It has two major recensions, namely Shukla Yajurveda (SYV) Samhitā or Vājasaneyi Samhitā and the Krişhņa Yajurveda (KYV) Samhitā or Taittirīya Samhitā. These two recensions are substantially different from one another. There are also other recensions like the Khaţaka Samhitā, Kapişhţhala Samhitā, and Maitrāyaņi Samhitā which are also closer to the Taittirīya Samhitā. For textual matters, click references.

The words Krişhņa and Shukla have many meanings, but the meaning for Krişhņa is ‘mixed’ or ‘a mixture’; the meaning for Shukla is ‘unmixed’ or ‘plain’ or ‘white’. What is the mixture? Recall that every one of the four Veda Samhitās has attached to it, one or more Brāhmaņa books. A Brāhmaņa book gives some of the details of the rituals associated with verses in the Yajurveda Samhitā or the explanation of the rituals. For instance, Aitareya Brāhmaņa is associated with Rigveda Samhitā. However in the Krişhņa Yajurveda Samhitā, the explanatory verses from the associated Brāhmaņa, the Taittirīya Brāhmaņa were inserted into the Yajurveda Samhitā text itself presumably as a help for the persons performing the ritual. Hence Krişhņa Yajurveda Samhitā is a mixture of the mantra verses and explanatory Brāhmaņa verses.

This mixing up had far-reaching consequences since some of the champions of the KYV Samhita declared that the sole purpose of the Veda mantrās was for rituals and these Veda verses have no other deeper meaning.

Often Krişhņa Yajurveda is translated as ‘black Yajurveda’, somehow suggesting that it deals with black magic. Nothing can be farther from truth.

Shukla Yajurveda Samhitā has no mixture and its associated Brāhmaņa book is the Shatapatha Brāhmaņa

The bifurcation of the Yajurveda into Shukla and Krişhņa had far-reaching consequences. There is an anecdote in Vişhņu purāņa (3.5) explaining the bifurcation. The anecdote is symbolic and a synopsis will be given. The person to whom the Shukla Yajurveda or Vājasaneyi Samhitā was revealed was Yājňavalkya (Y) who figures prominently in the ancient Upanishads like Chhāndogya and the Bŗhadāraņyaka. Y was a student of Vaishampāyana. Apparently Y did not like the mixing the mantra verses and the Brāhmaņa verses which tended to dilute the deeper meaning of the Vedic mantrās. Hence he literally threw away the knowledge obtained from his teacher and did intense askesis on Sūrya or Spiritual Sun who revealed to him the Shukla Yajurveda - the yajus uncorrupted by the Brāhmaņa verses. A band of students under a teacher, tittiri, preserved the knowledge of Vaishampāyana and hence the Krişhņa Yajurveda is also known as Taittirīya Samhitā.

It should be emphasized that it is easy to distinguish the mantras from the inserted parts of the Brāhmaņa texts in the Taittirīya Samhitā. The practice of regarding the Vājasaneyi Samhita as the sole Yajurveda Samhitā, prevalent in some circles in Northern India, is absurd.

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