Atharva Veda
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Hindu texts Shruti ** Vedas *** Rig Veda *** Sama Veda *** Yajur Veda *** Atharva Veda **Brahmanas **Aranyakas ** Upanishads *Smriti ** Itihasa *** Mahabharata'' *** Ramayana *** Puranas ** Tantras ** Sutras (list) ** Ashtavakra Gita ** Gita Govinda ** Hatha Yoga Pradipika ** Manu Smriti
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2 Recensions 3 Issues of note 4 External link |
Status
The Atharvaveda, while undoubtedly belonging to the Vedic period, is often considered younger than the other three Vedas. In this sense, it is the "Fourth Veda" of the turiya. Judging from its contents, it is clearly intended for "private" ritual, dealing with sickness, love potions, and other domestic issues, as opposed to the "public" rituals described in the Yajurveda.The Jaina and Bauddha texts are considerably more hostile to the AV (they call it Aggvana or Ahavana Veda) than they are to the other Hindu texts. They even call it a non-Aryan Veda concocted by Paippalada for human sacrifices. The Hindu texts too have taken a less than charitable view and have on occasions omitted the reference to the "Atharvan" text in the context of Vedic literature, though some attribute this to the fact that the Atharva Veda was a later addition chronologically. The Atharvan ParishishhThas themselves state that specific priests of the mauda and jalada schools should be avoided. It is even stated that women associated with atharvAns may suffer from abortions.
Recensions
Traditionally 9 schools of the Atharvan literature are supposed to have existed. One can reconstruct their names using the charaNavyUhas as below:
- paippalAda
- stauda
- mauda
- shaunakIya
- jAjala
- jalada
- brahmavada
- devadarsha
- chAraNavidyA
Of these, only the Shaunakiya and the Paippalada recensions have survived. The Paippalada text is considered earlier than the Shaunakiya.
Additionally, from the Vishnu and Vayu Puranas (older Hindu texts on the gods, goddesses and their histories) it may be possible to glean a few more ancient schools that were not listed in the charaNavyUhas.
These are:
- sumantu
- kabandha
- kumuda
- shaulkAyana
- babhravya
- munjakesha
- saindhavAyana
- nakshatrakalpa
- shAntikalpa
- saMhitavidhi
At least some of these may have evolved into the other schools mentioned in the list of the charaNavyUhas. saMhitavidhi, shAntikalpa and nakshatrakalpa are the 5 kalpa texts adduced to the shaunakiya tradition and not separate schools of their own.
From the paurANic text we may propose the following evolutionary history of the atharvAn texts:
vyAsa pArAsharya
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sumantu
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kabandha AtharvaN-a~Ngirasa
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-------------------------------------
| |
pathya____ devadarsha
/ | | / | | \\
kumuda jAjala shaunakiya mauda | | |
| / | paippalAda | brahmavada
| babhravya saindhavAyana | | \\
|(?) | |(?) shaulkAyana |(?)
jalada munjakesha stauda chAraNavidyA
Of these only the texts of the shaunaka and paippalada schools are extant. On this page henceforth we shall be referring to the shaunaka text.There are two main circum-vedic texts associated with the AV 1) the vaitAna sUtra and 2) the kaushika sUtra. These serve the same purpose as the vidhAna of the R^igveda and are of greater value in studying the paurANo-vedic link than the atharvAN lore itself.
There are several upanishhats that are appended to the AV but appear to be relatively late additions to the tradition. The most important amongst these are the munDaka and the prashna. The former contains a important reference to shaunaka a shakha-kR^it of the AV while the latter one to paippalAda.
The contents of the saMhita itself have some important bearing on the development Hindu thought.
Issues of note
- The AV is the first Indian text dealing with medicine. It identifies the causes of disease as living causative agents such as the yatudhAnya, the kimIdi, the kR^imi and the durNama. The atharvANs seek to kill them with a variety of drugs in order to counter the disease( see XIX.34.9). This approach to disease is surprisingly advanced compared to the trihumoral theory developed in the pauraNic era. Remnants of the original atharvanic thought did persist in the paurANic era as can be seen in sushruta's medical treatise (garuDa purANa, karma kANDa chapter 164). Here following the atharvAN theory the pauRANic text suggests germs as a cause for leprosy. In the same chapter sushruta also expands on the role of helminths in disease. These two can be directly traced back to the AV saMhita. The hymn AV I.2 describes the disease leprosy and recommends the rajanI oshadhi for it treatment. From the description of the oshadhi as black branching entity with dusky patches it is very likely that is a lichen with antibiotic properties. Thus the AV can stake the claim for being one of the earliest texts to record uses of the antibiotic agents. Furthermore an understanding of the helminth caused diseases and their anatomy is exhibited in AV V.23. The importance of the brain as a critical organ was also understood by the AtharvANs as suggested by mantra AV X.2.26. {Details on this will follow in later editions}
- The AV also informs us about Indo-Aryan warfare. A variety of devices such as the an arrow with a duct for poison (apAskambha) and castor bean poison, poisoned net and hook traps, use of disease spreading bugs and smoke screens find a place in the AV saMhita (eg. hymns IX .9, IX.10, the trishaMdi and nyArbudi hymns). These references to military practices and associated kshatriya rites were what gave the AV its formidable reputation. In the mahAbharata era that shortly followed after the end of the AtharvAN period there is a frequent comparison to between weapons and the mantras of the heroes. Probably, this comparison was initially supposed to mean the application of deadly weapons as mentioned in the AtharvAN tradition. Later of course this association added to the negative connotations of the AV. {Details on this will follow in later editions}
- Several regular and special rituals of the Aryans are a major concern of the AV just as the 3 other vedas. The major regular rituals covered by the atharva veda are marriage in kANDa XIV and the funeral in kANDa XVIII. There are also a range of hymns that are specific to rituals of the bhR^igu-a~ngirasas, vR^Atyas and kshatriyas. One of the most important of these rites is the VishhAsahi Vrata that it is performed to invoke the indra and vishNu with the mantras of the XVIIth kANDa. The vR^Atya rituals were performed by individuals who took on a nomadic ascetic way of living and were generally sent into neighboring states by the ruler of a particular state. They appear to have served a role in reconnaissance and negotiations with neighboring states (compare with Arjuna's Vratya like journey into the yadu principality to woo subhadrA). Finally, there are some rituals aimed at the destruction of the enemies (Abhicharika hymns and rites) particularly using the closing mantras of the XVIth Kanda. While these are a factor for traditional negative views on the AV it should be noted that in content they are mirrored by several other hymns from the Rig as well as the Yajushes. Moreover, Abhicharika rites were an integral part of the vedic as amply attested in the brAhmaNa literature (see the tale of YavakrdDa in the Jaiminiya brAhmaNa). Thus the AV as such began fully within the classic vedic fold though it was more specific to certain clans of fire priests. The development of the abhichArika rites to their more 'modern' form was seen only in the vidhAna literature and in fact began within the Rigvedic tradition in the form of the RigvidhAna. The author of the RigvidhAna provides passing reference to the development of similar rites in the AV tradition (the references to the Angirasa KrityAs). These rites reached their culmination in the Kaushika and Vaitana Sutra and in some of the Parishishhthas (appendices) of the Atharvan literature. However, these are far removed from the actual hymns themselves suggesting that they represent an encrustation on the atharvanic practice rather than its original form. While in its most extreme form Atharvanic Abhicharika faded away it did seed the mainstream Hindu culture resulting in the origin of the Pauranic form of the fire ritual (yaga-s). It also provided the launching pad for the worship of late evolving popular deities like Kumara and Ganapati to capture the mainstream Hindu ritual.
- Philosophical excursions: The AV made the most important contributions to Aryan philosophical thought of all the Samhitas. One of the most spectacular expressions of this is seen in the hymn XII.I, the hymn to the earth or the Prithivi SuktaM. It is used in the Aghrayana rite and expresses in profound terms the oneness of human life and nature. Everything in existence is described as conglomerated system encompassing all the smallest to the largest entities. The foundations of Vaishheshika, the highest of the Hindu Darshanas is expressed in the mantra XII.1.26 in which the atoms (Paamsu) are described forming the stone, the stones agglutinating to form the rocks and the rocks held together to form the Earth. An early pantheistic thought (somewhat convergent to the latter day Vishhishthadvaitins) is seen in the hymn X.7 that describes the common thread running through all manifest and un-manifest existence as the skaMbha. This Skambha is described as what poured out of the Hiranyagarbha, that was the precursor of the complex world in a very simple form (X.7.28). This Skambha is indra and Indra is the Skambha which describes all existence. The hymn also describes the pantheistic nature of the Vedic gods (X.7.38): Skambha is the heat (tapaH) that spreads through the universe (Bhuvana) as waves of water; the units of this spreading entity are the gods even as branches of one tree. This one theme that repeatedly presents itself in various interpretations that abounded in later Hindu philosophies and can be considered one of the most fundamental expression of Vedic thought.
We may conclude that despite the Atharva Veda's gradual fading from active Hindu religious culture its contribution is central to the other Vedic Samhitas.
External link
