many of which have been lost.〔Moriz Winternitz (2010), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120802643, pages 175-176〕 A total of 19 Brahmanas are extant at least in their entirety. The dating of the final codification of the ''Brahmanas'' and associated Vedic texts is controversial, which occurred after centuries of verbal transmission.〔Klaus Klostermaier (2007), A Survey of Hinduism, Third Edition, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791470824, page 47〕 The oldest is dated to about 900 BC, while the youngest Brahmanas (such as the Shatapatha Brahmana), were complete by about 700 BC.〔〔Michael Witzel, "Tracing the Vedic dialects" in ''Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes'' ed. Caillat, Paris, 1989, 97–265.〕〔Biswas et al (1989), Cosmic Perspectives, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521343541, pages 42-43〕 According to Jan Gonda, the final codification of the four Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and early Upanishads took place in pre-Buddhist times (ca. 600 BCE).〔 ==Discussion== The ''Brahmanas'' are primarily a digest incorporating myths, legends, the exposition of rituals in the Vedas and in some cases philosophy.〔〔 For example, the first chapter of the Chandogya Brahmana, one of the oldest Brahmanas, includes eight ''suktas'' (hymns) for the ceremony of marriage and rituals at the birth of a child.〔〔Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, page 63〕 The first hymn is a recitation that accompanies offering a Yajna oblation to deity Agni (fire) on the occasion of a marriage, and the hymn prays for prosperity of the couple getting married.〔 The second hymn wishes for their long life, kind relatives, and a numerous progeny.〔 The third hymn is a mutual marriage pledge, between the bride and groom, by which the two bind themselves to each other, as follows (excerpt), The next two hymns of the first chapter of the Chandogya Brahmana invoke deities ''Agni'', ''Vayu'', ''Kandramas'', and ''Surya'' to bless the couple and ensure healthful progeny.〔 The sixth through last hymn of the first chapter in Chandogya Brahmana are not marriage-related, but related to hymns that go with ritual celebrations on the birth of a child, and wishes for health, wealth and prosperity with a profusion of milch-cows and artha.〔 The Brahmanas are particularly noted for their instructions on the proper performance of rituals, as well as explain the symbolic importance of sacred words and ritual actions in the main text.〔(Brahmana ) Encyclopædia Britannica (2013)〕 These instructions insist on exact pronunciation (accent),〔The pronunciation challenge arises from the change in meaning, in some cases, if something is pronounced incorrectly; for example hrA, hrada, hradA, hradya, hrag, hrAm and hrAsa, each has different meanings; see Harvey P. Alper (2012), Understanding Mantras, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120807464, pages 104-105〕 ''chhandas'' (छन्दः, meters), precise pitch, with coordinated movement of hand and fingers – that is, perfect delivery.〔〔Max Muller, , page 147〕 Satapatha Brahamana, for example, states that verbal perfection made a mantra infallible, while one mistake made it powerless.〔 Scholars suggest that this orthological perfection preserved Vedas in an age when writing technology was not in vogue, and the voluminous collection of Vedic knowledge were taught to and memorized by dedicated students through Svādhyāya, then remembered and verbally transmitted from one generation to the next.〔〔Gavin Flood (Ed) (2003), The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., ISBN 1-4051-3251-5, pages 67-69〕 Each Vedic ''shakha'' (school) has its own Brahmana, many of which have been lost.〔 A total of 19 Brahmanas are extant at least in their entirety: two associated with the Rigveda, six with the Yajurveda, ten with the Samaveda and one with the Atharvaveda. Additionally, there are a handful of fragmentarily preserved texts. They vary greatly in length; the edition of the Shatapatha Brahmana fills five volumes of the Sacred Books of the East. The Brahmanas were seminal in the development of later Indian thought and scholarship, including Hindu philosophy, predecessors of Vedanta, law, astronomy, geometry, linguistics (Pāṇini), the concept of Karma, or the stages in life such as brahmacarya, grihastha, vanaprastha and eventually, sannyasa. Brahmanas also lack a homogeneous structure across the different Vedas, with some containing sections that are Aranyakas or Upanishads in their own right. The language of the Brahmanas is a separate stage of Vedic Sanskrit, younger than the text of the samhitas (the ''mantra'' texts of the Vedas proper), ca.1000BCE, but for the most part are older than the text of the Sutras. The dating of the Brahmanas is controversial, with oldest being dated to about 900 BC, while the youngest Brahmanas (such as the Shatapatha Brahmana), were complete by about 700 BC.〔〔〔 According to Jan Gonda, the final codification of the four Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and early Upanishads took place in pre-Buddhist times (ca. 600 BCE).〔Klaus Klostermaier (1994), A Survey of Hinduism, Second Edition, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791421093, page 67〕 Erdosy suggests that the later Brahmanas were composed during a period of urbanisation and considerable social change.〔Erdosy, George, ed, ''The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity'', New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1995〕 This period also saw significant developments in mathematics, geometry, biology and grammar.〔Doniger, Wendy, ''The Hindus, An Alternative History'', Oxford University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-959334-7, pbk〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brahmana」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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