Paippalāda

Paippalāda Maharshi is a great ṛshi. In the Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva (Chapter 196), he is the father of Kauśika, in the Jāpakopākhyāna. He is named as the founder of the Pippalāda śākhā (branch) of the Atharvaveda, one of the major recensions of the Atharvaveda. He is known as a great ṛshi whose line of Veda study was renowned across the tradition. His son Kauśika carried on his gift of strong tapas through one thousand years of unbroken japa (repeating a mantra).

Lineage and importance

Paippalāda is the founding ṛshi of the Pippalāda śākhā, the Paippalāda recension of the Atharvaveda. This śākhā has its own collection of mantras and arranges the Atharvaveda sūktas (hymns) differently from the Śaunaka recension, which is better known.

In the Jāpakopākhyāna, Paippalāda is named only as the father of Kauśika. Kauśika had “mastered the vedas with all six aṅgas (vedāṅgas)”. This shows that he was born into a line of deep Vedic learning and trained in it. Paippalāda’s own mastery of the Atharvaveda and its related studies is the background to Kauśika’s great tapas (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 196).

The Paippalāda recension

The Paippalāda-śākhā of the Atharvaveda is a separate recension of the Atharvaveda. It has mantras that are not found in the Śaunaka recension. The ṛshi Paippalāda is held to be the first teacher of this line.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapter 196 (Jāpakopākhyāna)