Aitareya

Aitareya is a designation used in Vedic literature for works associated with the Rigveda and attributed to or named after the sage Aitareya. The term most commonly refers to the Aitareya Brahmana, a prose text that forms part of the Brahmana corpus; it explains rites, sacrifices, and ritual procedures, and places them within a wider social and cosmological framework. As a source, it contributes to our understanding of Vedic ritual practice, priestly functions, and the organization of Vedic society.

In addition, the Aitareya Aranyaka is the Aranyaka portion of the Rigveda associated with the Aitareya school. This text extends the ritual material into legends, ethical reflections, and discussions of emergent cosmology, and it includes material considered foundational to later Vedantic thought. Within the Aitareya Aranyaka lies the Aitareya Upanishad, a minor Upanishad that presents concise philosophical reflections on creation, the nature of the self, and the origins of life.

Date and scholarship: These works are attributed to the late Vedic period, with scholarly dating ranging roughly from the first half of the 1st millennium BCE. They survive in traditional Sanskrit manuscripts and have been studied and translated by modern scholars, contributing to critical editions and interpretive studies of the Rigveda and its ancillary literature.

See also: Rigveda, Aitareya Shakha (Aitareya school), Aitareya Brahmana, Aitareya Aranyaka, Aitareya Upanishad.