Shakala Shakha


Śākala Shākha is the oldest shakha of Rigveda. The Śākala tradition is mainly followed in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Even though Mahābhāṣya of Patanjali refers to twenty one Shakhas of rigveda; according to Śaunaka's Caraṇa-vyuha there are five shakhas for the Rig Veda, the Śākala, Bāṣkala, Aśvalāyana, Śaṅkhāyana, and Māṇḍukāyana of which only the Śākala and Bāṣkala and very few of Asvalayana are now extant. The only complete recension of this text known today is of the Shakala School. As far as Rigveda is concerned only Shakala Shakha alone remains alive out of 21 which existed at one time. There is a claim that Śaṅkhāyana Shakha is still known for few Vedapathis in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat but this is not certain.
The main Samhita for Śākala Shākha is the Shakala Samhita and the corresponding brahmana is Aitareya Brahmana. The main Upanishad of the Śākala Shākha is Aitareya Upanishad. The Shrauta Sutra for Śākala Shākha is Ashvalayana Shrauta Sutra and the Grihya Sutra is Ashvalayana Grhya Sutra. The Aranyaka of Śākala Shākha is Aitareya Aranyaka.

Shiksha

Shiksha as a term for phonetics, is first used in Taittirīya Upanishad, which gives its various components which include Varna and Svara. The Pratishakhyas are among the earlier texts of Shiksha. Pratishakhya literally means " belonging to each Shakha". In Rigveda the Pratishakhya available today is ascribed to Shaunaka. This is also known as Shakala Pratishakhya and belongs to Shaishiriya Shaka, a branch of "Shakala Shakha".