e Black
(_krishna_) and the White (_sukla_) Yajus respectively.

Although the ritualistic discussions of the Brahmanas are for the most
part of a dry and uninteresting nature to an even greater degree than is
often the case with exegetic theological treatises, these works are
nevertheless of considerable importance both as regards the history of
Indian institutions and as "the oldest body of Indo-European prose, of a
generally free, vigorous, simple form, affording valuable glimpses
backwards at the primitive condition of unfettered Indo-European talk"
(Whitney). Of especial interest in this respect are the numerous myths
and legends scattered through these works. From the archaic style in
which these mythological tales are usually composed, as well as from the
fact that not a few of them are found in Brahmanas of different schools
and Vedas, though often with considerable variations, it seems pretty
evident that the groundwork of them must go back to times preceding the
composition or final redaction of the existing Brahmanas. In the case of
some of these legends--as those of Sunah-Sepha, and the fetching of Soma
from heaven--we can even see how they have grown out of germs contained
in some of the Vedic hymns. If the literary style in which the exegetic
discussion of the texts and rites is carried on in the Brahmanas is, as
a rule, of a very bald and uninviting nature, it must be borne in mind
that these treatises are of a strictly professional and esoteric
character, and in no way lay claim to being considered as literary
compositions in any sense of the word. And yet, notwithstanding the
general emptiness of their ritualistic discussions and mystic
speculations, "there are passages in the Brahmanas full of genuine
thought and feeling, and most valuable as pictures of life, and as
records of early struggles, which have left no trace in the literature
of other nations" (M. Muller).

The chief interest, however, attaching to the Brahmanas is doubtless
their detailed description of the sacrificial system as practised in the
later Vedic ages; and the information afforded by them in this respect
should be all the more welcome to us, as the history of religious
institutions knows of no other sacrificial ceremonial with the details
of which we are acquainted to anything like the same extent. An even
more complete and minutely detailed view of the sacrificial system is no
doubt obtained from the ceremonial manuals, the Kalp