Followers of Shukla Yajurveda Founded by sage Yajnavalkya

Followers  of Shukla  Yajurveda   Founded  by  sage Yajnavalkya

   Compiled by

P.R.Ramachander    

  Yagnavalkya (He who puts  Yajna as  a dress , implying he who performs Yajnas as easily as  changing of a dress)  is one of the greatest  of the   Vedic sages. He was the son of Devaratha (also known as Vajasani or Brahmaratha)  and a Sishya(disciple ) of sage Vaisampayana who himself was a student of sage Veda Vyasa. His mother   was Sunanda , the daughter  of sage Sakala. He also had a sister  called Kamasri.

         Yagnavalkya due to his great knowledge was extremely proud  . Once sage Vaisampayana committed a great sin(Brahmahathya) . He requested  his disciples to do several religious ceremonies so that  , he could get rid of his sin. Then Yagnavalkya told him , that this was  not necessary as , he himself can do all that  is necessary  to make his Guru to get rid of his sin.  Sage Vaisampayana got very angry   and told  his disciple Yagnavalkya to return all  that he has taught him.  Sage Yagnavalkya due to his great power vomited all  that he learned from his guru. His Guru ordered  his other disciples to become thithiri birds(partridges) and eat all that   was vomited by Yagnavalkya. The Yajur veda   taught by sage Vaisampayana   was there after  called  the Krishna(black)  Yajurveda.
                     At that  time Yagnavalkya did not have any Veda with him. Yagnavalkya then did great  Thapas(Penance addressed   to  Lord Sun.)  Lord Sun appeared to him in the form of a horse   and taught   him  the completed Yajur veda.  Since  Lord Sun have   to travel daily  on his chariot  , it seems this Yajur veda   was taught  in the background of  the canter  of the horses. Some people are of the opinion , that  because of this the  proper tone in reciting the Veda  in this case  is not there.  Since it was taught by Sun God  ,  this Yajur veda is known as  “Shukla Yajurveda”  . It is also known as Vajasaneya Yajurveda. (Vaji  in Sanskrit means horse).

           Yagnavalkya divided this Vajasaneya Yajurveda again into fifteen branches, each branch comprising hundreds of Yajur Mantras. These are

1. KANVA
2. MADHYANDINA
3. JABALA,
4. BAUDHEYA,
5. SHAPEYI,
6. TAPANIYA,
7. KAPOLA,
8. PAUNDRAVATSA,
9. AVATIKA,
10. PARAMAVATIKA,
11. PARASHARA,
12. VAINEYA,
13. VAIDHEYA,
14. KATYAYANA AND
15. VAIJAVAPA.

Of these  the sages like Kanva, Madhyandina and others learnt those and Śukla Yajurveda branched into popular recessions’ named after them. There  are many Brahmins who follow the Shukla Yajurveda both in   Andhra Pradesh and in Tamil Nadu as well in North India.  There are   major Shakhas  in Shukla Yajurveda -  Kanva Shakha  is the oldest and there   are few Brahmins in Tamil Nadu  who follow  Kanva Shakha  The other important Shakha is  Madhyandhina Shakha    which is popular  all over  North India

 There is belief that  due to the fact that  Yagnavalkya   vomited the Vedas taught to him , he did not have Vedas  with him  for some time period. Some of those who follow  Shukla   Yajurveda   do take bath  at the noon(the time when Yagnavalkya   did not have Vedas) . Because  of this  some people call them untouchable   at every day  noon.

The followers of Shukla Yajur Veda   however  say     that Krishna Yajur Veda  is tainted  because  it grew out of the vomit  of Yajnavalkya   eaten by the Thithiri birds.

   There are many  Veda Patasalas teaching Shukla Yajurveda   and they are called  Yagnavalkya  Gurukulama

Some major ACHARYAS
Some major ACHARYAS who belong to KAnva ShAkha are SURESHVARACHARYA (Mandana Mishra) who was disciple of Shankaracharya & 1st swamiji of SHRUNGERI MATH. SRI MADWACHARYA the founder of Dwaita Siddhanta, SRI CHIDAMBAR MAHASWAMY, MURAGOD & GREAT DATTAREYA AVATAR OF AKKALKOT SWAMI SAMARTH was born in KANVA SHAKHA.

       I  read some where  that the kanva sanhitha   has been recognised   for the  pancharathra   agama  worship practiced  in Sri Ranga temple  . Of course  I am not sure of it

Readers  interested  to know  more about  Shukla Yajurveda  may consult  http://www.shuklayajurveda.org/srishuklayajurveda.html