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A shakha (Sanskrit śākhā, "branch" or "limb") is a Hindu theological school that specializes in learning certain Vedic texts, or else the traditional texts followed by such a school.[1][2] An individual follower of a particular school or recension is called a śākhin.[3] The term is also used in Hindu philosophy to refer to an adherent of a particular orthodox system.[4]
A related term caraṇa, ("conduct of life" or "behavior") is also used to refer to such a Vedic school:[5] "although the words caraṇa and śākhā are sometimes used synonymously, yet caraṇa properly applies to the sect or collection of persons united in one school, and śākhā to the traditional text followed, as in the phrase śākhām adhite, ("he recites a particular version of the Veda")".[2] The schools have different points of view, described as "difference of (Vedic) school" (śākhābhedaḥ). Each school would learn a specific Vedic Saṃhita (one of the "four Vedas" properly so-called), as well as its associated Brahmana, Aranyakas, Shrautasutras, Grhyasutras and Upanishads.[1][2]
In traditional Hindu society affiliation with a specific school is an important aspect of class identity. By the end of the Rig Vedic period the term Brāhmaṇa had come to be applied to all members of the priestly class, but there were subdivisions within this order based both on varna (class) and on the shakha (branch) with which they were affiliated.[6] A Brāhmaṇa who changed school would be called "a traitor to his śākhā" (śākhāraṇḍaḥ).[1]
- ^ a b c V. S. Apte. A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary, p. 913, left column.
- ^ a b c Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, p. 1062, right column.
- ^ V. S. Apte. A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary, p. 913, left column
- ^ E.g., Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli; and Moore, Charles A. A Source Book in Indian Philosophy. Princeton University Press; 1957. Princeton paperback 12th edition, 1989. ISBN 0-691-01958-4. p. 560. The example is given here of a text which refers to a dispute involving śākhins [followers] who do not accept a particular position.
- ^ V. S. Apte. A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. p. 429, middle column
- ^ Basham, A. L. The Wonder That Was India: A Survey of the Culture of the Indian Sub-Continent Before The Coming Of The Muslims. (Grove Press, Inc.: New York, 1954) p. 139.