Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/130

92 called Brahmanas. We have seen that in the Black Yajur-Veda the texts are, as a rule, followed by their dogmatic explanations. These explanations were supposed to elucidate the texts and to explain their hidden meanings, and they contain the speculations of generations of priests. A single discourse



of this kind was called a Brahmana; and in later times collections of such discourses were called Brahmanas.

The Rig-Veda has two Brahmanas, the Aitareya and the Kaushitaki. The composition of the former is attributed to Mahidasa Aitareya, son of Itara. In the Kaushitaki Brahmana, on the other hand, special regard is paid to the sage Kaushitaki, whose authority