Shatapatha Brahmana in the context of "Yajna"

Matsya (Sanskrit: मत्स्य, lit. 'fish') is the fish avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. Often described as the first of Vishnu's ten primary avatars, Matsya is described to have rescued the first man, Manu, from a great deluge. Matsya may be depicted as a giant fish, often golden in color, or anthropomorphically with the torso of Vishnu connected to the rear half of a fish.

The earliest account of Matsya is found in the Shatapatha Brahmana, where Matsya is not associated with any particular deity. The fish-saviour later merges with the identity of Brahma in post-Vedic era, and still later, becomes regarded with Vishnu. The legends associated with Matsya expand, evolve, and vary in Hindu texts. These legends have embedded symbolism, where a small fish with Manu's protection grows to become a big fish, and the fish saves the man who would be the progenitor of the next race of mankind. In later versions, Matsya slays a demon named Hayagriva who steals the Vedas, and thus is lauded as the saviour of the scriptures.

The Lunar dynasty (IAST: Candravaṃśa) is a lineage or dynasty which claims to be descended from Chandra or Soma (the Hindu lunar deity).

According to the Shatapatha Brahmana, Pururavas was the son of Budha (himself often described as the son of Soma) and the gender-switching deity Ila (born as the daughter of Manu). Pururavas's great-grandson was Yayati, who had five sons named Yadu, Turvasu, Druhyu, Anu, and Puru. These seem to be the names of five Vedic tribes as described in the Vedas.

Kāṇva Shākha (Sanskrit:काण्व शाखा) is the oldest shakha ("branch" or "recension") of Shukla Yajurveda. The Kānva tradition is followed mostly in Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Karnataka, parts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. The Kānva Shākha was quite prevalent around the period of Shankaracharya's birth. The parampara āchārya (main founding guru) for Shukla Yajurveda was sage Yajnavalkya.

The main Samhita for Kānva Shākha is the Kanva Samhita and the corresponding brahmana is Kanva Shatapatha Brahmana. The main upanishads of the Kānva Shākha are Ishavasya Upanishad and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The Shrauta Sutra for Kānva Shākha is Katyayana Shrauta Sutra and the Grhya Sutra is Paraskara Grhya Sutram.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (Sanskrit: बृहदारण्यकोपनिषद्, IAST: Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad) is one of the Principal Upanishads and one of the first Upanishadic scriptures of Hinduism. A key scripture to various schools of Hinduism, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is tenth in the Muktikā or "canon of 108 Upanishads".

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is estimated to have been composed about 7th–6th century BCE, excluding some parts estimated to have been composed after the Chandogya Upanishad. The Sanskrit language text is contained within the Shatapatha Brahmana, which is itself a part of the Shukla Yajur Veda.The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is a treatise on Ātman (Self), includes passages on metaphysics, ethics, and a yearning for knowledge that influenced various Indian religions, ancient and medieval scholars, and attracted secondary works such as those by Adi Shankara and Madhvacharya.