Shatapatha Brahmana
Described as the most complete, systematic, and important of the Brahmanas[2] (commentaries on the Vedas), it contains detailed explanations of Vedic sacrificial rituals, symbolism, and mythology.
Particularly in its description of sacrificial rituals (including construction of complex fire-altars), the Shatapatha Brahmana (SB) provides scientific knowledge of geometry (e.g. calculations of pi and the root of the Pythagorean theorem) and observational astronomy (e.g. planetary distances and the assertion that the Earth is circular[a]) from the Vedic period.
The Shatapatha Brahmana is also considered significant in the development of Vaishnavism as the origin of several Puranic legends and avatars of Vishnu.
Arthur Berriedale Keith states that linguistically, the Shatapatha Brahmana belongs to the later part of the Brāhmaṇa period of Vedic Sanskrit (8th-6th century BCE).
[10] J. Eggeling (translator of the Vājasaneyi mādhyandina recension into English), dates the final written version of the text to 300 BCE, although he states that some elements are 'far older, transmitted orally from unknown antiquity'.
The Shatapatha Brahmana contains clear references to the use of iron, so it cannot be dated earlier than c. 1200–1000 BCE, while it reflects cultural, philosophical, and socio-political developments that are later than other Iron Age texts (such as the Atharvaveda) and only slightly earlier than the time of the Buddha (c. 5th century BCE)[12] tarhi videgho māthava āsa | sarasvatyāṃ sa tata eva prāṅdahannabhīyāyemām pṛthivīṃ taṃ gotamaśca rāhūgaṇo videghaśca māthavaḥ paścāddahantamanvīyatuḥ sa imāḥ sarvā nadīratidadāha sadānīretyuttarādgirernirghāvati tāṃ haiva nātidadāha tāṃ ha sma tām purā brāhmaṇā na tarantyanatidagdhāgninā vaiśvānareṇeti Mâthava, the Videgha, was at that time on the (river) Sarasvatî.
It is the greatest Upanishad in the sense that the illimitable, all-embracing, absolute, self-luminous, blissful reality – the Brhat or Brahman, identical with Atman, constitutes its theme'.
[19] Roy elaborates further on this example, stating that when 'the sun became united with Orion at the vernal equinox...[this] commenced the yearly [YajnaVaraha] sacrifice'.
[21][22] P. N. Sinha states that the number 1,000 represents 'the thousand Maha yugas of every Kalpa' (about 4.32 billion years), illustrated by the 1,000 hoods of the Naga Vasuki/Ananta on which the Earth is supported.
Soifer all state that several avatars and associated Puranic legends of Vishnu either originate (e.g. Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, and Narasimha) or at least were significantly developed (e.g. Vamana) in the Shatapatha Brahmana (SB).
[32] Kurma, the tortoise avatar of Vishnu, is inextricably linked in the Puranas with the legend of the churning of the Ocean of Milk, referred to as the Samudra manthan.
'[33] tercantaḥ śrāmyantaśceruḥ | śrameṇa ha sma vai taddevā jayanti yadeṣāṃvjayyamāsarṣayaśca tebhyo devā vaiva prarocayāṃ cakruḥ svayaṃ vaiva dadhrire pretavtadeṣyāmo yato devāḥ svargaṃ lokaṃ samāśnuvateti te kim prarocate kim prarocata iti ceruretpuroḍāśameva kūrmam bhūtvā sarpantaṃ teha sarva eva menire yaṃ vai yajña iti
te hocuḥ | aśvibhyāṃ tiṣṭha sarasvatyai tiṣṭhendrāya tiṣṭheti sa sasarpaivāgnaye tiṣṭheti tatastasthāvagnaye vāasthāditi tamagnāveva parigṛhya sarvahutamajuhavurāhutirhidevānāṃ tata ebhyo yajñaḥ prārocata tamasṛjanta tamatanvata so 'yam paro 'varaṃ yajño 'nūcyate pitaiva putrāya brahmacāriṇe They went on praising and toiling; for by (religious) toil, the gods indeed gained what they wished to gain, and (so did) the Rishis.
[35] so 'yam puruṣaḥ prajāpatirakāmayata bhūyāntsyām prajāyeyeti so 'śrāmyatsa tapo 'tapyata sa śrāntastepāno brahmaiva prathamamasṛjata trayomeva vidyāṃ saivāsmai pratiṣṭhābhavattasmādāhurbrahmāsya sarvasya pratiṣṭheti tasmādanūcya pratitiṣṭhati pratiṣṭhā hyeṣā yadbrahma tasyām pratiṣṭhāyām pratiṣṭhito 'tapyata
so 'kāmayata | ābhyo 'dbhyo 'dhi prajāyeyeti so 'nayā trayyā vidyayā sahāpaḥ prāviśattata āṇḍaṃ samavartata tadabhyamṛśadastvityastu bhūyo 'stvityeva tadabravīttato brahmaiva prathamamasṛjyata trayyeva vidyā tasmādāhurbrahmāsya sarvasya prathamajamityapi hi tasmātpuruṣādbrahmaiva pūrvamasṛjyata tadasya tanmukhamevāsṛjyata tasmādanūcānamāhuragnikalpa iti mukhaṃ hyetadagneryadbrahma...
Originally a form of Prajapati, the creator-god, the tortoise is thus clearly and directly linked with Vedic ritual sacrifice, the sun, and with Kasyapa as a creator (or progenitor).
[40] From the Shatapatha Brahmana: manave ha vai prātaḥ | avanegyamudakamājahruryathedam pāṇibhyāmavanejanāyāharantyevaṃ tasyāvanenijānasya matsyaḥ pāṇī āpede
sa hāsmai vācamuvāda | bibhṛhi mā pārayiṣyāmi tveti kasmānmā pārayiṣyasītyaugha imāḥ sarvāḥ prajā nirvoḍhā tatastvā pārayitāsmīti kathaṃ te bhṛtiriti
Narasimha destroyed the Asura-King Hiranyakashipu, who after undertaking severe penances, was granted a boon by Brahma that he could not be killed inside or outside any residence, on the ground or in the sky, or by any god, human, animal, or weapon.
This concept is similar to that found in the Shatapatha brahmana (Sanskrit transliteration for Kanda XII is not available): By means of the Surâ-liquor Namuki, the Asura, carried off Indra's (source of) strength, the essence of food, the Soma-drink.
He (Indra) hasted up to the Asvins and Sarasvatî, crying, 'I have sworn to Namuki, saying, "I will slay thee neither by day nor by night, neither with staff nor with bow, neither with the palm of my hand nor with the fist, neither with the dry nor with the moist!"
devāśca vā asurāśca | ubhaye prājāpatyāḥ paspṛdhire tato devā anuvyamivāsuratha hāsurā menire 'smākamevedaṃ khalu bhuvanamiti
vāmano ha viṣnurāsa | taddevā na jihīḍire mahadvai no 'durye no yajñasaṃmitamaduriti The gods and the Asuras, both of them sprung from Prajapati, were contending for superiority.
That this legend developed into Vamana taking three steps, as noted by Aiyangar, originates from the three strides of Vishnu covering the three words in the RigVeda (1.22 and 1.154).
Varaha – also referred to as Yajna-Varaha ('sacrificial boar') – is in Puranic literature explicitly stated to be the symbolic embodiment of sacrifice (including the ritual equipment, offerings, oblations, and altars used).
atha varāhavihatam iyatyagra āsīditīyatī ha vā iyamagre pṛthivyāsa prādeśamātrī tāmemūṣa iti varāha ujjaghāna so'syāḥ patiḥ prajāpatistenaivainametanmithunena priyeṇa dhāmnā samardhayati kṛtsnaṃ karoti makhasya te'dya śiro rādhyāsaṃ devayajane pṛthivyā makhāya tvā makhasya tvā śīrṣṇa ityasāveva bandhuḥ Then (earth) torn up by a boar (he takes), with 'Only thus large was she in the beginning,'--for, indeed, only so large was this earth in the beginning, of the size of a span.
[53] However, as this name occurs only once in the RigVeda, the ascribed meaning cannot be verified: 10 All these things Viṣṇu brought, the Lord of ample stride whom thou hadst sent- A hundred buffaloes, a brew of rice and milk: and Indra, slew the ravening [emuṣam] boar [varaha].
विश्वेत् ता विष्णुराभरदुरुक्रमस्त्वेषितः | शतं महिषान् कषीरपाकमोदनं वराहमिन्द्र एमुषम् || viśvet tā viṣṇurābharadurukramastveṣitaḥ | śataṃ mahiṣān kṣīrapākamodanaṃ varāhamindra emuṣam || atha vārāhyā upānahā upamuñcate | agnau ha vai devā ghṛtakumbham praveśayāṃ cakrustato varāhaḥ sambabhūva tasmādvarāho meduro ghṛtāddhi sambhūtastasmādvarāhe gāvaḥ saṃjānate svamevaitadrasamabhisaṃjānate tatpaśūnāmevaitadrase pratitiṣṭhati tasmādvārāhyā upānahā upamuñcate
athemām pratyavekṣamāṇo japati | pṛthivi mātarmā mā hiṃsīrmo ahaṃ tvāmiti varuṇāddha vā abhiṣiṣicānātpṛthivī bibhayāṃ cakāra mahadvā ayamabhūdyo 'bhyaṣeci yadvai māyaṃ nāvadṛṇīyāditi varuṇa u ha pṛthivyai bibhayāṃ cakāra yadvai meyaṃ nāvadhūnvīteti tadanayaivaitanmitradheyamakuruta na hi mātā putraṃ hinasti na putro mātaram He then puts on shoes of boar’s skin.
Eggeling notes that in this ceremony, the King wears boar-boots to engage in a mock-battle with a Raganya (a Kshatriya noble or royal), stated to be 'Varuna's consecration; and the Earth is afraid of him'.
