The Atharvaveda (अथर्ववेद) is the “knowledge storehouse of atharvāṇas, the procedures for everyday life”. The text is the fourth Veda and is a late addition to the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism. The Atharvaveda was likely compiled as a Veda contemporaneously with Samaveda and Yajurveda, or about 1200 BCE – 1000 BCE. Along with the Samhita layer of text, the Atharvaveda includes a Brahmana text and a final layer of the text that covers philosophical speculations. The latter layer of the Atharvaveda text includes three primary Upanishads, influential to various schools of Hindu philosophy. These include the Mundaka Upanishad, the Mandukya Upanishad, and the Prashna Upanishad.

What is Atharvaveda?

Atharvaveda occupies a unique position among the four Vedas. The other three Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, and Samaveda) deal with matters of another world, the gods, nature, and the supernatural, while Atharvaveda is more worldly. It seeks to solve the problems of this world and its common people. It deals with topics like leading a long and healthy life, avoiding sorrow, warding off illness, vanquishing or winning over the enemy, etc. Atharvaveda presents a detailed description of the lifestyle of a very early stage of human society, which has just entered the agricultural stage. The importance of animal wealth is cows, oxen, and horses. New kingdoms are being established. Men want to live happy healthy lives for up to one hundred years. 

Key features of Atharvaveda

There are distinctive features of the fourth Veda that talks more about the following topics in detail.

• Penances
• Sacred rites for prolonging life
• Statecraft
• Diseases and their cure
• Black Magic
• Trade & Commerce
• Rites for fulfilling one’s desires
• Propitiatory Rites

Atharvaveda Etymology 

The Veda may be named, states Monier Williams, after the mythical priest Atharvan who was first to develop prayers to fire, offer Soma, and composed “formulas and spells intended to counteract diseases and calamities”. The name Atharvaveda, states Laurie Patton, is for the text being “Veda of the Atharvāṇas”.

Michael Witzel states the etymology of Atharvan is Proto Indo-Iranian *atharwan “[ancient] priest, sorcerer”, and it is cognate to Avestan āθrauuan “priest” and possibly related to Tocharian *athr, “superior force”. The Atharvaveda is also occasionally referred to as Bhrgvangirasah and Brahmaveda, after Bhrigu and Brahma respectively.

Atharvaveda Dating

The Atharvaveda is dated by Flood at ca. 900 BCE, while Michael Witzel gives a dating at, or slightly after, c. 1200/1000 BCE.

The ancient Indian tradition initially recognized only three Vedas. The Rigveda, verse 3.12.9.1 of Taittiriya Brahmana, verse 5.32-33 of Aitareya Brahmana, and other Vedic era texts mention only three Vedas. The acceptance of the Atharvanas hymns and traditional folk practices was slow, and it was accepted as another Veda much later than the first three, by both orthodox and heterodox traditions of Indian philosophies. The early Buddhist Nikaya texts, for example, do not recognize Atharvaveda as the fourth Veda and make references to only three Vedas. 

The priests who practiced the Atharvaveda were considered to be the lowest tier of Brahmins, in comparison to the priests who practiced the Rigveda, Samaveda, or Yajurveda. The stigma against Atharvaveda priests has continued in Odisha well into the modern day.

Atharvaveda Text

The Atharvaveda is a collection of 20 books, with a total of 730 hymns of about 6,000 stanzas. The text is, stated Patrick Olivelle and other scholars, a historical collection of beliefs and rituals addressing practical issues of the daily life of the Vedic society, and it is not a liturgical Yajurveda-style collection.

Recensions

The Caraṇavyuha, a later era Sanskrit text, states that the Atharvaveda had nine shakhas, or schools: paippalāda, stauda, mauda, śaunakīya, jājala, jalada, brahmavada, devadarśa, and cāraṇavaidyā.

Of these, only the Shaunakiya recension, and the more recently discovered manuscripts of Paippalāda recension have survived. The Paippalāda edition is more ancient. The two recensions differ in how they are organized, as well as in content. For example, the Book 10 of Paippalada’s recension is more detailed and observed carefully not doing a single mistake, more developed, and more conspicuous in describing monism, the concept of “oneness of Brahman, all life forms and the world”.

Organization of Atharvaveda

The Atharvaveda Samhita originally was organized into 18 books (Kāṇḍas), and the last two were added later. These books are arranged neither by subject nor by authors (as is the case with the other Vedas), but by the length of the hymns. Each book generally has hymns of about a similar number of verses, and the surviving manuscripts label the book with the shortest hymns as Book 1, and then in increasing order (a few manuscripts do the opposite). Most of the hymns are poetic and set to different meters, but about a sixth of the book is prose.

The Srautasutra texts Vaitāna Sūtra and the Kauśika Sūtra are attached to the Atharvaveda Shaunaka edition, as are a supplement of Atharvan Prayascitthas, two Pratishakhyas, and a collection of Parisisthas. For the Paippalada edition of Atharvaveda, the corresponding texts were Agastya and Paithinasi Sutras but these are lost or yet to be discovered.

Atharvaveda Contents

Veda of magical formulas

The Atharvaveda is sometimes called the “Veda of magical formulas”, an epithet declared to be incorrect by other scholars. The Samhita layer of the text likely represents a developing 2nd millennium BCE tradition of magico-religious rites to address superstitious anxiety, spells to remove maladies believed to be caused by demons, and herbs- and nature-derived potions as medicine. 

Many books of the Atharvaveda Samhita are dedicated to rituals without magic and to theosophy. The text, states Kenneth Zysk, is one of oldest surviving records of the evolutionary practices in religious medicine and reveals the “earliest forms of folk healing of Indo-European antiquity”.

Charms, magic spells, and incantations

The Atharvaveda Samhita contains hymns many of which were charms, magic spells, and incantations meant to be pronounced by the person who seeks some benefit, or more often by a sorcerer who would say it on his or her behalf. The most frequent goal of these hymns, charms, and spells was the long life of a loved one or recovery from some illness.

In these cases, the affected would be given substances such as a plant (leaf, seed, root) and an amulet. Some magic spells were for soldiers going to war with the goal of defeating the enemy, others for anxious lovers seeking to remove rivals or to attract the lover who is less than interested, some for success at a sporting event, in economic activity, for the bounty of cattle and crops, or removal of petty pest bothering a household. 

In contrast with the other Vedas

The contents of the Atharvaveda contrast with the other Vedas. The 19th-century Indologist Weber summarized the contrast as follows:

The spirit of the two collections [Rigveda, Atharvaveda] is indeed widely different. In the Rigveda there breathes a lively natural feeling, a warm love for nature; while in the Atharva there prevails, on the contrary, only an anxious dread of her evil spirits and their magical powers. In the Rigveda we find the people in a state of free activity and independence; in the Atharva we see it bound in the fetters of the hierarchy and superstition. — Albrecht Weber, 

Jan Gonda cautions that it would be incorrect to label Atharvaveda Samhita as a mere compilation of magical formulas, witchcraft, and sorcery. While such verses are indeed present in the Samhita layer, a significant portion of the Samhita text are hymns for domestic rituals without magic or spells, and some are theosophical speculations such as “all Vedic gods are One”. Additionally, the non-Samhita layers of the Atharvaveda text include a Brahmana and several influential Upanishads.

Samhita

Surgical and medical treatment

The Atharvaveda includes mantras and verses for treating a variety of ailments. For example, the verses in hymn 4.15 of the recently discovered Paippalada version of the Atharvaveda, discuss how to deal with an open fracture, and how to wrap the wound with Rohini plant (Ficus Infectoria, native to India):

— Atharvaveda 4.15, Paippalada Edition

Charms against fever, jaundice, and diseases

Numerous hymns of the Atharvaveda are prayers and incantations wishing a child or loved one to get over some sickness and become healthy again, along with comforting the family members. The Vedic era assumption was that diseases are caused by evil spirits, external beings, or demonic forces who enter the body of a victim to cause sickness. Hymn 5.21 of the Paippalāda edition of the text, for example, states,

Heaven our father, and Earth our mother, Agni the men-watcher,
let them send the ten days’ fever far away from us.
O fever, these snowy mountains with Soma on their back have made the wind, the messenger, the healer for us,
Disappear from here to the Maratas.
Neither the women desire you, nor the men whosoever,
Neither a small one, nor a grown-up weeps here from desire of fever.
Do not harm our grown-up men, do not harm our grown-up women,
Do not harm our boys, do not harm our girls.
You who simultaneously discharge the balasa, cough, udraja, terrible are your missiles,
O fever, avoid us with them.

— Atharvaveda 5.21, Paippalada Edition, Translated by Alexander Lubotsky

Remedy from medicinal herbs

Several hymns in the Atharvaveda such as hymn 8.7, just like the Rigveda’s hymn 10.97, praise medicinal herbs and plants, suggesting that speculations about the medical and health value of plants and herbs were an emerging field of knowledge in ancient India. The Atharvavedic hymn states (abridged):

The tawny colored, and the pale, the variegated and the red,
the dusky tinted, and the black – all Plants we summon hitherward.
I speak to Healing Herbs spreading, and bushy, to creepers, and to those whose sheath is single,
I call for thee the fibrous, and the reed like, and branching plants, dear to Vishwa Devas, powerful, giving life to men.
The conquering strength, the power and might, which ye, victorious plants possess,
Therewith deliver this man here from this consumption, O ye Plants: so I prepare the remedy. — Atharvaveda 8.7, Shaunakiya Edition

Spells and prayers to gain a lover, spouse

The contents of Atharvaveda have been studied to glean information about the social and cultural mores in the Vedic era of India. A number of verses relate to spells for gaining a husband, or a wife, or the love of a woman, or to prevent any rivals from winning over one’s “love interest”.

May O Agni!, a suitor after our own heart come to us, may he come to this maiden with fortune!
May she be agreeable to suitors, charming at festivals, promptly obtain happiness through a husband!

As this comfortable cave, O Indra!, furnishing a safe abode hath become pleasing to all life,
thus may this woman be a favourite of fortune, beloved, not at odds with her husband!
Do thou ascend the full, inexhaustible ship of fortune;
upon this bring, hither the suitor who shall be agreeable to thee!

Bring hither by thy shouts, O lord of wealth, the suitor, bend his mind towards her;
turn thou the attention of every agreeable suitor towards her! — Atharvaveda 2.36 

Speculations on the nature of man, life, good and evil

The Atharvaveda Samhita, as with the other Vedas, includes some hymns such as 4.1, 5.6, 10.7, 13.4, 17.1, 19.53-54, with metaphysical questions on the nature of existence, man, heaven, and hell, good and evil.

Hymn 10.7 of Atharvaveda, for example, asks questions such as “what is the source of cosmic order? What and where is planted this notion of faith, holy duty, and truth? How are earth and sky held? Is there space beyond the sky? What are seasons and where do they go? Does Skambha (literally “cosmic pillar”, a synonym for Brahman) penetrate everything or just some things? Does Skambha know the future? Is Skambha the basis of Law, Devotion, and Belief? Who or what is Skambha?”

The wonderful structure of Man

(…) How many gods and which were they,
who gathered the breast, the neck bones of man?
How many disposed the two teats? who the two collar bones?
How many gathered the shoulder bones? how many the ribs?
Who brought together his two arms, saying, “he must perform heroism?”
(…) Which was the god who produced his brain, his forehead, his hindhead?
(…) Whence now in man come mishap, ruin, perdition, misery?
Accomplishment, success, non-failure? Whence thought?
What one god set sacrifice in man here?
Who set in him truth? Who untruth?
Whence death? Whence the immortal?

— Atharvaveda 10.2.4 – 10.2.14, Paippalāda Edition (Abridged),

The Atharvaveda, like other Vedic texts, states William Norman Brown, goes beyond the duality of heaven and hell and speculates on the idea of Skambha or Brahman as the all-pervasive monism. Good and evil, Sat and Asat (truth and untruth) are conceptualized differently in these hymns of Atharvaveda, and the Vedic thought, wherein these are not a dualistic explanation of the nature of creation, universe, or man, rather the text transcends these and the duality therein. 

Prayer for peace

A prayer, desiring harmony and peace. For example:

Give us agreement with our own; with strangers give us unity.
Do ye, O Asvins, in this place join us in sympathy and love.
May we agree in mind, agree in purpose; let us not fight against the heavenly spirit.
Around us rise no din of frequent slaughter, nor Indra’s arrow fly, for day is present !

— Atharvaveda 7.52, 

Brahmana

The Atharvaveda includes Gopatha Brahmana text, that goes with Atharva Samhita.

Upanishads

The Atharvaveda has three primary Upanishads embedded within it.

Mundaka Upanishad

The Mundaka Upanishad, embedded inside Atharvaveda, is a poetic-style Upanishad, with 64 verses, written in the form of mantras. However, these mantras are not used in rituals, rather they are used for teaching and meditation on spiritual knowledge. In ancient and medieval era Indian literature and commentaries, the Mundaka Upanishad is referred to as one of the Mantra Upanishads.

Through continuous pursuit of Satya (truthfulness), Tapas (perseverance, austerity), Samyajñāna (correct knowledge), and Brahmacharya, one attains Atman (Self, Soul). — Mundaka Upanishad, 3.1.5

Mandukya Upanishad

The Mandukya Upanishad is the shortest of all the Upanishads, found in the Atharvaveda text. The text discusses the syllable Om, presents the theory of four states of consciousness, and asserts the existence and nature of Atman (Soul, Self).

The Mandukya Upanishad is notable for inspiring Gaudapada’s Karika, a classic for the Vedanta school of Hinduism. Mandukya Upanishad is among the oft-cited texts on chronology and the philosophical relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism.

Prashna Upanishad

The Prashna Upanishad is from the Paippalada school of Atharvavedins. The text contains six Prashna (questions), and each is a chapter with a discussion of answers. The first three questions are profound metaphysical questions but, states Eduard Roer, do not contain any defined, philosophical answers, and are mostly embellished mythology and symbolism.

The fourth section, in contrast, contains substantial philosophy. The last two sections discuss the symbol Om and Moksha concept. The Prashna Upanishad is notable for its structure and sociological insights into the education process in ancient India.

Atharvaveda Manuscripts 

Shaunakiya text

The Shaunakiya text was published by Rudolf Roth and William Dwight Whitney in 1856, by Shankar Pandurang Pandit in the 1890s, and by Vishva Bandhu in 1960–1962. The first complete English translation was made by Ralph T.H. Griffith in 1895-96, followed shortly by Maurice Bloomfield’s translation of about one-third of the hymns in 1897. 

These were followed by a nearly complete translation (missing Book 20) with textual commentary by William Dwight Whitney, published in 1905, which is still cited in contemporary scholarship.

Paippalāda text

A corrupted and badly damaged version of the Paippalāda text was edited by Leroy Carr Barret from 1905 to 1940 from a single Kashmirian Śāradā manuscript (now in Tübingen). Durgamohan Bhattacharyya discovered palm leaf manuscripts of the Paippalada recension in Odisha in 1957. His son Dipak Bhattacharya has published the manuscripts.

Thomas Zehnder translated Book 2 of the Paippalada recension into German in 1999, and Arlo Griffiths, Alexander Lubotsky, and Carlos Lopez have separately published English translations of its Books 5 through 15. The Gopatha Brahmana was translated by Hukam Chand Patyal as a dissertation at Pune University.

Atharvaveda Influence

Medicine and Healthcare

Kenneth Zysk states that “magico-religious medicine had given way to a medical system based on empirical and rational ideas” in ancient India around the start of the Christian era, still the texts and people of India continued to revere the ancient Vedic texts. Rishi Sushruta, remembered for his contributions to surgical studies, credits Atharvaveda as a foundation. Similarly, verse 30.21 of the Caraka Samhita, states its reverence for the Atharvaveda as follows:

Therefore, the physician who has inquired [in verse 30.20] about [which Veda], devotion to the Atharvaveda is ordered from among the four: Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. — Sutrasthara 30.21, Atharvaveda

Caraka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita

The roots of Ayurveda – a traditional medical and health care practice in India—states Dominik Wujastyk, are in the texts called Caraka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita, both of which say that doctors, when asked, should assert their allegiance and inspiration to be the Vedas, especially Atharvaveda. Khare and Katiyar state that the Indian tradition directly links Ayurveda to Atharvaveda.

Wujastyk clarifies that the Vedic texts are a religious discourse and while herbal health care traditions are found in Atharvaveda, the systematic, scholarly medical literature of ancient India is first found in the Caraka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita. Kenneth Zysk adds Bhela Samhita to this list.

Distribution of Vedas

Noticing the limited intelligence and capabilities of the humans, lord Visnu, in the form of Krishna Dwaipayana, divided the Vedas and distributed it to four of his disciples for further transmission of the Vedic knowledge. He gave the Rigveda to Paila, Yajurveda to Vaisampayana, Samaveda to Jaimini, and Atharvaveda to Sumantu, Visnu Purana adds.

During a sacrifice (Yajna), Rigveda is recited by the Hota, the Yajurveda by the Adhvaryu, the Samaveda by the Udgata, and the Atharvaveda by the Brahma, who is the main priest of the Yajna.

Name and revelation of Atharvaveda

About the name and revelation of Atharvaveda, it is described in the Gopatha Brahmana that Brahma, the creator, was practicing penance for designing the creation. His semen fell down into the water. A sage named Bhrigu was born out of semen. Bhrigu was eager to see his creator. He heard a divine sound that said, “O Atharva! Search for your creator in the all-pervading water.” Then he searched and found Brahma. Henceforth, sage Bhrigu came to be known as Atharva. Then, there was the secretion of some liquid from the body of Brahma which took the form of sage Angiras. Both Bhrigu and Angiras practiced penance and could view the Vedic mantras. Because of this, the Veda is known as Atharvaveda, Atharvangiras Veda, or Bhriguangiras Veda.

Other names of Atharvaveda

Apart from these names, Atharvaveda has many other names too. Atharvaveda is known as Brahma Veda because it is recited by the Brahma priest in the Yajna; and also because there are deliberations about Brahman, the ultimate reality. Also, the same is known as Bhisagveda because there are discussions about diseases and their treatment. It is known as Ksatraveda because there are mantras in which the duties of warriors to protect the motherland are described.

Good health and longevity: The Atharvaveda stresses various methods of enjoying good health and long life. A human being, says the Atharvaveda, should aspire to live for one full century (Jivema saradah satam). There are mantras of various gods for granting long life with good health.

Spiritual and philosophical knowledge

On the other hand, the Atharvaveda is rich in spiritual and philosophical knowledge, patriotism, knowledge of medical science, and various beneficial knowledge of the mundane world. In short, the Atharvaveda combines the knowledge of the four goals of life — Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha.

Only the Srauta Sutra of the Atharvaveda

Among the Sutra literature, Vaitana Sutra is the only Srauta Sutra of the Atharvaveda. It deals with various Vedic rituals. Kausika Grihysutra is the only Grihyasutra of the Atharvaveda. It has 14 Adhyayas and 141 Kandikas. It deals with various domestic rituals. There are five Kalpasutras of the Atharvaveda — Naksatra Kalpa, Vaitana Kalpa, Samhitavidhi, Angirasa Kalpa, and Santikalpa.

The Atharvaveda has highly rich Upanisadic literature. Among the ten major Upanisads of the four Vedas, three very important Upanisads — Prasna, Mundaka, and Mandukya Upanisads belong to this Veda. The Atharvaveda is a great mine of Indian wisdom meant not only for happiness in the other world but also for guiding to a happy and fruitful life.

Literature

Verse 11.7.24 of Atharvaveda contains the oldest known mention of the Indic literary genre the Puranas.

The 1st millennium AD Buddhist literature included books of magico-religious mantras and spells for protection from evil influences of non-human beings such as demons and ghosts. These were called Pirita (Pali: Paritta) and Rakkhamanta (“mantra for protection”), and they share the premises and style of hymns found in Atharvaveda.

Conclusion

Because of the above, I am confident that you have learned in-depth about Atharvaveda, etymology, dating, text, contents, manuscripts, influence, names, literature, etc. Now, that you have become self-sufficient to practice and achieve the goal, hence it’s the right time to use your acquired knowledge for gaining numerous benefits for well-being.

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Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atharvaveda