Hiranyakeshin

(4th c. B.C.E.?) Sage, writer, and commentator, also considered a disciple of the
writer Apastamba. Apastamba is the
author of a type of text known as a Kalpa
Sutra. He is only one of three authors,
along with Baudhayana and
Hiranyakeshin, whose surviving works
contain all three elements prescribed for
a Kalpa Sutra: prescriptions for Vedic rituals (Shrauta Sutras), for domestic rites
(Grhya Sutras), and for appropriate
human behavior (Dharma Sutras).
All three of these men belonged to
the same school, the Taittiriya school of
the Black Yajur Veda. According to tradition, Baudhayana was the oldest,
Apastamba his disciple, and
Hiranyakeshin Apastamba’s disciple.
This chronology is supported by the
texts themselves, since Baudhayana’s
text is much less organized than the others, and more archaic in its language.