• Taittiriya YV: Buddhist texts and some versions of Ramayana attest their presence in the Gangetic plains but currently they are found all over Southern India. The Taittiriyas are themselves divided into numerous sub-schools. Among these, the followers of Baudhayana and Apastamba were found all over South India (including Maharashtra), while the Hiranyakeshins were found mainly in Konkan and Western Maharashtra. The Vaikhanasas have a more eastern presence- around Tirupati and Chennai.
• Kauthuma SV: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu (tradition revived with the help of Brahmins from Poona), Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar (tradition revived a century ago), West Bengal (tradition has been revived recently). There are numerous varieties of Kauthuma chanting. This shakha is the most vibrant tradition of Samaveda.
• Ranayaniya SV: Orissa (manuscripts available, status of oral tradition not known), Maharashtra, Karnataka (the Havyak community for instance), Uttar Pradesh (till recently in Bahraich and Mathura), Rajasthan (till recently in Jaipur). The existence of this shakha was endangered till recently, but it has been strengthened with the help of institutions like the Kanchi Kamakoti Matha.
• Jaiminiya/Talavakara SV: Two distinct sub streams- the Namudiri recitations in Central Kerala, and the recitations of Tamil Nadu Brahmins in districts adjacent to Kerala and in and around Srirangam. The survival of these schools is endangered.
• Shatyayaniya SV: Said to have been prevalent in Tamil Nadu and parts of North India. The shakha is no longer extant.
• Gautama SV: Said to have been prevalent in Tamil Nadu and in Andhra Pradesh till the 17th cent. C.E. Many followers of the Kauthuma school in Andhra Pradesh still call themselves ‘Gautamas’.
• Bhallavi SV: Said to have been prevalent in Karnataka and parts of North India
• Other Shakhas of YV: A text called ‘Yajurvedavriksha’ gives the geographical distribution of more than 100 Shakhas of Yajurveda. This description is being left out for brevity.
D. Extant Vedic Texts
The Vedic texts were traditionally transmitted orally (or at least predominantly without the aid of manuscripts, which might have been used sparingly as memory aids). This was essential because the texts were ‘accented’, or in other words the different words or letters therein were recited according to different pitch/tones. Very elaborate mnemonic devices were developed to preserve the texts with great fidelity, and harsh divine vengeance and evil repercussions were promised to those who deformed or mutilated the text in any manner. As a result, several Vedic texts were indeed transmitted over several millennia with utmost fidelity, together with accent. The texts that are used for aiding the memorization and recitation of the Vedas with utmost fidelity, are called ‘Lakshana Granthas’. These texts include Padapathas, Ghanapathas, Kramapatha and other Vikrtis or modifications of the root text, phonetic treatises like Sikshas and Pratisakhyas and so on.
In some cases however, the accents were lost with time and the texts had to be recited without the Vedic accents. For instance, the Brahmanas of the Samaveda lost their accents even as early as the time of Kumarila Bhatta (7th century C.E.). Similarly, the Paippalada Samhita is recited by its followers today without the Vedic accents (i.e., in ekasruti). In the case of the Madhyandina Samhita, the oral intonations are not related to the accent of the written text.
It must be emphasized that the Vedic literature was several times its current extent, and most Vedic texts are lost. The extant literature however is a good and a comprehensive representative of the overall corpus.
E. Contents of Samhitas and Brahmanas: A Brief Survey
1. The Rigveda Samhita
This is the oldest Vedic text, as also the largest. It comprises of 10552 mantras in 1028 hymns (=Suktas). The hymns are divided amongst 10 books called the ‘mandalas’. Mandala 9 has 114 hymns address to Soma. Mandalas 1 and 10 are considered later additions, for most part.
The Rigveda Samhita is often also divided into 8 parts called ‘Ashtakas’ which are further divided into 8 chapters each. Thus, there are 64 chapters according to this classification, which is later than the Mandala scheme.
On the whole, the Rigveda mostly consists of hymns to be sung to the various gods as manifestations of the One Divinity. Varuna, Mitra, Surya, Savitr, Vishnu, Pusan, the Ashvin twins, Agni, Soma, Yama, Parjanya, Indra, Maruts, Rudra, Vishvakarman, Prajapati, MAtarishvan, Ushas, Aditi are some of the Gods encountered in the Rg Veda. Varuna – the god of the sky, Indra – the god of war and Agni – the god of fire, are more popular than Vishnu and Rudra (Shiva). Surya, Savitr and Pusan all refer to the solar deity and the Gayatri mantra is addressed to Savitr. Ushas and Aditi are goddesses. Almost a quarter of hymns each are addressed to Agni and to Indra. Mandala X has several hymns pertaining to more popular topics, to spiritual topics, cosmogony and other miscellaneous matter.
The hymns are altogether attributed to 407 Rishis, or Sages, of which 21 are women Sages ( = Rishika). The Sages belong, in general, to 10 families, each of which has a special hymn (=Apri Sukta) associated with them. Mandalas 2-8 are family mandalas since each of these mandalas contains hymns predominantly from 1 major family of Vedic seers. These families subsequently gave rise to most of the Brahmin communities of the Hindu society. Mandala 2 is associated with Grtsamadas, Mandala 3 is associated with Vishvamitra and his lineage, 4 with Vamadeva and related Rishis, 5 with Atris, 6 with Bharadvajas, 7 with Vasisthas. Mandala 8 has numerous hymns by Kanvas while Mandala 9 has several hymns by Kashyapa Rishis.
The mantras are composed in 7 major and dozens of minor prosodic meters.
