Kāṇḍa 7 · Chapter Overview
From The Krishna Yajurveda — The Taittirīya Saṃhitā, taught by Acharya T Krishnatrey. This lesson is free to read.
<pre data-block="statement"> The seventh and final kāṇḍa treats the great sessions — the ekāha (one-day), ahīna (several-day) and sattra (long session) sacrifices, culminating in the Gavāmayana, the sacrifice that lasts an entire year, and the Mahāvrata. Like Kāṇḍa 6, this book is largely brāhmaṇa prose, and its mantras cluster in particular anuvākas. But what they contain is remarkable. Here the whole of space and time is offered — every direction, every season, every half-month, and finally sarvasmai svāhā, "to everything" (7.1.15). Here the priest is yoked to the metres and consecrated by the seasons (7.1.18), and declares that he has placed ṛta in satya and satya in ṛta. And here, in 7.4.18, stands the great brahmodya — the riddle-contest in which the deepest questions are asked aloud and answered. Eleven of them follow — the Veda at its widest reach. </pre>