The Jaiminīya-Brāhmaṇa between Tradition and Innovation: the case of the Textualization of the Mahāvrata rite and the Legitimisation of Brahmanical Ritualism

This article aims to focus on a specific case study concerning Brahmanical textualization applied to a peculiar Brāhmaṇa of the Vedic repertoire, the Jaiminīya-Brāhmaṇa. In particular, this narrative prose passage, referring to the foundation myth of the mahāvrata rite, is presented in two critical editions, and two controversial readings, resulting from the same phonetic sequence, are examined: āhur yāyaṇaḥ vs āhuryāyaṇaḥ. The former appears to be more brāhmaṇa oriented, in compliance with the affirmation of Brahmanism; the lectio difficilior, instead, is in consonance with a kṣatriya perspective, especially in relation to the affirmation of certain paradigms of sovereignty. However, both these two acceptable readings account for a similar cultural modality of legitimisation in relation to the claim of hegemony: earlier cultural traits are not uprooted, but amplified and increased, which enables the current cultural leadership to attain ‘greatness’ for promoting its primacy.