The Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa: Rituals, Myths, and the Ancient Vedic World Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa

=== '''Introduction''' ===
The Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa is particularly notable for its integration of various mythological narratives with ritual praxis (Keith, 1920; Hillebrandt, 1891). This text is also called the Śāṅkhāyana Brāhmaṇa, and its author is traditionally considered to be the sage Śāṅkhāyana (Deussen, 1906). The lineage associated with the text is explicitly mentioned in the Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa itself. 

According to this tradition, knowledge passed from Uddālaka Āruṇi to Kahola Kauṣītaki, from him to Guṇa Śāṅkhāyana, and finally to the author of the Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka (Caland, 1931). From this account, it is understood that Śāṅkhāyana was a disciple of Kauṣītaki and received this knowledge directly through the guru–śiṣya tradition (Radhakrishnan, 1953).

Śāṅkhāyana systematised and popularised this body of teaching, leading to the widespread use of the name Śāṅkhāyana Brāhmaṇa. In order to immortalise the name of his guru, he retained the designation Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa as well. Hence, both names are traditionally accepted (Keith, 1920). In a commentary on ''Caraṇavyūha'', a verse from the ''Mahārṇava'' is cited stating that the name of the Brāhmaṇa is Kauṣītaki, while the branch (''śākhā'') is Śāṅkhāyana:

“कौषीतकि ब्राह्मणं च, शाखा शांखायनी स्थिता” (Weber, 1850–1869).