Yajur Veda is one of the four great works of Hinduism, the Vedas. It is believed to have been composed between 1,400 and 1000 BCE. The Yajurveda contains the liturgy or the mantras and the details of their performance of the Vedic period.

The Samhitas of Yajur Veda is divided into two parts: Shukla or white Yajur Veda and Krishna or black Yajur Veda. Shukla Yajur Veda has a separate Brahmana text written as Shatapatha Brahmana whereas the Krishna Yajur Veda has the Brahmana prose discussions.

Shukla Yajur Veda is divided into two parts. One is Vajasaneyi Madhyandiniya and the other is the Vajasaneyi Kanva. Both are known as Vajasaneyi-Samhita. Vajasaneyi Madhyandiniya is popular in North India, northern parts Nasik of Maharashtra and Gujarat whereas, Vajasaneyi Kanva is popular in southern parts of Nasik, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The Vajasaneyi-Samhita in Yajur Veda has forty chapters along with their formulas used in the rituals. Few of the rituals of the Samhita are New and Full Moon sacrifices, Somayajna, Agnihotra, Rajasuya, and Vajapeya. Sautramani is a ritual present in this Samhita is preventing the effects of excessive Soma-drinking. Its final chapter is the famous Isha Upanishad.

Krishna Yajur Veda is divided into four parts. They are: Taittiriya Samhita, Maitrayani Samhita, Caraka-Katha Samhita and the last one is Kapisthala-Katha Samhita. All these parts are associated with a brahmana that explains about Panchala, area of Kurukshetra, Madra and the parts of southern Punjab respectively.

The Taittiriya Samhita or Taittiriya Shakha is considered as to be the best known and best preserved portions of Yajur Veda. It consists of 7 books that are again subdivided in chapters. These subdivided chapters are further subdivided into individual sections known as anuvakas.

There are two major sacrifices present in Yajur Veda. They are Darsapurnamasa and Asvamedha or the horse-sacrifice. Darsapurnamasa is performed at new and full moon and in Asvamedha process 609 animals of various descriptions, domestic and wild, were tied to 21 sacrificial posts.

Some individual hymns in this Samhita are very much popular in Hinduism such as the Gayatri mantra. The Taittiriya Samhita of the Krishna Yajurveda is the most popular Shakha in South India. According to Hindu mythology, it is believed that Vaisampayana, the disciple of Vyasa had received Yajur Veda from him. Once he committed an offence and uttered some nuisance on Yajnavalkya, the other disciple. As a result Yajnavalkya poured out all Yajus texts he had learned from Vaisampayan. The other disciples picked up these tainted texts, and retained them as Taittiriyas. But Yajnavalkya, prayed to the Sun to obtain the other Yajur texts, and had granted the wish - `to have all texts that were not known to his teacher.`

The first volume of Taittiriya Samhita of Yajur Veda coupled with the commentary of Sayana or Madhava was first published in Bibliotheca Indica, in the period of 1860- 1865 by Baboo Rajendralala Mitra of Kolkata.