Khila Suktas (खिलसूक्तानि)

The Khila Suktas (Samskrit : खिलसूक्तानि) are a collection of 98 mantras of the Rigveda, recorded in the Shakala shakha. They are late additions to the text of the Rigveda, but still belong to the "Mantra" period of Vedic times. Many scholars have referred to the suktas instead of the mantras.

The Rigveda samhita has according to Shakala Shaka 1017 mantras. Shakala samhita is well known, widely referred and a definite form of the five shakas that are said to exist according to Charanavyuha. The other shakas did not differ much from Shakala except an omission or addition of certain suktas along with rearrangement. The additional mantras are called Khilani or Khila Suktas which have traditionally come down even though they cannot be attributed to any shaka and it is customary to publish them as a supplement to the Rigveda.

G. Buhler was the first to unearth the Khila suktas from the old manuscripts of Rigveda written in ancient Kashmiri Pandu lipi. These suktas were compiled after the 10th mandala. According to Max Muller, the number of Khila suktas are 32, while Aufrecht put them as 25. Pt. Satvalekar has included 32 khila-suktas in his edition of the Rigveda samhita. Shri. Chintamani Ganesh Kashikar published an edition where he placed 86 Suktas in five adhyayas along with the different versions.

Meaning of Khila (खिल)

According to Dr. Kapildev Dvivedi, the term Khila is used to represent - Parishishta (a supplement) or a Prakshipta (an insert or interpolation). Those aspects or mantras that are not present in the original text and based on the requirement are collected from other sources are termed Khila (खिल). Such mantras are sought from other shakas of the Veda are termed Khila. This definition applies to any textual insertions. For example, Harivamsha parva is the Khila of Mahabharata (a prakshipta). In the Rigveda samhita of Shakala, a few mantras from Baskhala shaka samhita are grouped under the section of Khila suktas.