![]() A few centuries later, perhaps about 900 BCE, the Brahmana (Brāhmaṇa)s were composed as glosses on the Vedas, containing many myths and philosophical discussions. ![]() Along with these three Vedas-Rig, Yajur, and Sama, known as the trayi-vidya (“threefold knowledge”)-is a collection of hymns, magic spells, and incantations known as the Atharvaveda (“Knowledge of the Fire Priest”), which includes various local traditions and remains partly outside the Vedic sacrifice. A third group of priests, headed by the udgatri (“chanter”), performed melodic recitations linked to verses that were drawn almost entirely from the Rigveda but were arranged as a separate Samhita, the Samaveda (“Knowledge of the Chants”). These mantras and verses were drawn into the Samhita known as the Yajurveda (“Knowledge of the Sacrifice”). Sacred formulas known as mantras ( mantra) were recited by the adhvaryu, the priest responsible for the sacrificial fire and for carrying out the ceremony. ![]() The foremost collection, or Samhita, of such poems, from which the hotri (“reciter”), drew the material for his recitations, is the Rigveda (“Knowledge of the Verses”).
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