The third chapter Bhrigu Valli consists of ten verses. The second chapter Ananda Valli, sometimes called Brahmananda Valli includes nine verses. The first chapter Siksha Valli includes twelve Anuvaka (lessons). The Taittiriya Upanishad has three chapters: the Siksha Valli, the Ananda Valli and the Bhrigu Valli. Paul Deussen and Winternitz, hold a similar view as that of Phillips, but place Taittiriya before Isha Upanishad, but after Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishad.Īccording to a 1998 review by Patrick Olivelle, the Taittiriya Upanishad was composed in a pre-Buddhist period, possibly 6th to 5th century BCE. Ranade shares the view of Phillips in chronologically sequencing Taittiriya Upanishad with respect to other Upanishads. Stephen Phillips suggests that Taittiriya Upanishad was likely one of the early Upanishads, composed in the 1st half of 1st millennium BCE, after Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, and Isha, but before Aitareya, Kaushitaki, Kena, Katha, Manduka, Prasna, Svetasvatara and Maitri Upanishads, as well as before the earliest Buddhist Pali and Jaina canons. All opinions rest on scanty evidence, assumptions about likely evolution of ideas, and on presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies. The chronology of Taittiriya Upanishad, along with other Vedic era literature, is unclear. Paul Deussen states that this symbolic terminology is apt and likely reflects the root and nature of the Taittiriya Upanishad, which too is largely independent of the liturgical Yajur Veda, and is attached to the main text. Įach chapter of the Taittiriya Upanishad is called a Valli (वल्ली), which literally means a medicinal vine-like climbing plant that grows independently yet is attached to a main tree. The later root of the title comes from the nature of Taittriya Upanishad which, like the rest of "dark or black Yajur Veda", is a motley, confusing collection of unrelated but individually meaningful verses. The root of this name has been interpreted in two ways: "from Vedic sage Tittiri", who was the student of Yāska or alternatively, it being a collection of verses from mythical students who became " partridges" (birds) in order to gain knowledge. Taittiriya is a Sanskrit word that means "from Tittiri".
The Taittirīya Upanishad is associated with the Taittirīya school of the Yajurveda, attributed to the pupils of sage Vaishampayana. It is a mukhya (primary, principal) Upanishad, and likely composed about 6th century BC. The Taittirīya Upanishad ( Devanagari: तैत्तिरीय उपनिषद्) is a Vedic era Sanskrit text, embedded as three chapters ( adhyāya) of the Yajurveda.