The contents of both divisions of the Yajurveda are similar in many respects. Two of the principal sacrifices of which they treat are the Dars'apurn'annisa, or the sacrifice to be performed at new and full moon, and the As'uainedha, or the horse-sacrifice, at the performance of which 609 animals of various descriptions, domestic and wild, were tied to 21 sacrificial posts. A Puntshaonedha, or man-sacrifice, unknown to the other Vedas, is also mentioned in it; its character, however, is symbolical.
The text of the Black Yajurveda is extant in the recension of two schools,—that of Apastumba, to which the Taittiriyta Sanlzitd belongs, and that of Charaka. The former, which is in course of publication—the first volume and part of the second having been already published, with the commentary of Madlavileharya (Sayan'a), by Dr. E. Hoer and E. 13. Cowell in the Bibliotheca Indica (Calcutta, 1860-64)—consists of seven Kan'd'a, or books, which comprise 44 or chapters, subdivided into 651 Antrrdka, or sections, and containing 2,198 Han'ttiktis, or portions.
The Viijasaneyi-Sanhitd, or the Sanhita of the White Yajurveda, exists in the recen sion of the Nddlayaiutina and Tldnrnua school. In the former—the text of which, appar ently also with the commentary of Makidhara, has been edited by prof. A. Weber (Berlin, 1852)—this Sanhita has 40'Adhydgas, or hooks, subdivided into 303 Aizuviikas, with 1975 Kan'd'ikeis.
The principal Brahmarfa of the Black Yajurveda is the Taittiriya-Brdhman'a, which, with the commentary of (Mildhava) Sayan'a, is in the course of publication by Baboo llajendralala Mitra—the first volume and part of the second having already appeared in print (Calcutta, 1860-65) in the Bibliotheca Indica. That of the White Yajurveda is the Satapatha-Brahvnan a, the most complete and systematic of all Brahman as. Its text, with a semblance of the commentary of S.c. iyan'a, has been edited by prof. A. Weber (Berlin, 1855).
The Atharvaveda has no circle of sacrifices assigned to it. Jts object is, as observed before, to teach how to appease, to bless, to curse, etc. "The most prominent charae. teristic feature of this Veda," prof. Whitney, one of its editors, remarks, " is the multi tude of incantations which it contains; these are pronounced either by the person who is himself to be benefited, or, more often, by the sorcerer for him, and are directed tc the procuring of the greatest variety of desirable ends. Most frequently, perhaps, long
life, or recovery from grievous sickness, is the object sought: then a talisman, such as a necklace, is sometimes given, or, in very numerous cases, some plant endowed with mar velous virtues is to be the immediate external means of the cure; further, the attain ment of wealth or power is aimed at, the downfall of enemies, increase in love or in play, the removal of petty pests, and so on, even down to the growth of hair on a bald pate." Jourhr/ of the American Oriental Society, vol. iii. p. 308. It has been surmised (Mtiller's Ancient Sanwa Literature, p. 447, ff.) that the hymns of the Atharvaveda "formed an additional part of the sacrifice from a very early time, and that they were chiefly intended to counteract the influence of any untoward event that might happen during the sacrifice." This is possible; but the great importance which the adherents of this Veda themselves attach to it, is found on other considerations than these. They argue, as appears from the treatise Atharrailairtkaslla, mentioned above, that the three tither Vedas enable a. man to fulfill the Arum«, or religiouS law, but that the Atharva helps him to attain mok.81aa, or eternal blips. This doctrine is laid down, for instance, in the Mdlikca Upanishad of this Veda, when it says: "Those Brahmans and others who know the science of the (neuter) Brahman contained in the Brahmaveda, become merged in Brahman; and it is likewise inferred from other passages in the Saunaka Wdihman'a. The name of Brahmaveda itself, by whicir thfi Veda is also frequently called, is, there fore, explained by them, not as implying the Veda which belongs to the province of the priest Brahman, but the Veda which contains the mysterious doctrine of Brahman, the supreme spirit, into which the human soul becomes filially absorbed. It is probable, therefore, that the very uselessness of the Atharvaveda for sacrificial purposes, and the reluctance which was felt to base its sanctity merely on its incantations and spells, invested it in the mind of its followers, with a spiritual character, which was then fully developed in the Upanishads (q.v.) now connected with it.