Brāhmaṇa-style phrases in the prose passages of the Atharva-Veda

Abstract

This study seeks to clarify the position of the Brāhmaṇa-style prose of the Atharva-Veda Saṃhitā (AV) within Vedic literature by examining the Vrātya-kāṇḍa (ŚS 15; PS 18.27–43). Although the AV is commonly understood to consist of metrical verses, mantra-style passages, and Brāhmaṇa-style prose, the precise stylistic and chronological status of its prose layer remains insufficiently explored. To address this issue, five recurrent expressions from the Vrātya-kāṇḍa are compared with parallel usages in the prose of the Black Yajurveda Saṃhitās, especially the Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā (MS).