Structure Aranyakas are diverse in their structure. Jan Gonda summarizes: • Brihad Aranyaka in the Madhyandina and the Kanva versions of the Shukla Yajurveda. The Madhyandina version has 9 sections, of which the last 6 are the
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. •
Samaveda • Talavakara Aranyaka or
Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana belongs to the Talavakara or Jaiminiya Shakha of the Samaveda. A part of this text forms the
Kena Upanishad. • Aranyaka Samhita is not a typical Aranyaka text: rather the Purvarchika of the Samaveda Samhitas has a section of mantras, called the 'Aranyaka Samhita', on which the Aranyagana Samans are sung. The Atharvaveda has no surviving Aranyaka, though the
Gopatha Brahmana is regarded as its Aranyaka, a remnant of a larger, lost Atharva (Paippalada) Brahmana.
Aitareya Aranyaka There are five chapters each of which is even considered as a full Aranyaka. The first one deals with the regimen known as ‘Mahaa-vrata’. The explanations are both ritualistic as well as speculative. The second one has six chapters of which the first three are about ‘Praana-vidyaa’ – meaning, Prana, the Vital Air that constitutes the life-breath of a living body is also the life-breath of all mantras, all vedas and all vedic declarations (cf. 2.2.2 of Aitareya Aranyaka). It is in this portion of the Aranyaka that one finds specific statements about how one who follows the vedic injunctions and performs the sacrifices goes to become the God of Fire, or the Sun or Air and how one who transgresses the Vedic prescriptions is born into lower levels of being, namely, as birds and reptiles. The 4th, 5th and 6th chapters of this second Aranyaka constitute what is known as
Aitareya Upanishad. The third Aranyaka in this chain of Aranyakas is also known as ‘Samhitopanishad’. This elaborates on the various ways – like pada-paatha, krama-paatha, etc. – of reciting the Vedas and the nuances of the ‘svaras’. The fourth and the fifth Aranyaka are technical and dwell respectively on the mantras known as ‘MahaanaamnI’ and the yajna known as ‘Madhyandina’.
Taittiriya Aranyaka There are ten chapters, of which, one to six form the Aranyaka proper. The first two chapters are part of the aṣṭau kāṭhakāni (the "8 Kathaka sections"), which were not native to the tradition of the Taittiriya
shakha. They were adopted from the Kāṭhaka shakha, and mostly deal with varieties of the
Agnicayana ritual and with Vedic study. Chapter 1, is a very late Vedic chapter, which even has some Puranic names; it is usually called the Āruṇa praśna for the particular styleof fire-brick piling dealt with in the text. It is also referred to as the "Surya namaskara chapter" by
South Indian Brahmins who have created a ritual of reciting it with
surya namaskara exercises after each of its 132 anuvakas. Parts of the Kaṭha version of this section has been published by L. v. Schroeder in 1898. cf. the early uncritical print by L. von Schroeder
Kaushitaki Āranyaka It is also known as Shankhyayana Aranyaka. There are fifteen chapters: Chapters 1–2 deal with the Mahavrata. Chapters 3–6 constitute the
Kaushitaki Upanishad. Chapters 7–8 are known as a Samhitopanishad. Chapter 9 presents the greatness of Prana. Chapter 10 deals with the esoteric implications of the Agnihotra ritual. All divine personalities are inherent in the Purusha, just as Agni in speech, Vayu in Prana, the Sun in the eyes, the Moon in the mind, the directions in the ears and water in the potency. The one who knows this, says the Aranyaka, and in the strength of that conviction goes about eating, walking, taking and giving, satisfies all the gods and what he offers in the fire reaches those gods in heaven. (cf.10-1). Chapter 11 prescribes several antidotes in the form of rituals for warding off death and sickness. It also details the effects of dreams. Chapter 12 elaborates the fruits of prayer. Chapter 13 treats more philosophical matters and says one must first attitudinally discard one's bodily attachment and then carry on the ‘shravana’, manana and nidhidhyasana and practise all the disciplines of penance, faith, self-control etc. Chapter 14 gives just two mantras. One extols the “I am Brahman” mantra and says it is the apex of all Vedic mantras. The second mantra declares that one who does not get the meaning of mantras but only recites vedic chants is like an animal which does not know the value of the weight it carries. Chapter 15 gives a long genealogy of spiritual teachers from
Brahma down to Guna-Sankhayana.
Brihad-Aranyaka The Aranyaka of the Shukla Yajurveda is part of its Brahmana: Satapatha Br. 14,1–3 in the Madhyandina version. Like the Taittiriya and Katha Aranyakas it exclusively deals with the Parvargya ritual, and is followed by the
Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad (Satapatha Br. 14.4–9). == Rahasya Brahmanas ==