Yajnavalka

Once upon a time, the famous rishis decided that they would have a gathering. They also decided that whoever did not come to this gathering, would after a period of seven days commit the crime of killing a brahmana. All the sages came to this gathering, but Vaishampayana did not. After seven days, Vaishampayana stepped on his nephew and killed him by mistake. This was a terrible sin and had to be atoned for.

Vaishampayana had divided the Yajur Veda into twenty-seven parts and had distributed these parts among various disciples. One of these disciples was Yajnavalka. Vaishmpayana called his disciples together and said, “I have committed the crime of killing a brahmana. Please arrange for a sacrifice so that I might atone for this sin.

On hearing this Yajnavalka said, “There is no need to bother about these other disciples. They do not have much power. I will arrange for the sacrifice myself.”