Shukla yajur veda

[Guest guest]

Sri Raamajayam

 

This is what AdiyEn heard about Shukla Yajur Veda, from a Bay Area Bhagavathaa

who started learning Shukla Yajur Veda(after already learning Krishna Yajur

Veda). According to the story I heard, it is not authored, as rightly

questioned/feared by Sri.Malolan Cadambi. It was given as UpaDEsam by Surya

Bhagavan to Sri.Yajnya Valkya.

 

The story AdiyEn was told was Sri.Yajnya Valkyaa was a disciple of Sage

Parasara, who sent Sri.Yajnya Valkyaa to an ailing King, to cure his disease.

The King was one with a Paapaathmaa and his ailment knows no easy cure. Hence

Sri.Yajnya Valkyaa performed severe austerities including an Yajnaa for nearly a

year. Day by day the king's ailment increased instead of getting decreased,

that he started abusing Sri.Yajnya Valkyaa. In a fit of rage, he kicked the

Yajnya Kalasam(supposed to be the deity for Yajna), saying the Yajna was a

gimmick. Sri.Yajnya Valkyaa, was terribly offended that the King had

disrespected Vedas, that he walks out without curing the King. He demonstrated

the power of his Yajnyaa, by sprinkling the water from the Kalasam over a tree

struck dead by lighting, which greened/bloomed and started bearing fruits

immediately. The king realizing his mistake sought mercy of Sri.Yajnya Valkyaa,

which Yajnya Valkyaa promptly refused, since the King disrespected!

his Guru and the Mahaa Vidyaa, the Vedas.

 

However the Guru, Sage Parasara, heard the incident, but still felt obliged to

the King for supporting Vedic causes, and ordered Sri.Yajnya Valkya to help the

King, again. Sri.Yajnya Valkya debated and finally refused, to the fury of Sage

Parasara. He was asked unlearn/surrender what he had been taught, since he

refused his Guru. Promptly Sri.Yajnya Valkyaa spitted out what he learnt, as

grains of rice. Seeing Vedas scattered on the floor as grains, the other

Sishyaas, assumed the form of birds and started assimmilating the scattered

grain(&Vedas). That is why it came to be known Taittreya Upanishad(Taittri is a

kind of bird, I guess).

 

Totally lost, Sri.Yajnyaa Valkyaa, is left only with Gayathri and he does Mahaa

Japam and invokes Saraswathi and asks her to teach her Vedas not known to

Humanity(since he had surrendered what he learnt to his Guru). Saraswathi

said, the Lord has already given the four Vedas as UpadEsam, and there is

nothing that is not known to Humanity. Seeing Sri.Yajnyaa Valkyaa's resolve and

taking pity on him, she recommended that there is 'Shukla Yajur Veda'(white or

clear Yajur Veda) unlike 'Krishna Yajur Veda'(Dark and considered difficult),

unknown to humanity, which was taught to Surya by Sriman Naarayana. It is same

as Krishna Yajur Veda, but apparently much clearer and straight-forward.

 

So Sri.Yajnyaa Valkyaa sought the mercy of the Sun, and followed him around the

world with horses(I forgot the source, but from Netherworld) and assimmilated

the Shukla yajur Veda.

 

Then the story goes that Yajnyaa Valkyaa attends a Sathas of King Janaka(father

of Seetha), and sees a jealous Guru in Parasara, who challenges him in duel and

successfully answers all his Guru's questions with the acquired knowledge of

Shukla yajur Veda. In return Yajnya Valkyaa asks his Guru to describe "Para

Brahmam" completely. Having been outsmarted, Parasara loses and his head

shattered to a thousand pieces.

 

AdiyEn do not know more, but was told there are only a handful of Shukla Yajur

Vedins in India/abroad. AdiyEn am myself curious what is the authenticity of

this story, and what is the Sri Vaishnavite perspective on Shukla Yajur Veda.

 

 

AdiyEn Sri Raamanuja Daasan,

 

Sudarsana Dasosmi

[Guest guest]

Here is another interesting version regarding the 'origins' of Shukla yajur

veda...

 

Sage vEda vyAsa taught bailar, vaisambAyanar, jaimini, and sumandhu - rig,

yajur, sAma, and atharva vedAs respectively. And each of them had many more

disciples/sishyAs studying under them.

 

Sage vaisambhAyanar trained his sishyAs from mithilApuri. One of his

disciples was yagnavAlkiya. As part of the daily routine, one sishyA went to

the King's (Janaka) court everyday to hand-over the akshadhai (rice mixed

with turmeric - showered on the head of a person as a sign of blessing, when

bowing to a guru or one's elders). Once, during yagnavAlkiya's turn, the

king was away on duty, and yagnavAlkiya placed the akshadhai on the king's

throne and hurried back for his classes - without waiting for the king's

return.

 

Upon arrival, the king, surprised and amazed to find the akshadhai sprouting

into a plant and spreading over the throne, sends for the sishyA,

immediately.

 

yagnavAlkiya turns down the request, due to his training schedule. Sage

vaisambhAyanar misconstrues yagnavAlkiya's behavior as a sign of arrogance

and orders him to 'throw out' whatever he has learnt and quit.

And yagnavAlkiya obeys the order quite literally. Perplexed, the sage orders

the other sishyAs to take the form of "titthri pura" - a form of

dark-colored pigeon and swallow the vEdAs 'thrown out'. Because the sishyAs

received that part of vedAs by taking the form of "titthri pura", a portion

of vEdAs got to be known as "TaithriyOpanishad" or Krishna yajur vEdam.

 

yagnavAlkiya then proceeded to learn under sUrya bhagavAn, (Sun God) and

whatever he learnt was known as vAjasnEya samhitA or shukla yaju vEdam.

 

 

Thanks,

Sriram