Drahyayana Sutra, or Drahyayana Srautasutra, is text prescribing the samana chants to be used in Vedic studies. It is the Srauta text of the Ranayaniya sub-school of Sama Veda. The followers of Drahyayana Sutra are found in South India, where their Samhita, Ranayaniya, also flourished.
Drahyayana Srautasutra is divided into patalas, khandas, and sutras. The text has thirty one patalas, each patala, has four khandas, the 20th, 22nd and 28th patalas have five khandas, the 27th has six; in all there are 129 khandas. Dhanvin further divided the whole work into three dasakas, each dasaka comprising ten patalas.
The contents of Drahyayana Sutra are as follows – Jyotishtoma (Patalas 1-7), Gavamayana (8-11), Brahmatva (12-15), ahinas (16-21), ekahas (17-26), Ashvamedha (27) and Sattras (28-31)
Latyayana Srautasutra of the Kauthuma School and Drahyayana Srautasutra are identical with respect to their text and contents. There are some minor differences here and there in the division of the text and also in the division of some sutras.
Drahyayana Sutra is slightly altered and probably much later redaction. In Latyayana Sutra, longer sutras of Drahyayana Sutra, are divided into two or more smaller sutras, which were later on added to the original sutra. Both these texts might have been taken from the archetypal sutra before the bifurcation of the Kauthuma and Ranayaniya shakhas.
Drahyayana Sutra, with the commentary of Dhanvin, was prepared by J. N. Reuter, London, 1904 (this was never completed; Chapter I-X were formerly in the possession of Caland, later in the possession of Utrecht University Library).
Dhanvina’s commentary often cities various Vedic Srauta texts. Rudraskhanda in Audgatrasarasamgraha mentions another commentary by Magha Svamin on Drahyayana Sutra.
Drahyayana Sutra Chapter XI – XV were published by Raghu Vira in Journal of Vedic Studies I, Lahore, 1934. The entire text with commentary of Dhanvin was edited by B. R. Sharma, Allahabad, 1983. Drahyayana Sutra I-V was translated by Asko Parpola.