Atharvaveda
Also known as: Atharvaveda Samhita, Atharva Veda, Brahmaveda
The Atharvaveda is the fourth Veda, a collection of hymns, charms, healing spells, and royal rites reflecting domestic, medical, and magical concerns alongside cosmogonic speculation.
Description
Distinct from the sacrificial focus of the Rigveda and Samaveda, the Atharvaveda gathers hymns and charms for everyday life—healing illness, averting curses, securing love or prosperity, and protecting households and kings. It also includes speculative and cosmological poems such as the Skambha and Bhumi hymns. Preserved primarily in the Śaunakīya and Paippalāda recensions, the text reveals layers from folk-priestly practices to refined theological reflection. Its associated ritual handbooks (notably the Kauśika and Vaitāna Sūtras) systematize rites for medicine, exorcism, and statecraft, including coronation ceremonies. The collection thus bridges household ritual, early Indian medicine, and Vedic theology.
Historiography
The Atharvaveda survives chiefly in two recensions: Śaunakīya (dominant in transmission) and Paippalāda (long fragmentary, with manuscripts preserved in Kashmir and Odisha and critically edited in the 20th–21st centuries). It is linked to ritual sūtras such as the Kauśika (domestic/therapeutic rites) and Vaitāna (solemn offerings). Its status as a “fourth Veda” is already implied in late Vedic literature and fully accepted in classical Hinduism. Modern editions and translations (Whitney, Griffith; later Paippalāda critical work) underpin contemporary study.
Date Notes
Composition and transmission were oral; two principal recensions (Śaunakīya and Paippalāda). Written attestations are much later than oral formation.
Major Characters
- Agni
- Indra
- Varuna
- Rudra
- Soma
- Yama
Myths
- Spells and Healing Charms
- Household and Life-Cycle Rites
- Royal Consecration and Power
- Cosmological Hymns
- Exorcisms and Protective Rites
Facts
- Comprises 20 books (kāṇḍas), c. 730 hymns, and about 5,987 verses in the Śaunakīya recension.
- Preserves two principal recensions: Śaunakīya and Paippalāda.
- Focuses on healing, protection, domestic magic, and royal/state rituals in addition to theology.
- Contains famous speculative hymns such as the Skambha hymn and the Bhumi (Earth) hymn.
- Associated ritual texts include the Kauśika Sūtra (domestic/therapeutic rites) and Vaitāna Sūtra (solemn sacrifices).
- Provides early evidence for Indian medical and magical practices, including charms against fever and poisons.
- Includes rites for coronation and protection of kings, reflecting statecraft concerns.
- Later Vedic and classical sources recognize it as the ‘fourth’ Veda.
- The Paippalāda tradition was substantially recovered from manuscripts in Kashmir and Odisha in modern scholarship.
- Frequently personifies ailments and abstractions (Fever, Death, Time) as powers to be appeased or repelled.