The Yajurveda Samhita or the prayer book of the Adhvaryu priest is recorded to have had as many as 101 recensions at the time of the grammarian Patanjali, out of which, only 5 have survived and are available at present, viz., Kathaka,Kapisthala, Maitrayani, Taittiriya, and Vajasaneyi, the first four belonging to the 'Black Yajurveda' and the fifth to what is designated as 'White yajurveda.' The Vajasaneyi Samhita which takes its name from Yajnavalkya Vajasaneya, the chief teacher of this Veda, has come down in two slightly differing versions known as the Kanva and the Madhyandina Samhitas. The chief difference between the texts of the 'Black' and 'White' Yajurveda lies in the fact that the latter contains only the Mantras, i.e., the prayers and sacrificial formulae which the priest has to utter, while the former contains in addition a presentation of the sacrificial rites belonging to them as well as the Brahmana or theological discussion on the same.
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