Kalpa (Vedanga)
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Kalpa (
The major texts of Kalpa Vedanga are called Kalpa Sutras in Hinduism.[3] The scope of these texts includes Vedic rituals, rites of passage rituals associated with major life events such as birth, wedding and death in family, as well as personal conduct and proper duties in the life of an individual.[4] Most Kalpasutras texts have experienced interpolation, changes and consequent corruption over their history, and Apasthamba Kalpasutra ancillary to the Yajurveda may be the best preserved text in this genre.[5]
Kalpa Sutras are also found in other Indian traditions, such as Jainism.[6]
Etymology
Kalpa is a
The word is widely used in other contexts, such as "cosmic time" (one day for Brahma, 4.32 billion human years),[9] as well as for precepts or procedures that are "proper, fit" in medicine or another profession.[7]
History
The Kalpa field of study traces its roots to the Brahmana layer of texts in the Vedas,[10] however its texts are more focussed, clear, short and practical for ceremonies.[8][11] Kalpa Sutras are related to the Karma kanda, or ritual parts of the Veda, in contrast to the Upanishads which are the Jnana kanda, or the knowledge part.[12][13]
This field of study emerged to serve the needs of priests as they officiated over domestic ceremonies such as weddings and baby naming rites of passage, so that the rituals were efficient, standardized and appeared consistent across different events.[10] They also helped the audience and the individuals integrate within customs and cultural practices, state Winternitz and Sarma, from "the moment when he is received in his mother's womb to the hour of his death", and beyond during his cremation.[10]
Texts
Veda | Sutras |
Rigveda | Asvalayana-sutra (§), Sankhayana-sutra (§), Saunaka-sutra (¶) |
Samaveda | Latyayana-sutra (§), Drahyayana-sutra (§), Nidana-sutra (§), Pushpa-sutra (§), Anustotra-sutra (§)[15] |
Yajurveda | Manava-sutra (§), Bharadvaja-sutra (¶), Vadhuna-sutra (¶), Vaikhanasa-sutra (¶), Laugakshi-sutra (¶), Maitra-sutra (¶), Katha-sutra (¶), Varaha-sutra (¶) , Apastamba-sutra (§), Baudhayana-sutra (§) |
Atharvaveda | Kusika-sutra (§) |
¶: only quotes survive; §: text survives |
The rituals related ancient texts are of two kinds: (1) the Śrautasūtras, which are based on the śruti, and (2) the Smārtasūtras, or rules based on the smriti or tradition. The first versions of the Kalpa Sutras text were probably composed by the 6th-century BCE, and they were attributed to famous Vedic sages out of respect for them in the Hindu traditions or to gain authority.[1] These texts are written aphoristic sutras style, and therefore are taxonomies or terse guidebooks rather than detailed manuals or handbooks for any ceremony.[11]
Scholars such as Monier-Williams classified only Shrautasutras as part of Kalpa Vedanga, stating that the Smartasutras did not relate to Srauta or Vedic ceremonies, but instead focused on domestic events such as rites of passage when a baby is born and to Samayachara or "conventional everyday practices" that are part of every human being's life.[16] However, other scholars include both.[10][13]
Srauta Sutras
The Śrautasūtras (Shrauta-sutra) form a part of the corpus of Sanskrit sūtra literature. Their topics include instructions relating to the use of the śruti corpus in ritual ('kalpa') and the correct performance of these rituals. Some early Śrautasūtras were composed in the late Brahmana period (such as the Baudhyanana and Vadhula Sūtras), but the bulk of the Śrautasūtras are roughly contemporary to the Gṛhya corpus of domestic sūtras, their language being late Vedic Sanskrit, dating to the middle of the first millennium BCE (generally predating Pāṇini).
Shulba Sutras
The Śulbasûtra (or Shulva-sutras) deal with the mathematical methodology to construct altar geometries for the Vedic rituals.[18] The Sanskrit word "Shulba" means cord, and these texts are "rules of the cord".[19] They provide, states Kim Plofker, what in modern mathematical terminology would be called "area preserving transformations of plane figures", tersely describing geometric formulae and constants.[19] Five Shulba Sutras texts have survived through history, of which the oldest surviving is likely the Baudhayana Shulba Sutra (800-500 BCE), while the one by Katyayana may be chronologically the youngest (~300 BCE).[20]
Gṛhyasūtras
The Gṛhyasūtras "domestic sūtras" are a category of
Vedic sacrifice rituals at a wedding
West of the (sacred) fire, a stone (for grinding corn and condiments) is placed and northeast a water jar. The bridegroom offers an oblation, standing, looking towards the west, and taking hold of the bride's hands while she sits and looks towards the east. If he wishes only for sons, he clasps her thumbs and says, "I clasp thy hands for the sake of good fortune"; the fingers alone, if he wishes only for daughters; the hairy side of the hand along with the thumbs if wishes for both (sons and daughters). Then, whilst he leads her towards the right three times around the fire, and round the water jar, he says in a low tone,
"I am he, thou are she; thou art she, I am he,
I am the heaven, thou art the earth; I am the Saman, thou art the Rig.
Come let us marry, let us possess offspring,
united in affection, well disposed to each other,
let us live for a hundred years".
— Āśvalāyana Kalpa sutra, Book 1.7, Translated by Monier Monier-Williams[23][24]
Dharmasūtras
The Dharmasūtras are texts dealing with custom, rituals, duties and law. They include the four surviving written works of the ancient Indian tradition on the subject of dharma, or the rules of behavior recognized by a community. Unlike the later
Veda | Srautasutra[25] | Sulbasutra[25] | Grihyasutra[25] | Dharmasutra[25] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ṛgveda | Āśvalāyana Śrautasūtra[26] Sāṅkhāyana Śrautasūtra |
Âśvalāyana-Gṛhyasūtra [26] Kausîtaki-Gṛhyasūtra (Bāṣkala śakha) Śāṅkhāyana-Gr̥hyasūtra [1] |
Vasishtha Dharmasūtra | |
Sāmaveda | Lātyāyana Śrautasūtra Drāhyāyana Śrautasūtra Jaiminiya Śrautasūtra |
Gobhila-Gṛhyasūtra Khādira-Gṛhyasūtra (Drāhyāyana-Gṛhyasūtra) Jaiminiya-Gṛhyasūtra Kauthuma-Gṛhyasūtra |
Gautama Dharmasūtra | |
Kṛsna Yajurveda | Baudhāyana Śrautasūtra Vādhūla Śrautasūtra Mānava Śrautasūtra Bharadvāja Śrautasūtra Āpastamba Śrautasūtra Hiraṅyakeśi Śrautasūtra Vārāha Śrautasūtra Vaikhānasa Śrautasūtra |
Baudhāyana Śulbasûtra Mānava Śulbasûtra Āpastamba Śulbasûtra |
Baudhāyana-Gṛhyasūtra Hiraṇyakeśi-Gṛhyasūtra (Satyāsādha-Gṛhyasūtra) [2] Mānava-Gṛhyasūtra Bhāradvāja-Gṛhyasūtra Āpastamba-Gṛhyasūtra Āgniveśya-Gṛhyasūtra Vaikhānasa-Gṛhyasūtra Kāthaka-Gṛhyasūtra (Laugāksi-Gṛhyasūtra) Vārāha-Gṛhyasūtra Vādhûla-Gṛhyasūtra Kapisthala-Katha Gṛhyasūtra (unpublished) |
Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra Āpastamba Dharmasūtra Hārīta Dharmasūtra Hiraṇyakeśi Dharmasūtra Vaikhānasa Dharmasūtra Viṣṇu Dharmasūtra |
Śukla Yajurveda | Kātyāyana Śrautasūtra | Kātyāyana Śulbasūtra | Pāraskara-Gṛhyasūtra Katyayana-Gṛhyasūtra |
Śaṅkha-Likhita Dharmasūtra |
Atharvaveda | Vaitāna Śrautasũtra | Kauśika Gṛhyasūtra | Auśanasa Dharmasūtra |
See also
- Kalpa Sūtra, scriptures of Jainism
- Mīmāṃsā
- Orthopraxy
References
- ^ ISBN 0-8239-2287-1, p. 339.
- ^ Plofker 2009, p. 313.
- ^ Maurice Winternitz 1963, p. 252.
- ISBN 978-0-87779-044-0.
- ISBN 978-0-19-160604-5.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0265-0.
- ^ a b Monier Monier-Williams (1923). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. pp. 212–213.
- ^ a b Friedrich Max Müller (1860). A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature. Williams and Norgate. pp. 169–170.
- ISBN 0-8239-2287-1, page 338
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-0264-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-1532-2.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0889-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4384-0695-4.
- ^ Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, pages 198-199
- ^ Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Oxford University Press, page 210
- ^ Monier Monier-Williams (1876). Indian Wisdom. W. H. Allen & Company. pp. 195–198.
- ^ Plofker 2009, p. 18 with note 13.
- ISBN 978-81-317-1930-5.
- ^ a b Plofker 2009, p. 17.
- ^ Plofker 2009, pp. 17–18.
- ^ Hermann Oldenberg, trans., Max Müller, ed. Sacred Books of the East Vol. XXIX, "The Grihya-sûtras, rules of Vedic domestic ceremonies", part 1, Oxford, The Clarendon press 1886
- ^ Hermann Oldenberg, trans., Max Müller, trans. Sacred Books of the East Vol. XXX, "The Grihya-sûtras, rules of Vedic domestic ceremonies", part 2, Oxford, The Clarendon press 1892
- ^ Monier Monier-Williams (1876). Indian Wisdom. W. H. Allen & Company. p. 199.
- ISBN 978-81-7755-290-4.
- ^ ISBN 81-250-1080-7, p.18
- ^ a b Catalogue of Sanskrit, Pali, and Prakrit Books in the British Museum (1876) p. 9. Gargya's commentaries (vrttis) are based on the longer bhashyas by Devasvamin (11th century). B.K. Sastry, review Archived 2016-03-14 at the Wayback Machine of K. P. Aithal (ed.), Asvalayana Grihya Sutra Bhashyam of Devasvamin, 1983.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-691-12067-6.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0056-4.