The 's (Devanagari: ) are part of the Hindu śruti literature. They are commentaries on the four Vedas, detailing the proper performance of rituals. Each Vedic shakha (school) had its own Brahmana, and it isn't known how many of these texts existed during the Mahajanapadas period. A total of 19 Brahmanas are extant at least in their entirety: two associated with the Rigveda, six with the Yajurveda, ten with the Samaveda and one with the Atharvaveda. Additionally, there are a handful of fra… (More on Brahmana)