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{{Hindu scriptures}}
The '''Gopatha Brahmana''' (''{{lang-sa|गोपथ ब्राह्मण}}'', ''{{IAST|Gopatha Brāhmaṇa}}'') is the only [[Brahmana]], a genre of the prose texts describing the [[Vedic]] rituals, associated with the [[Atharvaveda]]. The text is associated with both the ''Shaunaka'' and the ''Paippalada'' recensions of the ''Atharvaveda''.<ref name="vt">{{cite book|last=Patyal|first=Hukam Chand|title=Vedic Texts, A Revision: Prof. C.G. Kashikar Felicitation Volume|editor=T.N. Dharmadhikari & others|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|location=Delhi|year=1990|pages=10–5|chapter=Gopatha Brahmana|isbn= 81-208-0806-1|url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Z5AydkGbl5gC&pg=PA10&dq=Gopatha+Brahmana&ei=y-5bS9nvIo_OlQTA8NyxBA&cd=7#v=onepage&q=Gopatha%20Brahmana&f=false}}</ref> This text and the short ''Brahmana''s of the [[Samaveda]] are the latest amongst the [[Vedic]] texts belonging to this genre.<ref>Pargiter, F.E. (1972). ''Ancient Bharat's Historical Tradition'', Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p.326.</ref> The text is divided into two parts, the ''purva-bhaga'' or ''purva-brahmana'' comrprising five ''prapathaka''s and the ''uttara-bhaga'' or ''uttara-brahmana'' comprising six ''prapathaka''s. Each ''prapathaka'' is further divided into ''kandika''s.<ref name="vt"/> The ''purva-bhaga'' comrprises 135 ''kandika''s and the ''uttara-bhaga'' comprises 123 ''kandikas''.

==Editions==
The first printed edition of the ''Gopatha Brahmana'' was edited by [[Rajendralal Mitra]] and Harachandra Vidyabhushan. It was published by the [[Asiatic Society]], [[Calcutta]] as a part of their ''Bibliotheca Indica'' series (Nos. 215 and 252) in 1872. This edition was full of printing errors, denounced as a "marvel of editorial ineptitude" by Bloomfield.<ref name="vt"/> The next printed edition was edited by Jivananda Vidyasagar. It was published from Calcutta in 1891. This edition was almost same as the earlier edition by the Asiatic Society. Dutch scholar Dieuke Gaastra brought a critical edition with an exhaustive introduction in [[German language|German]] from Leiden in 1919. This edition was based on six manuscripts. Pandit Kshemkarandas Trivedi published an edition with [[Hindi language|Hindi]] translation and [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] commentary from [[Allahabad]] in 1924. The second edition of it was published from Allahabad in 1977. This edition was also based on the Asiatic Society and Vidyasagar editions. In 1980, Vijayapal Vidyavaridhi brought out an edition of this text. His edition, published by Ramlal Kapur Trust from Bahalgarh, [[Haryana]]. This edition was based on Gaastra's edition.<ref name="vt"/>

===Khanda section===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Khandas|| Prapathakalu|| kandikas|| Khandas|| Prapathakalu||  kandikas
|-

| I  (purva-bhaga )       || 1   ||  39 ||  II (uttara-bhaga )  ||     1    ||  26    
|-
|        ||    2   ||  24    ||      ||  2  ||   24
|-
|         || 3  ||   23      ||    ||  3    ||    28
|-
|      ||    4     ||  24     ||    || 4  ||    19
|-
|        ||   5       ||  25    ||   ||  5  ||   15
|-
|        ||          ||      ||   ||  6  ||   16
|-
|   ||  Total Khandas ||  '''135'''  +  ||  || Total Khandas ||  '''123''' = '''258'''
|}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*[[Maurice Bloomfield]], ''The Position of the {{IAST|Gopatha-Brāhmaṇa}} in Vedic Literature'', [[Journal of the American Oriental Society]] (1898).

==External links==
*[http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil/1_sanskr/1_veda/2_bra/gopbra_u.htm GRETIL etext]