Baudhāyana Śrautasūtra

Srautasutras are texts that prescribe the system of ancient Indian ritual. Though the Baudhayana Srautasutra (BaudhSS) is one of the oldest among them and, therefore, one of the most important texts for the study of Vedic ritual, it has not received the attention it deserves. For almost a full century after its edition, no complete translation existed. First, this study focuses on quotations of the mantra and brahman[dotbelow]a (explanatory and prescriptive) passages in the BaudhSS , which were treated as sacred and preserved in their original wordings. Therefore they clearly show their origins. Their analyses show the relation of the BaudhSS to preceding texts. This study also follows the development of the Vedic ritual by its portrayal in the BaudhSS . Last, it analyzes the inner structure of the BaudhSS and its techniques used to shorten the prescription, which developed the new genre of srautasutra . This makes clear the development of the BaudhSS . As a result of the study we can conjecture as to how the text of BaudhSS developed. First, the prescriptions were composed for each independent sacrifice. These were then collected as one text. Further detailed arguments were added at the end. The order of the sacrifices was changed. The various opinions of authorities were extracted from the prescriptions of each sacrifice and collected in a separate section after the main text. In this process, the BaudhSS was influenced heavily by the Satapatha Brahman[dotbelow]a , which belongs to the very end of the Brahaman[dotbelow]a period.