Shloka 12
वेदव्यासः, चातुर्होत्रम्, ऋग्वेदशाखाः
Vyāsa’s Veda-division and Ṛgveda lineages
आध्वर्यवं यजुर्भिस् तु ऋग्भिर् होत्रं तथा मुनिः औद्गात्रं सामभिश् चक्रे ब्रह्मत्वं चाप्य् अथर्वभिः
ādhvaryavaṃ yajurbhis tu ṛgbhir hotraṃ tathā muniḥ audgātraṃ sāmabhiś cakre brahmatvaṃ cāpy atharvabhiḥ
That sage duly set the Adhvaryu’s office by the Yajur mantras, the Hotṛ’s office by the Ṛk verses, the Udgātṛ’s office by the Sāman chants, and likewise established the Brahman-priesthood by the Atharva hymns.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Arrangement of Vedic revelation and sacrificial offices by the sage for sustaining dharma in the Manvantara
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Vedic speech is functionally differentiated into priestly roles so that yajña operates as an integrated order sustaining the world.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Align one’s duties and disciplines with their proper function—study, practice, and service—so collective life remains coherent and dharmic.
Vishishtadvaita: Dharma as divinely grounded order: differentiated functions cooperate within a single sacred whole under the sovereign law ultimately upheld by Viṣṇu.
FAQs
This verse frames yajña as an ordered, fourfold system where each Veda empowers a distinct ritual function, presenting sacrifice as a disciplined expression of cosmic law (dharma/ṛta).
Parāśara describes a deliberate establishment of roles—Adhvaryu, Hotṛ, Udgātṛ, and Brahman—each grounded in its corresponding Veda, indicating that sacred action is meant to be coherent, supervised, and complete.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purana’s theology treats such ordering of dharma and yajña as ultimately upheld by the Supreme Vishnu, whose sovereignty sustains harmony in creation.