Atharvaveda

The Atharvaveda (Sanskrit, m., अथर्ववेद, Atharvaveda, alternatively Atharwaweda) is one of the sacred text collections of Hinduism. It contains a mixture of magical hymns, incantations, and other material that appears to be of widely varying ages. Although much of it is linguistically much younger than the other three Vedas (at least of the Rigveda), it also contains very ancient passages. It is estimated that the Atharvaveda was canonized in the second half of the last pre-Christian millennium, and even then was only placed on a par with the other three Vedas. It exists in two recensions or schools, the better known Shaunaka version, and the Paippalada version, which has only recently been better studied. The Atharvaveda comprises 20 books in 731 hymns of about 6000 verses. About one-seventh of the Atharvaveda is taken from the Rigveda. The Atharveda was composed when the sedentarization of the Gangetic plain was already complete. The word for tiger occurs here, in the earlier Rigveda, however, not yet.

Each of the four Vedas, that is Rigveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda and Yajurveda, comprises four layers of text. The oldest layer is the Samhitas (hymns), the next layer is the Brahmanas (ritual texts), then come the Aranyakas (forest texts) and finally the Upanishads (philosophical teachings).

The other three Vedas were assigned to specific priests in the Vedic sacrificial ritual: the Hotri ("caller") had to know the Rigveda by heart, the Udgatri ("singer") had to know the Samaveda, and the Adhvaryu (sacrificial priest) had to know the mantras of the Yajurveda. When the Atharvaveda was included in the canon, it was simply assigned to Brahman, although this priest actually had to know the other three Vedas by heart, so that he could observe the ritual from the background and intervene if anything went wrong. That is why he is also called the "physician of the sacrifice". The assignment of Brahman to the Atharva Veda is thus rather arbitrary.

Compared to the other three Vedas, the Atharvaveda has always had the reputation of being primarily concerned with magic. Atharvan originally means fire priest. Another kind of priests were the Angiras. Magical formulas to help heal the sick were the province of the Atharvans. Black magic to harm enemies or rivals was the business of the Angiras. The sanctity of the Atharvaveda has always been somewhat doubted because of this magical content. The Atharvaveda is of great importance with regard to the medical ideas of the time. The songs and spells for curing diseases belong to the magical healing rites (bhaishajyani). Exorcism and "women's rites" (love magic) are also described. The Atharvaveda thus opens a window to a completely different world than that of the Rigveda.