There are four recensions of the Krishna (“black” or “dark”) Yajurveda:
taittirīya saṃhita (TS) of Panchala
maitrayani saṃhita (MS)
caraka-katha saṃhita (KS) of Madra
kapiṣṭhala-katha saṃhita (KapS) of Bahika
Each of the recensions has a Brahmana associated with it, and some of them also have associated Shrautasutras, Grhyasutras, Aranyakas, Upanishads and Pratishakhyas.
The Taittiriya Shakha: The best known of these recensions is the TS, named after Tittiri, a pupil of Yaska. It consists of 7 books or kandas, subdivided in chapters or prapathakas, further subdivided into individual hymns. Some individual hymns in this Samhita have gained particular importance in Hinduism; e.g. TS 4.5 and TS 4.7 constitute the Shri Rudram Chamakam, while 1.8.6.i is the Shaivaite Tryambakam mantra. The formula bhūr bhuvaḥ suvaḥ prefixed to the (rigvedic) Gayatri mantra is also from the Yajurveda, appearing four times. The Taittiriya recension of the Black Yajurveda shakha most prevalent in southern India. Among the followers of this Shakha, the Apastamba Sutras is the common Shrautasutra associated with the Shakha. The Taittiriya Shakha consists of Taittiriya Samhita (having seven kaandas), Taittiriya Braahmana (having three kaandas), Taittiriya Aaranyaka (having seven prashnas) (See Aranyaka Literature), Taittiriya Upanishad (having three prashnas or vallis – Sheeksha valli, Ananda valli and Bhrigu valli) and the Mahaanaarayana Upanishad. The Taittiriya Upanishad and Mahaanaarayana Upanishad are considered to be the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth prashnas of the Aaranyaka. The words prapaathaka and kaanda (meaning sections) are interchangeably used in the Vedic literature. Prashna and valli refer to sections of the Aaranyaka.
Three recensions have been edited and published: the Taittiriya by Weber in “Indische Studien”, XI, XII (Berlin, 1871-72), the Maitrayani by von Schroeder (Leipzig, 1881-86) and the Kathaka by von Schroeder (Leipzig, 1900-09). Translations of the Taittiriya into English are due to A.B. Keith (Oxford 1913) and Devi Chand.
