Pratishakhya ( sa, प्रातिशाख्य '), also known as Parsada ('), are Vedic-era manuals devoted to the precise and consistent pronunciation of words. These works were critical to the preservation of the Vedic texts, as well as the accurate ritual recitations and analyses of the

Veda upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

s, particularly when isolated words interact after they have been joined in ''sandhi'' procedures. Each Vedic school (''parisad'', or ''parsad'') and geographic branch (''sakha'') developed their own manuals, explaining why they have come to be called ''parsada'' or ''pratisakhya''. The manuals are parts of the

Shiksha ''Shiksha'' ( sa, शिक्षा IAST: ISO: Śikṣā) is a Sanskrit word, which means "instruction, lesson, learning, study of skill".Sir Monier Monier-WilliamsSiksha A DkSanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arr ...

Vedanga The Vedanga ( sa, वेदाङ्ग ', "limbs of the Veda") are six auxiliary disciplines of Hinduism that developed in ancient times and have been connected with the study of the Vedas:James Lochtefeld (2002), "Vedanga" in The Illustrated Enc ...

: works dealing with the

phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

aspects of the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

language used in the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...

. Each Veda has a ''pratishakhya'' for each school. Many ''pratishakhyas'' have survived into the modern age, and, according to Hartmut Scharfe, all except one (''Taittiriya pratisakhya'') are based upon "recitation of isolated words". Pratishakhyas begin with word-for-word recitation, and then supply rules for the continuous recitation of texts. Though all the manuals have the same basic goal, they differ significantly in how each achieves that goal. They were composed centuries before the work of

Pāṇini , era = ;;6th–5th century BCE , region = Indian philosophy , main_interests = Grammar, linguistics , notable_works = ' ( Classical Sanskrit) , influenced= , notable_ideas=Descriptive linguistics (Devanaga ...

, but there is evidence in these manuals that many ''pratisakhya'' evolved and were revised over time by the respective school to their regional preferences. The few manuscripts of the ''pratisakhyas'' that have survived into the modern era are likely from the 500 to 150 BCE period. The phonetic aspects of ''Vajasaneyi Pratisakhya'' is closest to those found in the classic Sanskrit grammar work of Pāṇini.

Rig Veda

One of the Pratisakhyas treats of the phonetic aspects of the Rig Veda. The work is generally ascribed to Shaunaka, an ancient rishi (sage). It has been translated into German by

Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...

. A French translation done by M. Regnier is also available, as is an English translation by Mangal Deva Shastri.

Yajur Veda

There are two treatises dealing with phonetic and related aspects of the Yajur Veda. The first, commonly known as the ''Krishna (Black) Yajur Veda'', is known as ''Taittriya Pratisakhya''. Its English translation done by Professor Whitney is also available, and the same has been published in the Journal of the

American Oriental Society The American Oriental Society was chartered under the laws of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the oldest learned societies in America, and is the oldest devoted to a particular field of scholarship. The Society encourages basi ...

. The second treatise is commonly called the ''Shukla (White) Yajur Veda'', and is known as ''Vajasaneyi Pratisakhya''. The later is believed to have been written by Katyayana. Its translation done by Weber is available.

Atharva Veda

The treatise pertaining to the phonetic and other aspects of

Atharva Veda The Atharva Veda (, ' from ' and ''veda'', meaning "knowledge") is the "knowledge storehouse of ''atharvāṇas'', the procedures for everyday life".Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and G ...

is also ascribed to the sage Saunaka, and derives its name from him: the ''Saunakiya Chaturadhyayika'', which means the Book having four chapters by Saunak. Whitney has translated the work into English.

Sama Veda

The name of the pratisakhya belonging to Sama Veda is Rk Tantra. Most of the mantras in Sama Veda are either from the Rk Veda or adapted from it, though sung differently. Hence the name Rk Tantra. A critical edition of a ''Samaveda pratisakhya'' was published by Surya Kanta Shastri in 1933.S S Shastri (1933)
Rktantram: A Pratisakhya of the Samaveda
Mehar Chand Lachhman Das, Lahore

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