Talavakara Aranyaka or Jaiminiyopanishadbrahmana

Talavakāra Āraṇyaka belongs to Jaimini Śākhā of Sāmaveda. This is only available Āraṇyaka related to Sāmaveda. It is also known by the name ‘JaiminīyaUpaniṣadBrāhmaṇa’ or JaiminīyaTalvakāraUpaniṣadBrāhmaṇa.’ According to the Mangalācaraṇa of this Āraṇyaka, Jaimini was the teacher of TalavakāraṚṣi, this text,therefore, can be regarded as written by Talavakāra, a student of Jaimini. The Āraṇyaka is divided into four chapters (Adhyāya) which are again divided into subsections called Anuvāka and Khaṇḍa.

Talavakāra Āraṇyaka is important for its ancient language, terminology, grammatical forms, and also for its historical and mythological stories (akhyāna) which indicate rituals and beliefs of those times. It describes few religious beliefs which are not found elsewhere and this attests that Talavakāra Āraṇyaka would be of earlier times. Importance of Om and Gāyatri is described here again and again. Like other Brāhmaṇa texts it does not elaborate rituals in length but gives more space to Sāma-upāsanā. This may be the reason why it is considered as an Āraṇyaka. Through its contents, it looks close to Chāndogya Upaniṣad.