The word ‘Veda’ is derived from the root ‘Vid’ which means the storehouse of knowledge. Manu has rightly praised the four Vedas to be the “Embodiment of complete knowledge”. The Vedas are voluminous in form. In the Visnu Purana it has been said:

“Vedadrumasya maitreya sakhabhedah sahasrashah Na sakto vistarad vaktum… (Visnu Purana 3.3.1) (The Veda tree has thousands of branches. It is, therefore, not possible to describe it in detail.)

Noticing the limited intelligence and capabilities of the humans, lord Visnu, in the form of Krisna 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 Atharva Veda 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 Atharva Veda by the Brahma, who is the main priest of the Yajna.

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

Apart from these names, Atharva Veda has many other names too. It 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. It is known as Bhisagveda because there are discussions about diseases and their treatment. It is also known as Ksatraveda because there are mantras in which the duties of warriors to protect the motherland are described.

Atharva Veda is divided into 20 Kandas, which are divided into 36 Prapathakas. These Prapathakas have 730 Suktas (hymns), in which there are 5,987 mantras.

Atharva Veda has nine Sakhas or recensions. These are Paippalada, Tauda, Mauda, Saunakiya, Jajala, Jalada, Brahmavada, Devadarsa and Charanavaidya. Out of these, only the Saunakiya and Paipplada Sakhas are available now. Whereas the Saunakiya Sakha is available in Gujarat, the Paippalada Sakha is available in Odisha.

The sequence and collection of the mantras in Suktas in Atharva Veda are very well-arranged. In the 1st Kanda, most hymns contain four mantras. In the 2nd Kanda, most hymns contain five mantras.

In the 3rd Kanda, the hymns mostly contain six mantras. In 4th Kanda, the hymns contain seven to eight mantras. In the 5th Kanda, the hymns have more than eight mantras. In the 6th Kanda, the hymns mostly have three mantras. In the 7th Kanda, the hymns mostly have one or two mantras.

From the 8th Kanda up to the 12th, the hymns are very long with diversity of the subject matter. From 13th to 20th Kanda, the hymns are also very long but with uniformity of the subject matter.

The Atharva Veda deals with very important subject matters. Some of the subject matters on which there are detailed discussions are: Brahman: There is detailed spiritual discussion on Brahman, the ultimate reality, realisation of Brahman and liberation, the concept of Jivatma, the concept of Virat, Hiranyagarbha, etc.

Polity: This is another important subject matter of the Atharva Veda. The selection of a ruler, duties of the ruler, ideal method of administration, justice and punishment, army, war, victory and many other related subjects have been discussed in detail.

Fraternity and Harmony (Samanasya): Religious fraternity, harmony in the society, good relation in the family, good relation among kingdoms and similar subjects are also focused in the Atharva Veda.

Diseases and Treatment: One of the most important contributions of the Atharva Veda is discussion about various diseases, their causes and their treatments. Various medicinal plants, mantra therapy, water therapy, sunray treatment, psychological treatment and other relevant discussions are in prominence in the Atharva Veda. In fact, the Indian medical system Ayurveda is considered to be a sub-branch (Upanga) of the Atharva Veda.

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

Wearing jewels and tying enchanted threads round the wrist and neck are some of the measures to propitiate gods for granting health and longevity.

Pacification (Shanti Karma): The Atharva Veda prescribes performances of many measures to eradicate undesirable incidents, disasters, bad dreams and bad omen. These measures are known as Shanti Karma.

Measures of Prayaschitta: Introspection, confession of one’s sins, sacrifices (Yajna) and oblations to avoid the bad results of the same, various mantras to propitiate gods, various rituals for wellbeing of a child born in a bad Nakshatra, etc., are also prominently discussed in this Veda.

Measures to overpower undesirable elements (Abhichara Karma): There are discussions about various measures to overpower enemies, demons and evil spirit, etc. There are measures to kill (Marana), subdue (Vasikarana), paralyse (Stambhana), distract the mind (Uchhatana), etc., by which the undesired elements could be subdued.

The Atharva Veda has been widely misunderstood and misinterpreted by many Westerners and their Indian followers to be full of black magic and witchcraft. This is absolutely erroneous. Although there are Abhichara mantras (mantras to subdue undesirable forces), these are very limited in number.

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

Some people are misguided by the adjective Trayi (group of three) used for Vedas and erroneously interpret that the Atharva Veda is excluded from the group of Vedas.

This view is mainly highlighted by the Western interpreters. Trayi refers to three kinds of mantras: the prayer mantras, the sacrificial mantras and the lyrical mantras, which are mainly incorporated in the Rig, Yaju and Samaveda.

Therefore, this wrong conception occurs in the minds of people. The Atharva Veda has incurred wide recognition from grand personalities like Manu, Yajnavalkya, Vyasa, Usana and Shankaracharya and can never be excluded from the group of Vedas. Moreover, the Atharva Veda is meant to be recited by the Brahma priest in the sacrifice, without which Vedic sacrifice (Yajna) is incomplete.

The Atharva Veda has rich supplementary literature. It has Brahmana, Upanisads, Sutras, Siksa and Pratisakhya literature to its credit.

Gopatha is the only Brahmana of this Veda. It is divided into two parts -- Purva Bhaga and Uttara Bhaga. Purva Bhaga is divided into five Prapathakas and Uttara Bhaga has six Prapathakas. The main subject matters are sacrifice (Yajna), derivation of Vedic words.

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

The Atharva Veda 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 Atharva Veda is a great mine of Indian wisdom meant not only for happiness in the other world but also guiding to a happy and fruitful life.

(Dr Indulata Das is Director of the Academy of Yoga and Orienal Studies, Bhubaneswar. indulatadas@yahoo.co.in)