SB 12.6.64 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

देवरातसुत: सोऽपि छर्दित्वा यजुषां गणम् । ततो गतोऽथ मुनयो दद‍ृशुस्तान् यजुर्गणान् ॥ ६४ ॥ यजूंषि तित्तिरा भूत्वा तल्ल‍ोलुपतयाददु: । तैत्तिरीया इति यजु:शाखा आसन् सुपेशला: ॥ ६५ ॥

Verse text

devarāta-sutaḥ so ’pi charditvā yajuṣāṁ gaṇam tato gato ’tha munayo dadṛśus tān yajur-gaṇān yajūṁṣi tittirā bhūtvā tal-lolupatayādaduḥ taittirīyā iti yajuḥ- śākhā āsan su-peśalāḥ

Synonyms

devarāta — sutaḥ — the son of Devarāta (Yājṣavalkya) ; saḥ — he ; api — indeed ; charditvā — vomiting ; yajuṣām — of the Yajur Veda ; gaṇam — the collected mantras ; tataḥ — from there ; gataḥ — having gone ; atha — then ; munayaḥ — the sages ; dadṛśuḥ — saw ; tān — those ; yajuḥ — gaṇān — yajur-mantras ; yajūṁsi — these yajur-mantras ; tittirāḥ — partridges ; bhūtvā — becoming ; tat — for those mantras ; lolupatayā — with greedy desire ; ādaduḥ — picked them up ; taittirīyāḥ — known as Taittirīya ; iti — thus ; yajuḥ — śākhāḥ — branches of the Yajur Veda ; āsan — came into being ; su — peśalāḥ — most beautiful .

Translation

Yājṣavalkya, the son of Devarāta, then vomited the mantras of the Yajur Veda and went away from there. The assembled disciples, looking greedily upon these yajur hymns, assumed the form of partridges and picked them all up. These divisions of the Yajur Veda therefore became known as the most beautiful Taittirīya-saṁhitā, the hymns collected by partridges [tittirāḥ].

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Yājṣavalkya, the son of Devarāta, then vomited the mantras of the Yajur Veda and went away from there. The assembled disciples, looking greedily upon these hymns, assumed the form of partridges and picked them all up. These divisions of the Yajur Veda therefore became known as the most beautiful Taittirīya-saṁhitā, the hymns collected by partridges (tittirāḥ). Yajṣavalkya was the son of Devarāta. Since it was improper for brāhmaṇas to take something which was vomited, they became partridges and received those verses. Therefore the saṁhitā is called Taittirīya, “coming from partridges.”

Purport

According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, it is improper for a brāhmaṇa to collect what has been vomited, and so the powerful brāhmaṇa disciples of Vaiśampāyana assumed the form of tittiras, partridges, and collected the valuable mantras.