The atharva veda
The a~Ngirasas, the atharvANs, the bhR^igus, are our ancestors who performed the soma pouring, nine month rite; may we be favored as these venerable ones and be auspiciously protected.
The fourth veda or the veda of the atharvAns is shrouded in much mystery. The main reason for its low popularity has been the comparatively low following it has had amidst the brAhmaNas due its association with technical matters. Another factor contributing to this has been the practice of the atharva veda being largely restricted to the bhR^igu and Angirasa clans.
Some popular misconceptions regarding the atharva veda (AV)
1) It is commonly believed that the atharva veda is a text devoted entirely to magic, demonology and witchcraft.
2) It is supposed that the atharva veda is of very late provenance amongst the vedic texts.
3) It is believed that the atharva veda represents the folk form of the Aryan religion rather than its technical priestly form.
4) There is connection between the later day Indian tantrism and the atharva veda.
None of these notions are entirely correct and stem from both incomplete and unthinking analyses of the texts as well as native bias. 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 vedas. 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. 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 (avatoka). These views, however, are more suggestive of the lack of familiarity of these authors with the AV or its technical contents.
Some information on the atharva veda and its circum-vedic material
The schools of the atharva veda:
Traditionally 9 schools of the atharvAn literature are supposed to have existed. One can reconstruct their names using the charaNavyUhas as below:
1) paippalAda
2) stauda
3) mauda
4) shaunakIya
5) jAjala
6) jalada
7) brahmavada
8) devadarsha
9) chAraNavidyA
Additionally from the vishNu and vAyu purANa 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
|
sumantu
|
kabandha AtharvaN-a~Ngirasa
|
-------------------------------------
| |
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 I 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 relative 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
The issues of note are :
The AV is the first Indian text dealing with medicine: It is surprisingly advanced for its age and outlines a clear germ theory. That is, 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 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 reflects of 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 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}
The Aryan ritual cycles: 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 vR^ata that is 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 R^ig 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 yavakR^iDa 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 R^igvedic tradition in the form of the R^igvidhAna. The author of the R^igvidhAna provides passing reference to the development of similar rites in the AV tradition (the references to the a~ngirasa kR^ityAs). 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 pR^ithivi 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 (pAMsu) 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.
Thus rather than being a backward, folk form of the religion, the atharva veda covers a great spectrum of early Aryan thought. From internal astronomical references (hymn XI.7) one might infer that the atharvaNic period included the time when the Pleiades (kR^ittika) occupied the spring equinox (~2200BC). Further we have evidence that pippalAda one of the early collators, and vaidharbiH one of the late contributors associated with the atharvanic text lived during the reign of prince hiraNyanAbha of the ikshvAku dynasty. This allows us to state to that the core AV composition was at least complete by 1500 BC. Thus the AV is not particularly recent in the vedic saMhita tradition and falls well within the range of the second phase of vedic creativity- the classic mantra period that followed the R^igvedic period. Not surprisingly there are some similarities in the yajur and atharva collections.
We may conclude that despite the AV fading from the Indian mainstream religious culture its contribution as central as the other vedic saMhitas. {Details on this will follow in later editions}