Aranyaka Totally Explained

The Aranyakas (Sanskrit आरण्यक ) are part of the Hindu śruti; these religious scriptures are written in early Classical Sanskrit, and form part of either the Brahmanas or Upanishads. "Aranyaka" translates to "the forest books", meaning treatises for sadhus living in the wilderness. This contrasts with the grhyasutras, treatises intended for domestic life.

The Forest Books

The Aranyakas discuss philosophy and sacrifice. They are believed to have originated with the various mystical ascetic groups that developed in post-Vedic India. The Aranyakas constitute a more philosophical and mystical interpretation of the themes presented in the Vedas, as opposed to the Brahmanas, which were primarily concerned with the proper performance of ritual. Like the Upanishads, the Aranyakas may have initially constituted a secret or hidden teaching, not in the sense of being forbidden or restricted, but rather being both a non-obvious expansion on the themes of the Vedas and a teaching that was primarily conveyed individually from teacher to student.
The Aranyakas are associated with and named after individual Vedic shakhas.

Aitareya Aranyaka belongs to the Shakala Shakha of Rigveda
Kaushitaki Aranyaka belongs to the Kaushitaki and Shankhayana Shakhas of Rigveda
Taittiriya Aranyaka belongs to the Taittiriya Shakha of Krishna-Yajurveda
Katha Aranyaka belongs to the Katha-Charaka Shakha of the Krishna-Yajurveda
Maitrayaniya Aranyaka belongs to the Maitrayaniya Shakha of Krishna-Yajurveda
Talavakara Aranyaka belongs to the Talavakara or Jaiminiya Shakha of Samaveda
Shankhayana Aranyaka
Aranyaka Samhita The Purvarchika of the Samaveda Samhitas have a section called the 'Aranyaka Samhita' on which the Aranyagana Samans are sung.
Charaka Aranyaka is virtually identical with the Maitrayaniya Aranyaka.
Brihad-Aranyaka in the Madhyandina and the Kanva versions. The M version has 8 sections, of which the last 6 are termed as the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
Kathaka Aranyaka

The Atharvaveda has no surviving Aranyaka, although indications are that there did exist Araynaka works attached to this Veda in the past.

Aitareya Aranyaka

There are five chapters each of which is even considered as a full Aranyaka. The first one deals with the regimen known as ‘Mahaa-vrata’. The explanations are both ritualistic as well as absolutistic. The second one has six chapters of which the first three are about ‘Praana-vidyaa’ – meaning, Prana, the Vital Air that constitutes the life-breath of a living body is also the life-breath of all mantras, all vedas and all vedic declarations (cf. 2.2.2 of aitareya Aranyaka). It is in this portion of the Aranyaka that one finds specific statements about how one who follows the vedic injunctions and performs the sacrifices goes to become the God of Fire, or the Sun or Air and how one who transgresses the vedic prescriptions is born into lower levels of being, namely, as birds and reptiles.
   It is in Aitareya Aranyaka Praana is recommended to be worshipped in the form of Rishis. Praana is Vishwaamitra because all the universe (‘vishwa’) is the object of experience of this praana deity. Praana is Vamadeva because the word “Vaama” indicates respectability and deservingness to be worshipped and served. It is also Atri Maharishi because, the word ‘traayate’ in Atri indicates the Praana that protects from sins. The Praana enters this body and supports it therefore, it's Bharadvaja – where the ‘bhara’ word denotes supporting and the ‘Vaaja’ indicates the mortal body that's made mobile by the residence of praaana. Vashishhta is also Praana because the word ‘vas’ indicates the dwelling in this body of the senses made possible by praana.
   The 4th, 5th and 6th chapters of this second Aranyaka constitute what is known as Aitareya Upanishad. The third Aranyaka in this chain of Aranyakas is also known as ‘Samhitopanishad’. This elaborates on the various ways – like pada-paatha, krama-paatha, etc. -- of reciting the Vedas and the nuances of the ‘svaras’.
   The fourth and the fifth Aranyaka are technical and dwell respectively on the mantras known as ‘MahaanaamnI’ and the yajna known as ‘Madhyandina’.

Taittiriya-Aranyaka

There are ten chapters here. The 7th, 8th and 9th constitute the well-known Taittiriya Upanishad. The tenth is a long Upanishad known as Maha-Narayana-Upanishad; it contains several important mantras culled from the three vedas. Chapters one to six form the Aranyaka proper.
The first one is the famous Surya namaskara chapter. The second one is a description of the five maha-yajnas that every brahmin has to do daily. Naturally the sacred thread, the yajnopavita, of the brahmin is extolled and elaborated here. The sandhya worship, the worship of the manes, worship of the brahman through the brahma-yajna, the cleansing homa-sacrifice called the kushmanda-homa are all dealt with in detail. In this chapter the word ‘shramana’ is used (2-7-1) in the meaning of a doer of penance (tapasvii); this word came to mean in later times, a recluse of the Buddhist and Jain religions.
The third and fourth chapters go into further technicalities of several other homas and yajnas. The fourth chapter has also sections on mantras that may be used for averting (or causing !) havoc. The fifth is an academic treatise on yajnas. The sixth one is a collection of ‘pitr-medha’ mantras, that is, the mantras recited on the occasion of, and used for, the rituals for the disposal of the dead body.

Shankhayana Aranyaka

There are fifteen chapters here. From the third to the sixth it constitutes the Kaushitaki Upanishad. The seventh and eighth are known as a Samhitopanishad.
   The first two chapters deal with the Mahavrata. The ninth talks about the greatness of Prana. The tenth chapter deals with the esoteric implications of the agnihotra ritual. All divine personalities are inherent in the Purusha, just as Agni in speech, Vayu in Prana, the Sun in the eyes, the Moon in the mind, the directions in the ears and water in the potency. The one who knows this, says the Aranyaka, and in the strength of that conviction goes about eating, walking, taking and giving, satisfies all the gods and what he offers in the fire reaches those gods in heaven. (cf.10-1).
   The eleventh chapter prescribes several antidotes in the form of rituals for warding off death and sickness. It also details the effects of dreams. The 12th chapter elaborates the fruits of prayer. The 13th gets into more philosophical matters and says one must first attitudinally discard one’s bodily attachment and then carry on the ‘shravana’, manana and nidhidhyasana and practise all the disciplines of penance, faith, self-control etc.
   The 14th gives just two mantras. One extols the “I am Brahman” mantra and says it's the apex of all Vedic mantras. The second mantra declares that one who doesn't get the meaning of mantras but only recites vedic chants is like an animal which doesn't know the value of the weight it carries. The final chapter gives a long list of genealogy of spiritual teachers from Brahma downwards up to Guna-Sankhayana.

Brihad – Aranyaka

This is the famous Upanishad of that name. The Self is the subject of discussion here from all aspects. For a complete discussion see Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad.

Rahasya Brahmanas

There is also a certain continuity of the Aranyakas from the Brahmanas in the sense that the Aranyakas go into the subtle esoteric meanings of the ritualistic tilt that the rites detailed in the Brahmanas give to the mantras of the Vedas. It is this leap into subtlety that provides the reason for Durgacharya in his commentary on the Niruktas to say that the Aranyakas are ‘Rahasya Brahmana’, that is, the Secret of the Brahmanas. In short, the undercurrent of emphasis of the Aranyakas is to point out that through all the different multiplicities that one has to contend with, there's a single thread of continuity, namely, the One Absolute Reality. The language of the Aranyakas is, unlike Vedic Sanskrit, nearer to the ordinary Sanskrit of the layman.

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