The Gopatha BrÄhmana is the only extant BrÄhmaį¹a of the Atharvaveda. This work is not as ancient as the other three Vedas. Sage Gopatha composed this work between 2000 B. C. to 1000 B.C. He is one of the sages belonging to the PippalÄda branch in the Atharvaveda, who probably resided in the MadhyadeÅa (middle part of India).
This BrÄhmaį¹a has two parts:
- The Purva-Gopatha – It has five prapÄį¹hakas (chapters) and a total of 135 kaį¹įøikÄs.
- The Uttara-Gopatha – It has six prapÄį¹hakas and 123 kaį¹įøikÄs. Each kaį¹įøikÄ has five to six long sentences. The text starts with a description of creation from Brahman which alone existed in the beginning. This creation started with water. From the water, the sages like Bhį¹gu, Atharvan and the ten Ätharvaį¹a sages evolved.
The other topics that appear in this BrÄhmaį¹a include:
- Descriptions of Oį¹ kÄra and GÄyatrÄ«
- Details regarding the rules of brahmacharya, which is usually spread over twelve years, needed for the study of the Vedas
- Duties of the four main priests in Vedic sacrifices
- Descriptions of sacrifices like AgnyÄdhÄna, Agnihotra, DarÅapurį¹a- mÄsa, Sattra, Ägrayaį¹a, PaÅubandha, RÄjasuya, VÄjapeya, AÅvamedha, Sarpamedha
- Many mantras of the į¹igveda
- The imposition of stringent rules (considered to be new in this work) on the BrÄhmaį¹as like prohibiting them from learning music and dancing
- The Uttara-Gopatha BrÄhmana bans receiving dakį¹£iį¹Ä in sacrifice
Read the full article written by Swami Harshananda at www.hindupedia.com