The Aruna Prashna

The position of the “Aruna Prashna”

• Found in the Taittriya Aranyaka 1st prashna. Commonly known by the
name Aruna Prashna
• But the name is not restricted to this prashna alone but to all of the
Aranyaka. The entire aranyaka(8 prashnas/10 prashnas-Andhra paata)
is the Aruna Kanda.
• These are to be chanted only during the daytime.
• Thus they are called “Divaa Keertyaani”.
• The first and second prashnas of the Aranyaka are considered part of
the Kaataka prashnas
• There are a total of 5 kataka prashnas in the total of 82 prashnas of
the taitriya
• The 3 prashnas , that come after the 9th prashna of the 3rd Ashtaka of
the Brahmana are the other 3.
What do the 5 Kataka prashnas discuss?
• The 5 kataka prashnas mainly enjoin what are called Kshudra chayanas(We
will see them later).
• The 2nd prashna of the Aranyaka or the 5th kataka discusses, the importance
of the yajnopavita, the Arghya vidhis, Kooshmanda mantras and how to use
them in expiatory rites and the Brahma yajna and its importance.
• The first kaataka prashna discusses the Saavitra chayana. The famous
Indra/Bharadvaja vrittanta regarding the infinite nature of the vedas is
found here.
• Also it discusses some aspects of the Saavitra mantra and a form of the
Madhu vidhya.
• The 2nd kataka discusses the Naachiketa chayana and its nuances also some
upasanas related to it.
• The 3rd kataka discusses the Divishyeeni and the anuvitti chayanas
What do the 5 Kataka prashnas discuss?
contd
• The 3rd kataka discusses also the grand sacrifice called the Vishvajit
• The final anuvaka of the 3rd kataka tells how various samans were
employed in creation of the universe.
• The 4th kataka prashna which is the matter of our interest mainly is a
eulogy to water. Not to the sun as commonly misunderstood. It
discusses the performance of the Aaruna Keetuka chayana in detail.
The very well known “Rajadhi Rajaya” mantra is a part of the kubera
bali rite, the last part of the Aaruna Keetuka
• In addition it informs us of the seasons, the presence of 1000s of suns
in the universe, mantra to use against poison, the four forms of death,
other upasanas etc. We will see how this chayana differs from rest of
the Kaataka Kshudra chayanas
Why are the 5 katakas different from the rest
of the Aranyaka
Though these 5 katakas belong to the taittriya shaka they are different
in the following ways
• The main characteristic being the word “Svaha” is used instead of
“Suvaha” that is used in the rest of the taittriya. Example

• The last kataka prashna(Aranyaka prashna 2)has an udatta kampa,

which is not part of the rest of the Taittriya.
• The pravargya rite described in the “Aruna prashna”(Aranyaka 1st
prashnam), is different from that described in the aranyaka 8th
prashnam. The 8th prashnam is used in the normal performance of
the pravargya for Taittriyas.
What is “Chayana”
• The Maha agni chayana is a very grand and complex ritual that is described
in the 4th and 5th kandas of the Taittriya Samhita.
• It is related to the word “Chaityam”, which means piling up or arrangement
of stones or bricks.
• In the Ramayana such “Chaityas” are mentioned as housing various deities.
In the Aranya kanda of the Ramayana, one can see that Agastya’s ashrama
had a lot of such chaityas housing many deities.
• These were the precursors to later day temples.
• The Agni chayana rite involves the construction of complex Uttara vedis,
like the Garuda chayana etc.
• It involves various kinds of bricks like the “Svayamaatrunna”, “Lokampruna”
etc.
• The entire 5th kanda of the Taittriya Samhita is dedicated towards
description of the various kinds of bricks to form vedis of various shapes.
What is “Chayana … contd
• The yajamana is supposed to establish the fire in a clay pan called the
ukha.
• This clay pan and other utensils are prepared by making a horse to
mix the clay well with its hooves and smoking the pots and pan with
horse dung.
• The clay is brought on the back of an ass.
• For best results the yajamana is supposed to maintain this for for an
year.
What is Kshudra chayana
• The Kshudra chayana is the smaller version of the previous mentioned
larger chayana.
• A smaller number of bricks are used and in case of the Aruna ketuka
there are no bricks for some of the layers and it uses what is called
Abheeshtaka. We will see that In detail later.
• The Vedi shapes are not complex.
• The mantras for the Aahutis are less complex and short.