Krishna Yajur Veda Prapathaka 4
Kanda 7Prapathaka 422 Anuvakas

Prapathaka 4

Aśvamedha (Horse Sacrifice) — ancillary and mid-cycle liturgies within the Śrauta Aśvamedha complex (including animal/oblatory sequences, royal consecratory framing, and Soma-linked recitations as transmitted in the Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda tradition).

Kāṇḍa 7 der Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda (Taittirīya Saṃhitā) ist in der klassischen Zuordnung mit dem Aśvamedha-Korpus verbunden und bettet königliche Ideologie in ein dichtes Geflecht śrauta-ritueller Verfahren ein. Prapāṭhaka 7.4 führt dieses Register fort, indem es den Mantra-Text mit der pragmatischen Choreographie von Opfergaben, Tierbehandlung und priesterlicher Rezitation koordiniert. Die Textur des Kapitels ist charakteristisch für den Stil der „Schwarzen“ Yajurveda: prosaische Vorschriften und Mantra-Zitate greifen ineinander und ergeben ein performatives Skript statt einer rein hymnischen Anthologie. Der theologische Horizont ist Souveränität, die durch kosmische Entsprechung gesichert wird—Agni als Stifter der Ordnung, Indra als paradigmatischer König, Prajāpati als Totalität und das Pferd als bewegliche Verkörperung des rāṣṭra. Wiederkehrende Formeln des „Einsetzens/Begründens“, des „Bindens/Lösens“ und des „Gewinnens“ entfalten eine rituelle Semiotik, in der politische Herrschaft in Opfererfolg transponiert wird. So fungiert das prapāṭhaka als liturgisches Scharnier: Es stabilisiert die inneren Übergänge des Ritus und bekräftigt zugleich den Anspruch des Aśvamedha auf universale Integration.

Anuvakas

Anuvaka 1

Predominantly Brāhmaṇa-style arthavāda/vidhi prose: mythic precedent (Bṛhaspati) → discovery of Caturviṃśatirātra → result (śraddhā, purodhā/ascent) → bandhu equations (jyotis/gau/āyus; Gāyatrī 24; saṃvatsara).

3 mantras

Anuvaka 2

Brāhmaṇa prose: human/deva parallel → removal of pāpmān/mṛtyu → daivī saṃsad → pr̥ṣṭha ṣaḍaha and 33/33 framing → anti-jāmi arrangement → chandoma completion → return/establishment motifs.

5 mantras

Anuvaka 3

Brāhmaṇa prose with cosmogonic bandhu: earth’s fertility → 30 nights (Virāṭ) → food/annādya → stoma ladder (33→33, triṇava, ekaviṃśa, etc.) → viṣūvant pivot → completion by Virāṭ 30.

6 mantras

Anuvaka 4

Brāhmaṇa prose: Prajāpati’s ascent → failure without proper chandas → 32 nights (Anuṣṭubh) → vāc-totality → tri-aha markers (jyotis/gau/āyus) → Rathantara–Bṛhat tracks → 30+2 completion logic.

3 mantras

Anuvaka 5

Brāhmaṇa prose: two devasattras (12 and 33) → trayastr̥ṃśadahā superiority → seasonal anchoring (5) → speech acquisition logic (dvādaśāha as vāc) → daśarātra as prajā-sṛṣṭi → dy-anīka (two-faced) nights and symmetry.

4 mantras

Anuvaka 6

Brāhmaṇa prose: Ādityas seek svarga → 36-night discovery → Atirātra front-lighting (jyotis) → ṣaḍaha + directions anchoring → chandoma completion → Bṛhatī 36 and sovereignty motif.

3 mantras

Anuvaka 7

Brāhmaṇa prose: Vasiṣṭha’s desire → ekasmānna-pañcāśa (49-night) → vajra imagery via stoma sets → pr̥ṣṭha ṣaḍaha and seasonal anchoring → Virāṭ identity and annādya framing.

3 mantras

Anuvaka 8

Brāhmaṇa prose: dīkṣā timing within the year—Ekāṣṭakā vs Phālgunī/Chitrā full-moon starts; ‘mouth of the year’ logic; avoidance of discontinuity (niryā).

3 mantras

Anuvaka 9

Brāhmaṇa prose: sattra as self-offering (ātma-dakṣiṇā) and ascent; described via layered ‘refinement’ metaphors using dīkṣā and upasad stages (kept non-graphic per policy).

1 mantras

Anuvaka 10

Brāhmaṇa prose with scholastic dialogue: why Atirātra is ‘parama’ yet approached after other kratus; sequence: Agniṣṭoma → Ukthya → Ṣoḍaśin → Atirātra; virāṭ completion with two excess/deficit verses; anti-jāmi via Brahmasāman placement.

2 mantras

Anuvaka 11

Brāhmaṇa prose: Jyotiṣṭoma/Gostoma/Āyuṣṭoma as three-world stabilizers; virāṭ completion; devacakra via ṣaḍaha; mapping of 12/18/24 day bodies to puruṣa/prāṇa/saṃvatsara; ‘year needs pratiṣṭhā’.

4 mantras

Anuvaka 12

Mantra-style invocation list (protective/benedictive): animal/tree/implement/chandas/stoma associations; functions as a sealing formula for prosperity and stability (non-graphic).

1 mantras

Anuvaka 13

Mantra: oblations ‘to waters’ in differentiated hydrological forms (kūpya, kūlya, saras, etc.)—a spatial hydrology taxonomy (non-graphic).

1 mantras

Anuvaka 14

Mantra: further water invocations by flow-dynamics (vahantī, parivahantī, etc.) culminating in ‘sarvasmai svāhā’—a kinematic hydrology model.

1 mantras

Anuvaka 15

Mantra (Ṛgvedic-style): heroic/protective hymn segment (Indra/Vṛtra motif) used as strength/resolve reinforcement within the liturgical frame (kept non-graphic).

1 mantras

Anuvaka 16

Mantra: royal/sovereignty salutations (Varuṇa, Prajāpati, lordship) with self-positioning of authority; concludes with svāhā triad (upākṛta/ālabdha/huta).

1 mantras

Anuvaka 17

Mantra: sacred botany and well-being; invokes wind, vitality, herbs; includes settlement/continuity formulas with repeated ‘iha … svāhā’ closures.

2 mantras

Anuvaka 18

Mantra: cosmological riddle-style inquiry (what was first; sky/night/sun/moon; ‘ask the end of earth’); identifies ritual loci (vedi as ‘parama vyoman’).

2 mantras

Anuvaka 19

Mantra: folk-toned protective/auspicious verses (Ambā/ambikā refrain) plus concluding water-wellbeing verses; functions as social-protective sealing within the corpus (non-graphic).

4 mantras

Anuvaka 20

Mantra: tri-world formula (bhūr/bhuvaḥ/suvar) with deity classes and meters (Gāyatrī/Trāiṣṭubh/Jāgatī); includes horse-return path motif and solar imagery; functions as metrical consecration of movement and return.

1 mantras

Anuvaka 21

Mantra: oblations to vital functions and bodily continuities (prāṇa/vyāna/apāna; joints/links; yajña/dakṣiṇā; svarga/loka; totalizing ‘sarvasmai’).

1 mantras

Anuvaka 22

Mantra: oblations to paired oppositions and motion-states (white/black; bound/unbound; yoked/unyoked; released; deceiving/being deceived; going/running/standing), ending in ‘sarvasmai svāhā’—a total state-space enumeration.

1 mantras

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