42 - Atharva Veda - Hyms, Some Rituals and Commentaries
Oct 30, 2014
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THE
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST
M
Bonbon
HENRY FROWDEOxford University Press Warehouse
Amen Corner,
E.G.
(Tim
vi,
83.
Charm
for
apafttvii,
76. A.apaX'it
Charm Charm
.......for curingfor
curing scrofulous sores called
53559
for curing scrofulous sores calledr
...... .
7>
B.
tumours called ^ayanya
17,56018,
C. Stanza sung at the mid-day pressure of the somavii,
562
74. A.
Charm Charm
curing scrofulous sores called
a P ayHt
B.
to
appease jealousy
.
C. Prayer to Agni, the lord ofvi,
vows
.
.
i8,557 18,559 18, 55919,
25.
Charm
against scrofulous sores
upon neck472scrofulous19,
and shouldersvi,
57. Urine
(^alasha) as a cure
for
soresiv,
488
12.
with the plant arundhati (laksha) for the cure of fractureswith the plant sila/Si (laksha, arundhati) for the cure of wounds
Charm
19,384
v, 5.
Charm
vi,i,
109.17.
ii,
31. 32.
ii,
The pepper-corn as a cure for wounds Charm to stop the flow of blood Charm against worms Charm against worms in cattle. . . .
.... .....22,. .
20,419 21,516257
22,31323,
317
CONTENTS.
IXPAGES
v, 23.iv, 6.iv,
7.
Charm against worms Charm against poison Charm against poison
in children
.... .....
vi,
100. Ants as an antidote against poison
13. Charm against snake-poison vi, 12. Charm against snake-poison vii, 56. Charm against the poison of serpents,v,
pions,vi, vi, vi,
and
insects
..........of hair
scor-
21.
Charm against ophthalmia Charm to promote the growth of hair 136. Charm with the plant nitatnt to promote16.
thevi, iv,vi,iv,
growth of hair
Charm to promote the growth 4. Charm to promote virility in. Charm against mania 37. Charm with the plant a^a-rmigi137.9.
.... ....to drive out
ii,
Rakshas, Apsaras, and Gandharvas Possession by demons of disease, cured by an amulet of ten kinds of wood
....
iv,
36.
Charm
against
demons (pua&i) conceived
as the cause of diseaseii,
.....derived
25. Charm with the plant pmniparm against the demon of disease called kava vi, 32. Charm for driving away demons (Rakshas
and PuaX'as)ii,
......amulet
4.
Charm
with
an
from the
^angina-tree, against diseases andxix, 34.
demonsdemons
Charm Charm
with an amulet derived from the
^ahgk/a-tree, against diseases andxix, 35.
with an amulet derived from the
^-angina-tree, against diseasesvi,
and demons
85.
Exorcism of disease by means of an amulet from the varawa-tree
.....panacea.
vi,
127.
xix, 38.vi,viii,
healing properties of bdellium 91. Bailey and water as universal remedies7.
The The
/vipudru-tree as a
Hymn
to all
magic and medicinal
used as a universal remedyvi,ii,
96. Plants as a 33.
panacea
.... .....plants,.
Charm
to secure perfect health
CONTENTS.BOOKix, 8.ii,
PAGES
29.
Charm to procure immunity from all diseases Charm for obtaining long life and prosperity
45,
6008
by transmission of disease
....life.
47, 3
II.
Prayers for longiii,
life
and health (ayushyam). and long and longlife
n. Prayer28.
for health
49, 34i.
ii,
Prayer for long
life
pronounced over a boylife.
5, 30651, 3 6 4
iii,
31. Prayer for health
vii,viii,
53. Prayer for long1.
52, 55i
of Prayer for exemption from the dangers death from the dangers of viii, 2. Prayer for exemption death from disease and death v, 30. Prayer for exemption as a protector of life and limb Salve
....(afigana.)
53> 569
.....pearllife
55,
iv,
9.
iv,
10.
The
and
its
shell as
an amulet bestow-
ing longxix, 26.
Gold
as
and prosperity an amulet for long
....life
III.
Imprecations against demons, sorcerers, mies (abhiA'arikam and kr/tyapratiharaani).i,
and ene-
7.
Against sorcerers and demonsAgainst sorcerers and demons Charm with lead, against demons and sorcerers
i,
8.
i,
16.
....and
vi,
2.
The soma-oblation(rakshas)
.......directed againstcattle,
demons
ii,
14.
CharmAgainst
against a variety of female demons,
conceived as hostile to men,iii,
and home(hostile
9.
vishkandha
demons)iv,
.......kabavathe
20.
Charm with a certain plant (sada?pushpa) which exposes demons and enemiesCharmwith
iv,
17.
apamarga-plant, against
sorcery, demons, and enemiesiv,
18.
Charm
with
the
apamarga-plant, against
sorcery, demons, and enemiesiv,
19. Mystic
power of the apamarga-plant, demons and sorcerers
.....
against
CONTENTS.
XI
vii,
65.
Charm
with the apamarga-plant,sinful
against
curses,x, 1.v, v,
and the consequence of
deeds
72, 72, 76, 77,
Charm to repel sorceries or spells 31. Charm to repel sorceries or spells 14. Charm to repel sorceries or spellsPrayer for protection addressed to a talis man made from the wood of the sraktya-treePraise of the virtues of anvara;/a-tree
556 602
456 429 575 605 608
viii, 5.
79,
x, 3.
from thex, 6.
.....for
amulet derived81,
Praise of the virtues of an amulet of khadira
woodiv,
in the
shape of a ploughshare
84,
16.
Prayer to Varuwa treacherous designs
ii,
12.
Imprecation against enemies thwarting holy89,
workvii,ii,
.......against curses
....protectionhostile plots,
against88,
389294
70. Frustration of the sacrifice of7.
an enemyunder
9, 55791,
Charm
and
iii,
taken with a certain plant 6. The a^vattha-tree as a destroyer of enemies
285
9
r
,
334 495
Vi > 75-
Oblation for the
suppression of enemies92,
(nairbadhyawz havi/2)vi,
....(strikarma/zi).
37. Curse against one that practises hostile charms13.
......enemies of
93,
vii,
Charm
to deprive
their strength
IV.
Charmsii,
pertaining to
women
36.
vi, vi,
60.82.
Charm to obtain a husband Charm to obtain a husband Charm for obtaining a wife.
vi,vii,
78. Blessing for a married couple
36. 37.
Love-charm spoken by a
bridal couple
vii,
Charm pronounced by
bridegroomvi,
81.
A
bracelet as an amulet to ensure concep-
tioniii,
....... ........the bride over thefor obtaining a
23.11.
vi,vii,
Charm Charm
son (puwsavanam) for obtaining a son (pu;savanam)sterile
.
.
35.17.
vi,i,
11.
An incantation to make a woman Charm to prevent miscarriage Charm for easy parturition.
.
Xll
CONTENTS.
i,
34.
Charm
with licorice, to secure the love of a
womanii,
.........
99, 274
30. Charm to secure the love of a woman vi, 8. Charm to secure the love of a woman vi, 9. Charm to secure the love of a woman vi, 102. Charm to secure the love of a woman Charm to arouse the passionate love iii, 25..
100, 311
.
100,101,
459459
.
.
101. 512
avi,
woman
Charm to arouse the passionate a woman vii, 38. Charm to secure the love of a man vi, 130. Charm to arouse the passionate139.
avi,
manCharmCharm
131.a
to
manman
vi,
132.
to arouse the passionate
aiv, 5. vi,
Charm at an 77. Charm to
womanvi,vii,i,
18.
45.
Charm to allay jealousy Charm to allay jealousy
....... ....... ....... ....... .... ....... ..... .
of102, 358
love of
102, 539103,
546
love of
104, 534
arouse the passionate love of104,
535
love
of104, 535105, 371
assignation
cause
the
return
of a truant106,
496
....rival.
106, 467 107, 547 107, 252
14. 18.
A
woman's incantation against her
.
Charm of a woman against a rival or co-wife vi, 138. Charm for depriving a man of his virility 18. Charm to remove evil bodily characteristicsiii,i,
107, 354108, 537
from avi,
woman
no. Expiatory charmunlucky star
vi,
140. Expiation for the irregular appearance of the first pair of teeth
...... ...... .....for a child
109, 260
born under an
109, 517
110,540
V. Charms pertaining to royalty (ra-akarma;ri).iv, 8.iii,
Prayer
at the consecration of a
3. 4. 5.
CharmPrayer
for the restoration ofat the election
king an exiled king.
.
in, 378112, 327
.
iii,
iii,
of a king .113, 330 Praise of an amulet derived from the parwa. .
tree,iv,i,
22.9.
Charm
designed to strengthen royal power to secure the superiority of a king
.
114, 331115, 404 116, 239
.
Prayer for earthly and heavenly success
.
CONTENTS.
Xlll
vi,vi,
38. Prayer for lustre 39. Prayer
for glory (ya^as)
viii, 8.i,
Battle-charm
.... ......and power.
116, 477
117, 478117, 582
19.1.
iii,
Battle-charm against arrow- wounds Battle-charm for confusing the enemy.
120, 262 121, 325121, 327
iii, 2.
vi,
Battle-charm for confusing the enemy 97. Battle-charm of a king upon the eve ofbattle
vi,
99. Battle-charm of a king upon the eve ofbattle
xi, 9.
Prayer to Arbudi and Nyarbudi for help inbattle
........ ........ ............to the battle-drum, the terror of the.
122, 5IO
123,
5IO
123, 63I 126, 637 13. 43 6
xi, 10.v, v,
Prayer to Trishawdhi for help in battle 20. Hymn to the battle-drum
21.
Hymn
enemy
*3 l
,
439
VI. Charms to secure harmony, influence in the assembly,iii,
and the
like
(sawmanasyani, &c).134, 3 6 * 135, 494135, 495
Charm to secure harmony vi, 73. Charm to allay discord vi, 74. Charm to allay discord vii, 52. Charm against strife and bloodshed vi, 64. Charm to allay discord vi, 42. Charm to appease anger vi, 43. Charm to appease anger Charm against opponents in debate, underii, 27.30...
136, 55o
136, 492136, 479 137,
480
taken with the pa/a-plantvii,
.
.
.
.
137,,
34
12.
vi,
94.
Charm to procure influence in the assembly Charm to bring about submission to one's
13 8 543
will
138, 508
VII. Charms to secure prosperity in house, field, cattle, business, gambling, and kindred matters.iii,
12.
Prayer at the building of a house.
vi,
142. Blessing during the sowing of seed79.
Mo, 343 Mi, 54i141, 499
vi, vi,
Charm
for procuring increase of grain
50.
Exorcism of vermin
infesting grain in the
fieldvii,
142, 485to protect grain
11.
Charm
from lightning
142, 543
XIVBOOKii,
CONTENTS.PAGES
26.
iii,
Charm for the prosperity of cattle 14. Charm for the prosperity of cattleto cattle
M2, 303 M3. 351144,
vi,
59. Prayer to the plant arundhati for protection
vi,
70.
Charm
to her calfiii,
28.
Formula
calvesvi,iii,
92.13.
Charm Charm
channelvi,iv,
106.3.
Charm
Shepherd's charm against wild beasts and robbers
iii,
15.
A
...... ...... ....... ...... ......to secure thein expiation
49O
attachment of a cow
M4, 493
of the birth of twin
to
endow a horse withconducting aoff
swiftness
M5, 359 M5> 507new146, 348 147,
for
river into a
to
ward
danger from
fire.
5M3 66
M7.
merchant's prayerPrayer for success in gambling
148, 352
iv,
38. A.
149, 412
B. Prayer to secure the return of calves that
have strayed to a distancevii,
150, 413 150,
50. Prayer for success at dice
548
vi,
56.
Exorcism of serpents from the premises
151, 487
x, 4.
Charmof
Pedu
against serpents, invoking the horse that slays serpents.
152, 605 155, 618
xi, 2.
Prayer from dangers
to
Bhava and
iv,
28. Prayer to
Bhava and
from dangersvii,
..... .....property.
.Sarva for protection
-Sarva for protection
158, 406 159, 542
9.
Charm
for finding lost
vi,
xi, 6.
128. Propitiation of the weather-prophet Prayer for deliverance from calamity, ad.
160, 532
dressed to the entire pantheon
160,
628
VIII.
Charms45.26.
in expiation of sin
and defilement,
vi, vi,vi,
Prayer against mental delinquency
Charm
to avert evil
.....
163, 483 l6 3> 473
114. Expiatory formula for imperfections in thesacrifice
..........for certain
164, 528
vi,
vi,
115. Expiatory formulas for sins 112. Expiation for the precedence of a younger brother over an older
164, 529
164, 521
vi,
113. Expiation
heinous crimes
165, 527
CONTENTS.
XV
vi,
1
20. Prayer for
heaven
after
remission of sins
.
165, 529
vi,
27.
CharmCharm
against pigeons regarded as ominous
birdsvi,vii,
166, 474against.
29.64.
ominous pigeons and owls Expiation when one is defiled by a black
166,
475
bird ofvi, vii,
omenevil
167, 555
46.
Exorcism of
dreams
.
.
.
.167, 485.
115.
Charm
for the
removal of
evil character-
istics,
and the acquisition of auspicious ones
168, 564
IX. Prayers and
imprecations in the interest of the
Brahmans.v, 18.
Imprecation against the oppressors of Brah. . . . .
mansv,
.
.
.169, 430171, 433
19. Imprecation against the oppressors of Brah-
mansv,
7.
Prayer to appease Arati, the
and avaricexii, 4.
........ ......demonof grudgenecessity of giving..
172,423
TheThe
away.
sterile.
cows
to
thexi,1.
Brahmans
.174, 656.
preparation of the brahmaudana, the porridge given as a fee to the Brahmans
179,
610
xii, 3.
preparation of the brahmaudana, the porridge given as a fee to the Brahmans.
The
185, 645
ix, 3.
Removal of a houseBrahmanical prayer
that has
been presented.. .
to a priest as sacrificial rewardvi,
193, 595 196, 494
71.
at the receipt of gifts
xx, 127.
A
kuntapa-hymn
...... .
.
197,688
X. Cosmogonic and theosophic hymns.xii,xiii,
1.1.
Hymn
to
goddess Earth
.
.199, 639.
Prayer power addressed to the god Rohita and his female Rohiwifor sovereign.
207, 661214, 626
xi, 5.
Glorification of the sun, or the primeval prin-
ciple, asxi, 4.
a
Brahmanor.
disciple
.
.
.
Pra7/a,
life
breath,.
personified..
as.
the
supremeix, 2.
spirit
.218, 622.
Prayer to Kama mordial power
(love), personified as a pri. .
.
.
.
220, 591
XVI
CONTENTS.
xix, 53.
Prayer to Kala (time), personified as a pri. mordial principle..
.
.
.
224, 681
xix, 54.
Prayer mordial principle
to
Kala
xi,
7. Apotheosis of the ukkMshfa, the leavings of the sacrifice1.
...... .......
(time), personified as a pri-
225, 687
226, 629
ix,
Hymn
to the honey-lash of the Ajvins
.
229, 587
IndexesI.
:
II.
Index of Subjects Index of Hymns in the order of the Atharva-veda.
..... . .
693 709711
Additions and Corrections
.
.
Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the
Translations of the Sacred Books of the East
.
713
INTRODUCTION.I.
The namesfourth
of the Atharva-veda and
THEIR MEANINGS.
TheT,
Veda
is
known
in
Hindu
literature
by an
pound stemangiras.
unusually large number of appellations. Of these the dvandva plural atharvahgirasa/^ is old.occurr i n gin a
the head of the Atharvan
^V. X, 7, 20 it is the name found at MSS. themselves. The appear;
ance of this name
madetive
the basis
given text has not unfrequently been for estimating the relapartly or entirely
chronology of that text.
But
this criterion can claim
only negative value, since the designation occurs in a text It is found in as late as the Au^anasa-smr/ti, III. 44 1 a great variety of texts of the Vedic literature, as may be.
seen in the subsequent account of the attitude of Hindu literature towards the fourth Veda (p. xxviii ff.), but at noperiod does
The
it positively exclude other designations. locative singular of this same compound occurs in
a passage not altogether textually certain, Mahabh. Ill, 305, 20=17066, where the Bombay edition has atharvarigi-
The srutam, but the Calcutta, atharva^irasi jrutam. locative singular (apparently neuter) of the stem atharvaiigirasi
A
rasa occurs rarely, Ya^wa v. I, 312 (kujalam atharvarigirase). specimen of a derivative adjective from the compound
may
be seen at
Manu XI,
33, atharvangirasi/j sruti/i;
cf.
Mahabh. VIII, 40, 33=1848, kr/tyam1
atharvaiigirasim.
See (yivananda's Dharmajastrasawgraha, vol.
i,
p. 514.
[42]
b
XV111
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.atharvan, with a great variety of derivatives, employed growingly as the designation ofT T
The nameMeaning ofeach of the terms atharvan
is.
the
Veda
.
.;
the
namen,:
rare as to
arre st5,
angiras by itself is so attention when it is met.2
,
.
.
ir
At TS. VII,
=
Ka/7/aka Aj-vamedha-
grantha, V, 2, occurs the formula arigirobhya/z svaha, preit is, as far as is known, ceded by rzgbhya//, &c. svaha
the solitary occurrence of this designation of the Atharvaveda in a Vedic text l Quite frequently, however, the.
members
of theis
compound
atharvahgirasa/z are separated
mentioned by itself, but always in more This shows or less close conjunction with one another. that the compound is not a congealed formula, but that theso that eachtexts are conscious of the fact that each has a distinct
words, the
and a right to separate existence. In other actually consists of atharvan and ahgiras and the question arises what elements in the makematter,individuality,
AV.
up of
this Veda these terms refer to. The answer, I believe, now be given with a considerable degree of certainty may:
the term atharvan refers to the auspicious practices of the Veda, the bhesha^ani (AV. XI, 6, 14), those parts of the
Veda which'
are recognised by the Atharvan ritual and the orthodox Brahmanical writings, as janta, holy,' and the term ahgiras refers paush/ika, conferring prosperity' ' ;
to the hostile sorcery practices of the Veda, the yatu (.Sat. Br. X, 5, 2, 20), or abhiMra 2 which is terrible (ghora).,
In an article entitled, On the position of the Vaitanasutra in the literature of the Atharva-veda,' Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XI, 387 ff., I pointed out that the above-mentioned'
distinctionlists
is
clearly
made
at Vait. Su. 5, 10,
where two
of plants are differentiated, one as atharvaya/z, the other as ahgirasya/z. The same distinction is maintainedat
Gop. Br.
I, 2,
18.
The former
refers to the list of plants
1 In texts not Vedic the term angirasa/4 occurs occasionally as an abbreviated form of atharvangirasa/^. Thus in the first superscription of the AV. PratiCf. also jakhya, the .Saunakiya Aaturadhyayika, and in Paini V, 2, 37.
Gop. Br. I, u For theonp. 11 of
1, 8.
distinction between .ranta
and abhi/tarika
see Kaiu. 3, 19,
and note 5
our edition.
INTRODUCTION.catalogued at Kaiu.janta//,8, 16,
XIX
and there
distinctly described as
'holy;' the second list is stated at Vait. Su. 5, 10 itself to be ahgirasa, in the obscure terms, kapurviparvaThese rodakavrzkkavatina^anirdahantibhir arigirasibhi//.
names arelistis
in
but the designation of the
general unknown, the text is not quite certain, last, nirdahanti, shows that the1.
designed for unholy sorcery practices (abhi^arika)is
Thethe
AV.
adjective ahgirasa equivalent to abhiarika.'
in
general in the ritualist texts of
Thus
sa;;zbhara ahgi'
daWa Kau^. 47, 2, means utensils for sorcery 2 ahgirasa//, Kaiu. 47, 12, means 'staff for sorcery;' agnir 3 The fifth ahgirasa//, Kauj. 14, 30, means 'sorcery-firerasa//,;
.'
kalpa of the AV., usually known as Ahgirasa-kalpa, bears also the names AbhLara-kalpa, and Vidhana-kalpa, text'
v
book of sorceryItis
angirastexts.
see ibid. XI, 376 ft. worth while to follow out this specific use of the term ahgirasa in non-Atharvan texts, lest it be in suspected of being an Atharvanic refinement.;
'
non-Atharvan
q^e Rig-vidhana IV,j-loka':
6, 4,
He
against
whom
has the following those that arc-
skilled in theallis
Ahgirasakalpas practice sorcery repels them The term pratyahgirasa with the Pratyahgirasakalpa *.' the exact equivalent of pratyabhi/ ara//a, counter-witch,'
craft
5
'
(AV.
II, 11, 2),
and the kr/tyapratiharawani, Ath.
The texts of the sort 7, note). (cf. called atharvaz/apratyahgirakalpam (! see Ind. Stud. I, 469) deal with the same theme, as does the Ya^ur-vidhanaParly. 32, 2
Kauj-. 39,
(Agni-pura;/a, 259, ic) in the expression pratyahgireshu Cf. also the titles of works, pratyahgiratatva, (sc. karmasu).
pratyahgirapa^ahga, and pratyahgirasukta, mentioned in Bohtlingk's Lexicon, as probably dealing with the sametheme.1
We mayIll, 2, 5;
connect with this pejorative use of the2;
Cf.
AV.
VII, 108,
IX, 2,4;
5, 31
;
XIV,
2,
48.
2
Darila, ghoradravyai.
K&yava, angirasoigni/* MSaunakiya, and Paippalada.vakhas2,
but
apocryphal.
we should be slow to condemn them as wholly The Gop. Br. I, 1, 5 and 8 also narrates in itsAhgiras,
own
style of unbridled Brahmanical fancy the separate creation by Brahman of the i^z'shis Atharvan andangirasaViam adyai// paHnuvakai// svaha (XIX, 22, 1); sarvebhyo Migirobhyovidagaebhya/;svaha(XIX, 22, 18); atharvawalnaw katmrikebhya/i1
sva'ha2
XIX,
23, 1).ff.
Cf.
Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 433
INTRODUCTION.
XX111
the subsequent emanation from these two of twenty Atharvanic and Ahgirasic descendant sages \ and finally, the production by the Atharvans of the atharva//a veda, by the
Ahgiras of ahgirasa vcda. In another passage, I, 3,
4,
the Gop. Br. also asserts the;
separate character of the Ahgiras and Atharvans the latter are again associated with bhesha^am, the former is madethe base of a foolish
etymology, to wit
:
bhuyish/V/a;//
brahma yad
ye*iigiraso ye^hgiraso sa rasa//, ye*tharva//o ye*tharva//as tad bhesha^am. As regards the chronology and cause of this differentia-
bhr/gvahgirasa//,
tion ofCause of thedifferentiation
atharvan and ahgiras the texts are,
.
of atharvan
and
angiras.
Ihe association 01 apparently wholly silent. both names (and later of the name bhrz'sai also) with the texts and practices of thev
.,
..
.
.
.
r
fourth
Veda may be sought in the mythic beings. They are fire-priests,rites,
character of thesefire-churners2,
and
the Atharvanic
as well as the house-ceremonies in
general, centre about the fire, the oblations are into the fire. Fire-priests, in distinction from soma-priests, may
have had
commongiras in
keeping these homelier practices of But whence the terrible aspect of the Ahlife. In the contrast to the auspicious Atharvans ?in
their
hymn
about Sarama and the
Pa//is,
RV. X,
108, 10,
Saramafca.
threatens the Pa//is with the terrible Ahgiras, ahgirasa.?
This statement, wholly incidental as ghora//. be, is, of course, not to be entirely discarded.portantis
it
seems
to
More im-
Br/haspati, the divine purodha In Kaiu. 135, 9, Br/'hasdistinctly ahgirasa. (purohita), as the representative, or pati Ahgirasa appears distinctly
the fact
that
is
the divinity of witchcraft performances.rata
In the
MahabhaIn his
he is frequently called ahgirasa?// jresh/V/a//. function of body-priest of the gods it behoves1
him
to
Doubtless by
way
of allusion to the twenty books in the existing redaction
The expression vi;.rino irigirasa/j is rep ated Paw. of the .S'aunakiya-.rakha. V, 2, 37, as a designation of the twenty books of the .Saunakiya-^akha in itspresent redaction.2
Avestan
atar-,
athra-van and Vedic athar-van
may
be derivatives from the
root manth, math (mth) 'churn.' But the absence of the aspiration in atarmakes the doubtful derivation still more doubtful.
XXIV
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
exercise against hostile powers those fierce qualities which are later in a broader sense regarded as Arigirasic. Thus
RV. X, 164, 4 AV. VI, 45, 3 1 certainly exhibits this function of the divine purohita, and the composer of AV. X, i, 6, when he exclaims, Prati^ina ( Back-hurler") the, '
=
:i
hita)
descendant of Ahgiras, is our overseer and officiator (purodo thou drive back again (pratii/;) the spells, and:
slay yonder fashioners of the spells,' has also in mind the divine purohita 2 The stanza foreshadows the later forma.
tion praty ahgiras, discussed above. ever, for statements of the reason
Wewhy
lookthe
in vain, howword atharvan
should be especially associated with
and must assume thatcontrastingit
this
santa. and bhesha^a, was accomplished by secondarily
had incrustated
with ahgiras after the sense of ghora, abhi^ara itself over it The uncertainty of all this:! .
does not endanger the result that at a comparatively early time the terms atharva/za//, in the sense of holy charms,''
and ahgirasa^, in the sense of witchcraft charms,' joined the more distinctively hieratic terms rikaM, ya^uwshi, and'
types of Brahmanical literary But this distinction was at a later period again abandoned in the end the name atharvan and its derivatives prevail as designations of the practices and charms of the fourth Veda without reference to theirsamani,characteristic
as
performances.
;
strongly diversified character.
The stem atharvanof
is
modulated
in
ways byin
derivative processes, the simple stemI
a considerable variety itself, or
it, being decidedly rare, and not have noted Nrz'siwhapurvatapani Up. I, 4, Plural forms are less r/gya^Ti/rsamatharvarupa// surya/z. rare: atharvawo veda/i, 5at. Br. XIII, 4, atharvaram, 3, 7
forms
the singular from
at all early.
;
1
yad
indra
brahmaas pate-bhidrohaw
aramasi,
praeta na ahgiraso
dvishata'w patv awhasa^.
RV. IV, 50, 7-9 prescribes that kings shall keep in honour (subhr/tam) a brz'haspati, i. e. a Brahman purohita, in archaic language whose sense coincides completely with the later Atharvanic notions. Barring the diction the passage might stand in any Atharva-ParLnsh/a cf. below, p. lxviii, note. 3 A dash of popular etymology may have helped the process a-tharvan, 'not injuring;' cf. thurv in the sense of 'injure,' Dhatupa///a XV, 62, and perhaps Maitr. S. II, 10, 1 also the roots turv and dhfirv with similar meanings.; : ;
5
INTRODUCTION.
XXVXVI,10, 10.
TB.from
Ill,,
12, 9,
i
;
atharva//a//, Vs.uk. Br.(sc.
The
derivative neuter plural atharva;/ani
AV.XIX,
23,
1
;
suktani) is common, Pa;7. Br. XII, 9, 10 to Vr/ddhahavol.ini,
rita-sawhita. III,
45 (^ivananda,is
p.
213),
and
later.
the masculine singular, atharva;/aj- (sc. veda//) /aturtha/, AV/and. Up. VII, 1, 2. 4: in the plural, mantra atharvawa/^, Ram. II, 26, 21. 2, 7, 1stem, atharva;/a,
The same1
used
;
;
The stemMahabh.Still
atharva;/a (without vr/ddhi of derivation) is found Nr/siwhapurvatapani Up. II, 1, atharva^air mantrai//Ill,
;
189,
14
==
12963,is
atharvawa//in
(sc.
veda/^).
another
derivative
atharva//a,
atharva//a-vid,
The name atharva-veda 342, 100=13259. appears about as early as the corresponding names of the other Vedic categories (r/gveda. &c), vSarikh. Sr. XVI, 2,Mahabh. XII,10; Par. G;/h.IV,5, 1.
II, 1, 7;
The form employedis
Hir. Gr/h. II, 19, 6; Baudh. Grih. in the Cainist Siddhanta islvi);
a(t)havva//a-veda (see below, p.scriptures
that of the Buddhist
athabbawa-veda
(ibid.).
In addition to the designations of the Atharvan discussed above there are still others, based upon different modes ofOther
viewing this heterogeneous collection of Mantras.single passage, Sat. Br. XIV, 8, 14, 1-4 = Bnh. Ar. Up. V, 13, 1-4, seems to hint at the Veda with the word kshatram. The passage isin
designations
A
fourth
engagedya^u//,
stated in the series
pointing out the merits of Vedic compositions, uktham ( = rik cf. .S'at. Br. X, 5, 2, 20),;
sama, kshatram.
Inasmuch
as theit
first
three ob-
is possible to view trayi vidya, kshatram as epitomising the Atharvan 1 If so, the passage is of considerable interest, as it seems to view the fourth
viously represent the
.
Veda
as the
Veda
of the Kshatriyas.
Morei.e.
precisely the
passage substitutes the act of kshatra,
the characteristic
performances of the Kshatriya (through, or with the aid of1
Cf. also Praxna
Up.
II, 6,
represent in the epics the best'
where brahma and kshatra figure. Both together outcome of the life of a kshatriya, piety ami''
elliptic version of
possible to conceive the appearance of kshatra alone as an both brahma and kshatra, the two together being the outcome of the trayi preceding, rather than a supplementary statement of additional Vetlic types of composition cf. Pra^na Up. II, 6. For brahma alone, see below,prowess.'It is;
p. xxxi, note.
XXVI
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
fessor
Atharvanic by distinction. Recently Prohas emphasised the marked relation of the Atharvan to the royal caste.his purohita) as
Weber x
text of the Sawhita abounds in ra^akarmawi, royal practices,' and Weber thinks that the name of Kaiuika, the'
The
author of the great Atharvan Sutra, points to a Kshatriya connection, since Kuj-ika is identical with Vi.yvamitra, and the latter, as is well known, stands forth among the ancient
Vedic heroes as the representative of royalty. None of these points can be regarded as more than possibilities 2.
other designations of the AV. differ from all the preceding in that they are the product of a later Atharliterary age, neither of them being found in the Sawmita, and both being almost wholly restricted to the ritual text of the Atharvan itself. They are the terms
Two
vanic
bh/'/gvangirasa/r
and brahma-veda.is,
The term
bhr/gvaiigirasa/^
as far as the evidence of
the accessible literature goes, found only in Atharvan texts. Though bhr/gu takes in this compound the place of atharvan. the terms bhr/gava/^ or bhr/guveda do not occur. The term bhr/gvarigirasa//, however, is the favourite designation of the Veda in the Atharvan ritual texts 3 it makes a show,:
crowding out the other designations. Thus the Kaiuika does not directly mention the Atharvan compositions by any other name (see 63, 3; 94, 2-4; cf. 137, 25;in fact, of
139, 6), although vaguer allusions to this Veda and adherents are made with the stem atharvan (59, 25 73,;
its1
2
;
1
EpischesJuly 23, 189123, note.;
ini
vedischen Ritual, Proc. of the Royal
Academy
at
Berlin,4,
nr. xxxviii, p.
785
ff.
(especially 787, top);
Ra^asuya, pp.
2 We may note also the prominence allowed in the AV. to the kind of performance called sava. These are elaborate and rather pompous bestowals of or dakshiwa, rising as high as the presentation of a house i^alasava, IX, 3) a goat with five messes of porridge, five cows, five pieces of gold, and five garments (a^audana, IX, 4). There are twenty-two kinds of these sava, and the eighth book of the Kaiuika is devoted to their exposition (Kej-ava 64-66;
Revenues of this kind are not likely to presents a brief catalogue of them). have been derived from lesser personages than rich Kshatriyas, or kings. 3 In the Sawhita the stem bhr/gvahgiras is never employed as the name ofas the the Atharvan writings in AV. V, 19, 1. names of typical Brahman priests.;
2
the terms bh/z'gu and ahgirasa occur
INTRODUCTION.125, 2.)1,
XXVlt
1, 5 Gop. Br. and it is common in the Pamish/as (see Weber, Omina und Portenta, p. 346 Verzeichniss der Sanskrit und Prakrit Handschriften, II, No valid reason appears 89 fif.), and the Anukramawi. the term bhr/gu has succeeded in encroaching so far why upon the term atharvan. The following may, however, be remarked. The three words atharvan, aiigiras, and bhr/gu are in general equivalent, or closely related mythic names;
The term
also occurs in Vait. Su.3, 1. 2.
I,
39
;
2,
18 (end);
4,
fif.
;
connection with the production or the service of fire. Occasionally in the mantras (RV. X, 14, 6) they are found all together 1 or bhr/gu is found in company with atharvanin,
(RV. X,
92, 10), or with ahgiras
interrelation of the three
(RV. VIII, 43, 13). This names continues in the Ya^us and,
of bhr/gu
Brahmawa-texts, but in such a way that the juxtaposition and arigiras becomes exceedingly frequent 2in fact.Sat.
broaching reached in
on complete synonymy. The latter Br. IV, 1, 5, 1, where the sage iTyavana.
is
is
3 It Bhargava or as an Angirasa is conceivable that the of this collocation sugfrequency gested to the Atharvavedins a mode of freshening up the
designated either as a
more
trite
combination atharvangirasa/^
a conscious preference of the
of any reason for word bhr/gu the texts show;
no trace
4.
origin is discussed below likewise belongs to the sphere of the Atharvan (p. Ixv) ritual. Outside of the Atharvan there is to be noted only
The term brahma-veda whose
a single, but indubitable occurrence, 5ahkh. Gr/h.
I,
1
6, 3.
1
Cf.
Weber, Verzeichniss,
II, 46.;
E.g. Tait. S. I, 1, 7, 2; Maitr.S. I, 1, 8; Ykg. S. I, iS Tait. Br. I, 1,4,8; III, 2, 7, 6; .Sat. Br. I, 2, 1, 13 Katy. St. II, 4, 38 Apast. .S'r. I, 12,3; 23, 6 Yaska's Nigh.V, 5 Nir. XI, 18. The juxtaposition of bhr/gu and atharvan is decidedly rarer in this class of texts (e.g. Apast. St. IV, 12, 10); that of blm'gu and angiras continues in the Mahabharata, and later see Pet. Lex. s. v.; ; ; ;;
2
(col. 364, top).
Cf. similarly DadhyaM Atharvawa, Tait. S. V, 1, 4, 4, with Dadhya/7/Angirasa, Tank. Br. XII, 8, 6. 4 A statement like that of the late Aulika Upanishad 10, that the Bhr/gu are foremost among the Athaivans (atharvao bhr/guttama//), if it is takenseriously at all, reflects rather the result than the cause of the substitution of the
3
name bhr/gu
for atharvan.
XXV111
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA..
Even in the Atharvan Upanishads the term is wanting 1 The earliest occurrences of the word, aside from vSaiikh. The word is Grih., are Vait. Su. 1, I; Gop. Br. I, 2, 16. common in the Paruish/as.
We maykalpin.
They do
note finally the terms pa/7akalpa and pankanot refer directly to the Sawhitas of the
AV., but are both bahuvrihi-compounds designating 'one who practises with the five kalpas of the AV.,' i.e. Atharvan Thus the words were first explained by the author, priests. Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XI. 378 Kaiuika, Introduction, Cf. also Magoun, The Asuri-kalpa, Amer. Journ. p. lvii.;
Phil. X, 169. They are very late they do not occur in the Sutras or Brahma//a of the AV., nor, as far as is known, in the literature proper of that Veda. They appear as the:
of scribes of Atharvan texts, see Kauyika, Introduction, p. ix Weber, Verzeichniss der Sanskrit und Prakrittitles;
But they are sufficiently attested Handschriften, II, 96. outside of the Atharvan, in the expression, pa/Xakalpam atharva;/am, Mahabh. XII. 342, 99 = 13258, and in the
Mahabhashya
(Ind. Stud. XIII, 455).
II.
The
position of the
Atharva-vedain
in
Hindu Literature
general.
In addressing oneself to the task of characterising the estimate which the Hindus placed upon the AtharvanStatementof the
texts ar>d practices, it is especially needful to take a broad, if possible a universal view, of
the statements of the Vedic and mediaevaltexts
bearing
upon
the
question.
The Atharvan
is
1
The word;
occurs in certain doubtful variants of the text of theI,
MuWaka
Up.
see Ind. Stud.
301, note.
In
Ram
I,
65, 22
with kshatraveda, just as at Mahabh. VII, 23, dhanurveda. In such cases the word brahma is not to be referred pregnantly to the fourth Veda, but to Brahmanic religion in general represented by the first caste, the science of war being in the hands of the second, or warrior-caste. Cf. below,p. xlii.
brahmaveda is contrasted = 39 988 brahma veda with
however, seems tothe
The word biahmavid, Mahabh. Ill, 2625 (Nala 14, 18, brahmarshi\ mean skilled in sorcery,' and may contain an allusion to'
AV.
INTRODUCTION.asacredtextin
XXIX:
more than one respectit
aside
from
the materials whichvedas,
manywe:
of
its
shares with the Rig- and Ya^urhymns and practices are benevolentin
(bhesha^a) and arethese, as
general well regarded, though even
shall see,
do not altogether escape the
blight
of contempt. Many hymns of the AV. are theosophic in character on whatsoever ground they found shelter in the Atharvan collectiolis they cannot have been otherwise than highly esteemed.
charms designed to establish harmony in family and village life and reconciliation of enemies (the so-called sa7//manasyani, p. 134 ff.), and theclass of
The
their nature.sarily
royal ceremonies (ra^akarmawi), are obviously auspicious in Even the sorceries of the Atharvan neces-
show
a double face
:
they are useful to oneself, harmful
According as they are employed objectively and aggressively, they are a valuable and forceful instrumentto others.
and aggrandisement of him that employs according as one suffers from them subjectively and This conpassively, they are dreadful and contemptible. flict of emotions lasts throughout the history of the recorded Hindu thought the colour of the Atharvan remains changeable to the end, and is so described in the final orthodox and stereotyped view that it is used to appease, to bless, and to curse 1 The fact, however, is that there must havefor the benefit;
them
;
'
.'
arisen in the long run a strong wave of popular aversion against the Veda, whose most salient teaching is sorcery.as to the
This appears from the discussions of the Hindus themselves 2 from the conscious orthodoxy of that Veda;
Atharvan writings to vindicate its character and value from the allegorical presentation of the Atharvan as a lean black man, sharp, irascible, and amorous 3 and many occasional statements of the Vedic and classical texts. The history of the relation of the Atharvan to the remaining Hindu literature is, however,efforts of the later;' ' ; 1
I,
16)2
jantikapaush/ikabhiHradipratip&daka, Madhusudanasarasvati (Ind. Stud. Kcrava to Kaiu. 1,1; Deva to Katy. Sr. XV, 7, 11, and elsewhere.;
According to Burnell, Vaw5abrahmaa of the Samaveda, p. xxi, the most influential scholars of Southern India still deny the genuineness of the Atharvan. 3 Ragendralalamitra in the Introduction to the Gopatha-brahmawa, p. 4.
XXXstill
HYMNS OF THE ATHAKVA-VEDA.unwritten, and the following pages aim to supply the
necessary data. In the hymn to the Purusha, the primaeval cosmic man (RV. X, 90, 9), the three Vedic categories, rik&h samani..
.
Position of the AV. in the Rigveda.
. ,. JA Avvandawsi,
yaguh, are mentioned..
;
a fourth term.,
is
canons,
or
generic, embodying the metrical the metrical compositions as a *
,
,
,
.
.
opportunity to mention the Atharvan is neglected *. The names atharvan, arigiras, and bhrz'gu. which occur frequently elsewhere in the RV., designate mythic personages, intimately connected with the production of the fire, and the soma-sacrifice nowhere do they seem to refer to any kind of literary composition.whole, but the;
Even the expression brahma/n, used
in
connection with
atharvan, RV. I, 80, 16, can claim no special interest, because, as will appear later (p. lxvi), the word brahma is never used as a specific designation of Atharvan charms.
No
great importance is to be attached to this silence the praises to the gods in connection with the great somasacrifices, with their prevailing mythical colouring, darkened;
very often by priestly mysticism, offer but scant occasion for the mention of sorcery, or the plainer practices of everyday life. Yet sorcery and house-practices there were inIndia atall
times
2.
The
failure of the
Rig-veda to mention
like atharvangirasa/*its(cf.
any systematic redaction of charms by a collective name must be gauged by the slenderness ofopportunities to mention the Veda as a generic name VIII, 19, 5), or Vedic collections or redactions in par3.
ticular (X, 90, 9)
There
is
no proof that even the oldest
1
brahma2s
For RV. X, 71, 11, which also hints at the three Vedic types, and the that embraces them all, see the full discussion below, p. lxiv ff. Cf. e. g., RV. I, 191 VII, 50, and especially VII, 104, 16.;
The familiar mention of compositions .rastra, &c, does not, it is important to note,types of poetic productivity;
called rik, saman, uktha, stotra, refer to collections at all, but toall
they are moreover
of
them such
as were dis-
Their presence simply accentuates tinctly connected with the soma-sacrifice. the preoccupation of the body of the Rig-vedic collection with the great priestlysacrifices,
classes of writings.
and the consequent absence of the more general terms for Vedic The stem ya^u/z, in the sense of collection of formulas of9.
the Ya^ur-veda, occurs only in the above-mentioned passage, X, 90,
INTRODUCTION.
XXXI
parts of the RV., or the most ancient Hindu tradition accessible historically, exclude the existence of the classentitled to any of the names given to the Atharvan charms there is no evidence that these writings ever differed in form (metre) or style from those in the and, finally, there is no existing Atharvan redactions evidence barring the argumentum ex silentio positive
of writings
;
;
that the
names current in other texts as designations of Atharvan hymns (bhesha^ani, atharvawa//, angirasa/^, &c.) were unknown at the earliest period of literary activity.
On the other hand, the existing redactions of the AV. betray themselves as later than the RV. redaction by the character of the variants in those mantras which they sharewith the
RV.
regards the AV., the stanza X, 7, 20 presents the four Vedic categories, rika.li, ya^u/z, samani, and atharvahg' rasa/^j tne ^ as ^ the traditional name of thePosition of the AV. in5
As
.Saunakiya-version.at
The same tetrad
is
intended
of the
XI,
6, 14,
where the narrower term bhesha.
takes the place of atharvarigirasa/^. At sawhita. v IX, 54, 5 the mention of atharvan and angiras, though not directly referable to the AV., certainlySaunaktva-
X v
-a(ni)
suggests it, because stanza 3 speaks in the same strain of the rikdji and yzguh and in XIX, 22, 1 23, 1 (pamishfa in character cf. above, p. the arigirasani and atharxxii),;
;
;
vawani (sc suktani) are mentioned separately.this text also fails to present a fixed
Otherwise
name for the type of literature known later as Atharvanic l The Atharvan is very much in the same position as we shall find the Ya^"us.
the three Vedas are mentioned, often in connection with other more specific forms and designations of prayer and sacerdotal acts, but the Atharvan is omitted. Thetexts:
impression
left in
both cases
is
by no means
that of con-
scious neglect or contempt, but rather of esoteric restriction to the sphere of the great Vedic ritual (.srauta) 2 Thus.
The word brahma which is catalogued with the trayi at XI, 8, 23 XV. 6, 3 XV, 3, 7) does not refer to the Atharvan, but is the broader and higher term for religious activity in general. Cf. RV. X, 71, 11, and see below, p. Ixvi.1;
(cf.
also
v
E. g. in the very same
hymn
(X,
7,
14) in
which the Atharvangirasa/* are
XXXll
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
it
a
augurs no contempt or neglect of the Atharvan, if in charm constructed for the purpose of obtaining a know:
ledge of the Vedas, AV. VII, 54 (Kau^. 42, 9), only rtk, saman, yagu/i, veda, and oblation (havi/i) are mentioned the person who here desires Vedic learning is not in trainingfor Atharvan priesthood, and therefore does not take care 1 And similarly a conto include this specialistic learning siderable number of additional Atharvan passages, IX, 6,.
23 XII, 1, 38 XV, 3, 6-8 6, 3, in which the Atharvan is not mentioned with the other Vedic1.
2
;
XI,
7, 5.
24;
8,
;
;
;
compositions, betray no sign of conscious exclusion or contempt of the Atharvan. On the other hand, this very
omission ensures the interesting result that the Sa;;/hita of the AV., unlike its ritualistic adjuncts (see p. lvii fif.), is in no wise engaged either in self-glorification, or in
polemics against the other Vedas. It seems altogether evident that the Atharvan diaskeuasts were totally uncon-
any disadvantages inherent in their text, or any contemptuous treatment on the part of the adherents ofscious of
the other Vedas.
In addition to the explicit designation of the Atharvan compositions as atharvangirasa/^, bhesha^ani, atharva//ani, &c, there is to be noted in the .Saunakiya-text of the
hymns
a decided advance in the association of the names
Atharvan, Aiigiras, and Bhr/gu with the practices and The older, conditions which these hymns are aimed at.broader, and vaguer mythic personality of all three which X, 14, 6 ( = AV. XVIII, appears, e.g. in RV. VIII, 43, t 3;
t,1,
58); X, 92, 10,1;
is
still8.
continued
in
the Atharvan (VI,
6, 13; XVI, 11-14): Atharvan, Aiigiras, and are at times simply semi-divine, or wholly divine Bhrzgu
XI,
in a stanza
mentioned as the fourth Veda the poet lapses into the more familiar traividya, which, like st. 20, aims to state that the Vedas are derived froma monotheistic personification;
Skambha (Brahma),Texts, V, 378.1
cf.
Muir, Original SanskritIll, 3,
A
similar passage in a Sutra of the
RV. (Asv Grih.
13), on the
occasion, namely, the study of the Veda, does not hesitate to include the Atharvan along with many other Vedic texts. This does not argue consciouspreference, anycf.
same
more than the Atharvan passage
indicates conscious exclusion
;
below, p.
xliv.
INTRODUCTION.beings,
XXXlll
whose
office is entirely
non-Atharvanic.
But on the
other hand the Atharvans appear at IV, $J, i as slayers of the Rakshas (similarly IV, 3, 7) the Atharvans and;
Angiras fasten amulets, and consequently slay the Dasyus, at X, 6, 20 and the name Bhr/gu appears at V, 19, 1 (cf. TS. I, 8, 18, 1 TB. I, 8, 2, 5) as the typical designation;
;
of a Brahma^a, i.e. here, of an Atharvan priest. Such specialisations of these names are unknown in the RV.Especially noteworthyciation of thespells,
name
the evident beginning of the assoangirasa with aggressive witchcraft oris
and the somewhatp. xviii
less clear
corresponding correla-
tion of the stem
above,
ff.).
atharvaz/a with auspicious charms (see Altogether the impression arises that
the names Atharvan, Angiras, and Bhr/gu, connected with the redaction of the AV., have in the text of that Veda
assumed, or commenced to assume, thedefinitely
office
which the
diaskeuast and the ritualistic texts of the Atharvan have
and permanently bestowed upon them.
In the domain of thein
.rruti, exclusive of the Rig-veda, i. e. the Ya^*us-sa;//hitas, and the Brahmawas, the position of the Atharvan is on the whole defined with
Position of the AV. in the rest of the miti.
sufficient clearness.t j leL
It depends altogether on p rac tical character of these texts as exponents of the great Vedic sacrifices, the:
rr
.
.
srauta-performances
these,
by
their very nature, exclude
any very
direct interest in
bhesha^ani and woven with the jrauta-performances has acquired independent expression in the metrical and prose formulas the Ya^us-sawhitas it figures in the form and by the;
the systematic charms of the abhiarika//i. Such sorcery as is inter-
name
of sacrificial formulas
threefold
Veda
(trayi
vidya).
(ya^urashi) as part of the Thus the subject-matter':
of formulas like the following I dig (pits) that slay the Rakshas, destroy the spells that belong to Vishnu ; that spell here which my equal or unequal has dug into (the
ground) do I cast out I make subject here my unequal that plans hostile schemes against Maitr. S. I, 2, 10. I, 3, 2, 1 VI, 2, 11, 1.2;
myme11'
equal or(Tait. S. Va^. S.
;
;
;
V, 23
ff.
;
5at. Br. Ill, 5, 4, 8
ff.),
is
by
its
very terms
[42]
c
XXXIV
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
Atharvanic, and the practices by which its recitation is supplemented might be described in the Kamika-sutra.
The formula yo asman'
he that hates us andlike),
dvesh/i yaw/ ka. whom we hatein
vayaw'
dvishma//,perish,
(shall
or
the
occurs countless times
as in the
Atharvan charms. the Atharvan are present at the Vedicat the practices of privatelife;
the Ya^us-texts, as well The aims and the acts ofsacrifice, as well aslies
the difference
in:
thein
degree of applicability, and the degree of prominence
the jruti-literature the sphere of the Atharvan is restricted to matters that are incidental and subsidiary, intended
merely to pave the way
for the
main
issue,
the successful
dispatching of the sacrifice to the gods, and the undisturbed gratification of the priests (the ish/am and the purUnder these circumstances and at such a time tam).
pronouncedparadox, too
hostility against the Atharvan would silly even for the Ya^-us-texts and the
be a
Brah:
mawasthatis
;
no such hostility or repugnance is in evidence reserved for a later and more reflective age.
first place then, the mythic personages Atharvan, Ahgiras, and Bhr/gu, whose proper names in the course of time are growingly restricted to the sphere of the Atharvan, continue in their pristine position of demi-gods.
In the
At
Maitr. S.
I, 6,
i
the Ahgiras are*
tva devana;/z vratena
dadhe
;
gods, ahgirasawz similarly Tait. Br. I, 1,4, 8,;
still
bhr/gu;/a;// tva*rigirasa;// vratapate vratena*dadhami also Tait. Br. Ill, 2, 7, 6 ; Maitr. S. I, 1, 8 Vag. S.;
cf.I,
18 (Sat. Br.11, 7-
I, 2,
i,
13
;
Katy. St.
II,
4,38); Apast. Sr. V,;
Br.
I,
For Atharvan, see Tait. S. V, 1, 4, 3 1, 10, 4 XI, 32. Va^. S. VIII, 56;
6, 6,
;
And
Tait. 3 so innu\
merable other instances.of the threedivinities,
Needless to say, the descendantsconceived
eponymically as the
founders of families of AVshis, the Atharvawa, Ahgirasa, and Bhargava, enjoy the same rights, and hold the sameposition of honour as the other families of AVshis, it being reserved for the later Atharvan writings to extol them
beyond measure, and to establish them as the typical teachers 1 Thus Atharvan Daiva is the name of an ancient.
1
Cf.
Weber, Omina und Portenta,
p. 347.
INTRODUCTION.teacher,
XXXV7,
Sat4, 2,
Atharvawa,18;
Tait. S. V,;
VI,
Anukramam5, 1;
Dadhya/} IV, 1, 5, the countless Ahgirasa, of which the RV. 3 counts no less than 45 \ e. g. 5at. Br. IV, 1.5, 5,;
Br.
XIV,
22
3,
28
;
I,
4,
4
;
6, 6,
3
;
.Sat. Br.
Kaush. Br. XXX, 6 Ait. Br. VIII, 21, 13 Apast. 11,7; an d the equally frequent Bhargava, Tait. S. Sat. Br. ib. Ait. Br. VIII, 2, 1. 5 Kau^. Br. I, 8, 1 8, 1 XXII, 4. Occasionally, doubtless, even the j-ruti feels the connection that has been established between these names and the sphere of Atharvanic literary activity, as when the Ka///. S. XVI, 13 mentions a i*?z'shi Bhisha^ Atharva/za 2 the Kaush. Br. XXX, 6, (see Weber, Ind. Stud. Ill, 459);
;
Sv. V,
;
;
;
;
a Rishi
Ghora AhgirasaDadhya/7in
states that
when the Tauk. Br. XII, 8, 6 Ahgirasa was the chaplain (puro;
or
dhaniya) of the gods.
The manner
which the hymns of the Atharvan areis
alluded to in the .rrauta-texts
as follows.
Ordinarily the
texts are preoccupied with the sacrificial literature in the narrower sense, and hence devote themselves to the mention
and laudation of the trayi vidya, either without recount-
ing its specific literary varieties, or by fuller citation of the terms rz'k, saman, yagu/i. For these are substituted not
&c,
infrequently other terms like stoma, uktha, .yastra, udgitha. special liturgical varieties, also derived directly from
the sphere of the .srauta-performances, and, in fact, strictly dependent upon these performances for their existence.
On
make draughts uponpurawa,that
the other hand, whenever the jrauta-texts mention, or other literary forms like itihasa,gatha,sutra,is
Atharvantraividyaplace,
literature
upanishad, and many others, the almost unfailingly included, and:
too almostis
the invariably in the following order mentioned first, the Atharvan holds the fourthin
and next follow
somewhat
variable arrangement
the types itihasa, &c.1
Cf.
Weber, Episches im vedischen Ritual, Sitzungsberichte der Koniglieh-
Preussischenreprint).2
Akadcmie
d.
Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1S91,
p.
812 (46 of the
of the oshadhistuti, 'the
The same apocryphal .AYshi is reported uy the AnukraiTia/ns as the author hymn to the plants,' RV. X, 97; Vao-. S. XII, 75-S9. C 2
XXXVI
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.Taittiriya-sa?;zhitaat II, 4, 12, 7;
Thus theyaguk aloneThe AV.thein
mentions1;
rik,1,
5, 7,
VI,.
saman, and VII, 3, 2, 4;
1,4
;
12,
1
;
the,,.
same categories are alluded,
to
,T
at II, 4,s ham, '
1 1, o,
in
the expressions samna//, yagu;
,
A
7
Taittinyasawhita.
and ukthamadanam.
at III, '.
2, '
9, y
in the expressions udgat/7//am (with udgitha),
\
5."T
6
uktha.ra7/zsinam (with rika/i),
and adhvaryuz/am
;
cf.
also
ish/aya^usha//, stutastomasya, .rastokthasya at
I,
4, 28, 1.
The
only mention of Atharvan literature is at VII, 5, 1 1, 2, under the designation arigirasa// (without atharvawa// a ), andhere the textis
as follows
:
svaha, samabhya// svaha, arigirobhya/^
rtgbhya/z svaha, ya^urbhya//, svaha, vedebhya/^svaha, raibhi-
svaha, gathabhya/^ svaha, nanuawsibhya/^ bhya// svaha.
Thisthe
also, in thein
main,
is
the nature of the references to
AV.in
the
5atapatha-brahmawa., .
Either the term
The AV.the
trayi vidya is used, or rik, saman, and yagu/i ,. , T TT are mentioned explicitly: I, 1, 4, 2. 3; II,5'
Satapathabrahma/;a.
4
.
'
2_7 * '
'
TV67I2-V^^IQ-VI * * 5 &iV'
7
'
J
"
'
V
'
'
'
'
'
1,1,8;2,
3, 1, 10. 11.
20
;
VII,5, 2,;
5, 2,1.
52
;
VIII,5, 4,
5,
4; IX,
5, 2,
T2; X,;
4, 2, 21.;
22;
2; XI,
18;
8, 3-7; XII, 3, 3, 2 4, 9 XIV, 4,3, 12 8, 15, 2. 9. In all these cases there is no mention of the Atharvan but neither;
there any mention of any other literary type that has a distinctive standing outside of the trayi vidya. On theis
other hand, the Atharvan
is
mentioned
in
a
number
of cases,
every one of which presents also a lengthy list of additional literary forms. Thus XI, 5, 6, 4-8, rikah, ya^uwshi,samani, atharvarigirasa/?, anu^asanani. vidya, vakovakyam, XIII, 4, 3, 3 ff., riko itihasapura/^am, gatha narasamsyah;
vtdah, ya^uwshi veda//, atharvawo veda//, arigiraso w&da/i,
sarpavidya10;6,
\edah,
itihaso veda//.10,
purawaw7, 3,
deva^anavidya veda/^, maya \edah, veda/;, samani vedah XIV, 5, 4,;
(=Brzh. Ar. II, 4, 10; IV, 1, 2; 5, 11), r/gvedo yagurvedah samavedo*tharvangirasa itiha.sa/1 ^wxanam vidya upanishadaZ: s\oka/i sutra/zy anuvyakhyanani vyakhyanani X. 5, 2, 20, adhvaryava// (yagu/i),6;11;
1
Ct. above, p. xviii.
INTRODUCTION.
XXXV11
//andoga// (saman), bahvrtfca./i (uktham). yatuvida/2 (yatu). Only a single Upanishad deva^anavida//. sarpavida//.
.
.
XIV, 8, 14, 1-4 ( = B/-?'h. Ar. Up. V, 13, 1-4). seems to mention, or rather hint at. the Atharvan in conpassage,
nection with representatives of the trayi vidya, without The series is uktham, ya^u//. mentioning other texts \ tlie passage possibly views the fourth sama, kshatram;
Veda
as the
Veda
of the Kshatriyas, or,i
more
precisely,
substitutes the act of kshatra,
e.
the performances of theSec. for this, p. xxv,
kshatriya as Atharvanic above.
by
distinction.
Theoncein
Taittiriya-brahma//a mentions the Atharvan twice. accordance with the method described above, atIII. 12,'
8,.
2,. .
t
he
ngirasa^.
riko ya^-uwshi samani atharvaIn the other itihasapunbvam.
passage, III, 12, 9, I, the Atharvan is menbrahmawa. tioned without the customary adjuncts, and that too before the Sama-veda. to wit. rikkm pra^iTaittinya-
mahati dig u^yate, dakshiwam ahur ya^usham aparam. atharvawam arigirasa;/* prati^i, samnam udii mahati dig uyate. But it is of interest to note that in the sequel, where sundry symbolic and mystic correlations of the Vedas with the sun, &c, are established, the Atharvan iswanting, and the operations take place with vedais tribhi//. Thus, rigbhik purvahne divi deva iyate, ya^urvede tish///ati
madhye
alma//,
samavedena^stamaye mahiyate,
vedair
shall not err in judging a^-unyas tribhir eti surya//. that the fourth Veda is mentioned in a purely formulaic
We
manner, only because
it is
needed to
fill
out the scheme of
the real theme at the four principal directions of space the heart of the author is the traividya, as, e. g. in III, 10,;
ii, 5. 6.
On
the other hand,
it
would be altogether erro-
neous to assume either
hostility, or conscious discrimina-
The Taittiriya-ara;/yaka again tion against the Atharvan falls into line in two passages, II, 9 and 10, presenting thetextsin
their
most expansive form,
7'ika/i,
yag&tnshi,
Conversely the trayi is catalogued with other texts (vakovakyam itihacf. the same list sapurawam), but without the Atharvan, at XI, 5, 7, 6 .S'ahkh. Crih. I, 24, 8.ft'.;
1
XXXV111
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
brahma//ani, itihasan, purawani, kalpan, gatha/^, narai-awsi/^. The only mention of the Atharvan as a literary type in
samani, atharvangirasa//,
.S'ahkhayana's 5rauta-sutraseries,the remainmg ^rauta(
m
is at XVI, 2, 2 ff., again in the riko veda/^, ya^urveda/^, atharvaveda^ connection with bhesha^am), aiigiraso veda/^
^j
n connection with ghoram), sarpavidya, ra-
kshovidya, asuravidya, itihasaveda/t, pura//aA veda/^, samaveda/^. Very similarly in Aj-valayana s 5rautasutra X, 7, 1 ff., riko veda// ya^urvedaZ, atharva/^aZ;veda/^ (with bhesha^am), aiigiraso veda// (with
ghoram),
vishavidya, pua^avidya, asuravidya, purawavidya, itihaso These passages are essentially idenveda//, samaveda//.tical
with
wSat.
Br.
XIII,
4,
3,
3
ff.,
above
;
their chief
and ahgiras, respectively as representatives of the auspicious (bhesha^am) and terrible (ghoram = abhiarikam) activities of this Vedainterest lies in the differentiation of atharvan;
cf.
above, p. xviii;
10
XVI,:
In the Pa;Xavi///.s-a-brahma//a, XII, 9, 10, 10, the Atharvan charms are mentionedff.
favourablyvai
bhesha"aw va atharvawani, and bhesha^"a;atharva;/o16, 7;
also
Cf. bheshayayai*va*rish/yai. XI, 5 (cf. Ind. Stud. 111,463). The Va^asaneyi-sa7//hita mentions the traividya (or rik
devanamXXIII,
Ka^.
S.
and saman without yaguh) frequently, IV, 1.9; VIII, 12 XVIII, 9. 29. 67; XX, 12 XXXIV, 5 XXXVI, 9 the Atharvan is nowhere mentioned in connection with the other;
;
;
;
three.
Once at XXX, i5 = Tait. Br. 111,4, 1, 11, a woman that miscarries (avatoka) is devoted to the Atharvans the Kaiu. 35, 12 (a reference, in the light of AV. VI, 17;;
charm
hymnsany
to prevent miscarriage), seems to be to Atharvan or Atharvanic practices. Otherwise the word athar-
van occursXI, 32.of the
rate obvious, reference to the fourth
connections that admit of no special, or at Veda, VIII, 56 Neither is there, as far as is known, any mentionin;
Atharvan in the Maitrayam-sa;hita, the Aitareya and Kaushitaki-brahma^as. or Katyayana's and La/yayana's 6rauta-sutras. The position of the Atharvanin
the .rrauta-literature
according
to
this
evidence
is
what might be naturally
INTRODUCTION.expectedsiveness.:
XXXI X
there
Witchcraft
Resume ofthe ji-autatexts estimate
no evidence of repugnance or excluis blended with every sphere of religious thought and activity, and the only sane attitude on the part of these texts mustis
...by
of the
AV.
fo
e.
^\\e
recognition &are
of the.
literary
products.
whichof witchcraft.
distinction
the
repositories:
witchcraft
No one will expect rigid consistency blows hot and cold from the same mouth
;
according as it is turned towards the inimical forces, human and demoniac, or is turned by others against oneThe AV. itself self, it is regarded as useful, or noxious.the same view by implication: the hymn, II, 12, hurls the bitterest invective against enemies that endeavour to thwart one's holy work this does not prevent one'stakes;
own endeavourthe
to
frustrate
the
sacrifice
of
an enemy
hymn, II, 7, protection against (VII, 70); curses and hostile plots, but does not prevent the existence of fierce imprecations and curses issued forth subjectively for the ruin of another (VI, 13 and 37). It is a questionthroughout ofholinessthis
ensures
my
sorcery, or thy sorcery.
The
flavour of
and virginal innocency is necessarily absent, and want crops out in connection with the performances of yatu even in the RV. (VII, 104, 15. 16), where the writer exclaims may I die to-day if I am a sorcerer/ and complains against his enemy who calls him, though he is pure,'
:
a sorcerer, and against the real sorcerer
who
he
pure. Though yatu (sorcery) devilish (cf. e.g. AV. I, 7 and 8), the writer at Sat. Br.isis
pretends that regarded here as
X,
not prevented from placing the yatuvida//, those that are skilled in sorcery,' in solemn array with the representatives of the holiest forms of literature, immediately5, 2,
20
'
is
after
the'
bahv7'/^a/^,
as
the characteristic
Atharvanic
activity.
And
exponent of on the other hand even bhealtruisticin general,
sha^am, cure, medicine,' the Atharvan, though well regardedoff without a sneer.'
province of the does not come(cf.
The
Tait. S. VI, 4, 9, 314) says,
Maitr. S.
IV,gd.ni
6,
2;
.Sat.
Br. IV,
1, 5,
brahmawena bheshais
na karyam, 'a Brahman shall not practise medicine,'is
the reason that
assigned being that the physician
X
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
impure, that the practice entails promiscuous, unaristocratic mingling with men 'men run to the physician' (MS. IV,:
6, 2, p. 80,
l1.
1)
.
And we may
trust that the
canons of
social standing
had producedture could not
literary appreciation of a people that the best that is to be found in Vedic literafail
and
altogether, when in the proper mood, to right value the wretched hocus-pocus of the bhesha^ani themselves, though these were the best that
estimate at
its
the Vedic period had produced for the relief of bodily ailment. Yet the Veda without witchcraft would not bethe Veda, and the jrauta-texts are not in the position to throw stones against the Atharvan. Moreover it must not be forgotten that the Atharvan contains in its cosmo-
gonic and theosophic sections more material that undertakes to present the highest brahmavidya than any other Vedic
Sawhita
(cf.
below,
p. Ixvi)
;
by whateverthis
literary evo-
lution this
was associated with
sphere of literature
and
incorporated into the redaction, it doubtless contributed to the floating of the more compact body of sorcery-charms, and its higher valuation among the more enlightened of the At any rate, a sober survey of the position of the people. Atharvan in the traividya yields the result that this Veda,while not within the proper sphere of the greater concerns of Vedic religious life, is considered within its own sphere as a Veda in perfectly good standing the question of its;
relative importance, its authority,
and
its
canonicity
is
not
discussed, nor even suggested.
TheThe
position of thediffer*"
appear to
AV
in
Atharvan in the Upanishads does not from that in the miti in general. Aside rom t ^ie Atharvan Upanishads, which are
the Upani-
naturally somewhat freer in their reference to the AV., and in the mention of more orit
less
apocryphal Atharvan teachers,
is
introduced but
rarely,in
and usually
in
thei.
the -srauta-literature,Cf. the
e.
manner prevalent elsewhere preceded by the tray!, and'
1
contempt
sacrifice for a crowd,'
Manu IV, 205, LXXXII, 12; Gaut. XV,
pugan ya^ayanti, those who Mahabh. I, 2883, and the gramayajin, III, 151 and gramaya^aka, Mahabh. Ill, 13355. See also Vishwufor the pugaya^-wiyaA, ye
Manu
;
16.
INTRODUCTION.followed
xli
Thus of other literary types. Br. XIV, 5, 4, 10 the passages quoted above from Sat. 6, Br/h. Ar. Up. II, 4, 10; IV, 1, 2 5, 11, 10, 6; 7, 3, 11by avariablelist;
=
;
and the Tait. Ar. II, 9 and 10, are of Upanishad character, and the Maitr. Up. VI, 32 repeats the list of texts stated atorder.
Br/h. Ar. Up., just cited, in precisely the same Maitr. Up. VI, 33 ( = Maha Up. 2 Atharvajiras 4), has the list r/gya^u//samatharvahgirasa.Sat.
Br.
=
The same text
;
purawam. The AV/and. Up. Ill, 1-4 deals with rik, yagufc, saman, atharvarigirasa/*-, and itihasapura#ani same list, the same text at VII, 1, 2. 4; 2, 1 7, 1, has theitihasa//; ; ..
.
atharvawai-
aturtha//
itihasapura//a//
pa/7ama//,
to
which are added a lengthy series of additional sciences The Tait. Up. = Tait. Ar. VIII, 3, again, presents (vidya). the Atharvan in a formulaic connection, tasya (sc. atmana//)ya^-ur evaslra/i,
rig dakshiz/a/'
paksha//, samo*ttara/z pax.
ksha/r, adej-a
There is, atma, atharvahgirasa/^ ^wkkh&m as far as is known, no additional mention of the Atharvan in the non-Atharvanic Upanishads, and it is evident thatthereis
no marked changeis
in
the
manner
in
which theare
fourth
Veda
handled.
Very much more numerous;
the instances in which the trayi alone appears see Jacob's Concordance to the principal Upanishads, under the words77'gveda,
ya^-urveda, ya^urmaya, ya^us rmmaya, rik samaveda, samamaya, saman. They show that the draughts upon the Atharvan and the subsequent literary forms are, in general, made under the excitement of formulaic solem; ;
nity
;
while on the other hand, needless to say. the Upani-
shads with
their eye aloft alike from hymn, sacrificial and witchcraft charm, have no occasion to condemn formula, the Atharvan, aside from that superior attitude of theirs which implies, and diplomatically expresses condemnation
of the entire
Veda
that
is
not brahmavidya.is
Even1
in
the Atharvan Upanishads there
sounded
in
This Upanishad belongs to a Yagas- school
;
hence the pre-eminence of the
The Atharvan is here forced into a position of disadvantage, and it ya^us. may be admitted that its mention after the ade.ra (Upanishad) is intentional. But there is really no other course open to the writer. The tenor of the entirementioned. passage excludes the notion of disparagement of any of the texts
xlii
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
general neither the polemic nor the apologetic note which characterises the ritualistic writings of the Atharvan.find, totne
We
be
sure, in
the late Prawava Up. a spo-
radic,
if
AtharvanUpanishads.
on
^
e
not solitary, assumption of superiority 1 p ar Q f t ie AV. and an interpolated *j-
j
,
the Pra.rna Up. V, 5 betrays the distinct tendency to secure at any cost the correlation of the Atharvan with the highest brahma 2 The authority
passage
in
.
of Atharvanic teachers, Sanatkumara, Arigiras, Paippalada, &c, is, of course, cited with especial frequency in the
Atharvan Upanishads, helping to confer upon them an But in general, all that may be said is, that the Atharvan Upanishads mention the fourth Veda along with the other three more frequently than the corresponding tracts of the other schools, that the Atharvan is quietly added to the trayi, whether other literary formsesoteric school character.like the itihasapura/zam,
&c, appear
in
the sequel, or not.
the
Even these Upanishads, however, occasionally lapse into more frequent habit of the bulk of the Vedic literature,failit
andnot,
to refer to the Atharvan, whether consciously or seems impossible to tell. Thus the Muw/aka Up.
I. 1, 5 counts the four Vedas (Atharvan included) along with the Ahgas as the lesser science, above which towers
the science of Brahma rzgvedo, ya^urveda//, samavedo *tharvaveda/; jriksha, &c. But in II, 1,6 the list is, rikah sama ya^uwshi diksha yagiiaska. The Praj-na Up. II, 8:
says of the Pra;/a,/arita;//
'
'
life's
breath
(personified),
rishwaw
satyam atharvaiigirasam asi, an allusion to the Atharvan writings, but in II, 6 we have, pi awe sarva;;/ pratish///itam riko ya^uwshi samani 3 See also Mahanaraya;/a yagtiah kshatra;;/ brahma ka Up. 22. This betrays the usual preoccupation with thetains.
which seemingly con-
traividya, which is not quite effaced by the possible allusion to the Atharvan in II, 8. The Nrz'si;/mapurvatapani Up.1
See Ind. Stud.
I,
296I,
;
IX, 51.
453, note, and cf. Bohtlingk's critical edition of the Pra.rna in the Proceedings of the Royal Saxon Academy, November, 1890.
2
See Ind. Stud.It
3
would have been easya ye, or the like.
to substitute for the last four words, atharvan-
girasaj
Cf. also Pra.rna V, 5, alluded to above.
INTRODUCTION.I,
xliii
2 has, r/gya^u/zsamatharva/zaj ^atvaro veda//-
;
I, 4,
rig-
Nrzsi/hottarataII, 1 ( ya^"u//samatharvarupa// surya/z pani Up. 3 Atharva-rikha. Up. 1), rigbhih rigveda/i, ya^urbhir ya^urveda/z, samabhi/z samaveda/z, atharvawair mantrair; ;
=
atharvaveda/z
;
in
V, 9
it
falls
into the broader style of
reference, rikah, ya^uwshi, samani, atharvaz/am, aiigirasam,.rakha//, pura;/ani,
finally to
kalpan, gatha/z, narasamsl/t, leading up which embraces all (sarvam). prawavam, the
Om
V, rtgma.ya.rn ya^-urmayaw samamayaw brahmamayam amrz'tamayam, where brahmamayam obin
But
2
we have
viously refers to the brahmavidya, the holy science, not to l And thus the Brahthe fourth Veda, the Brahmaveda.
mavidya Up. 5culminatingIt
ff.
recounts the
merits of the
traividya,
in
the
Om,
without reference to the Atharvan.
seems clear that even the Atharvan Upanishads as a class
are engaged neither in defending the Atharvan from attack, Other nor in securing for it any degree of prominence.references to the
Atharvan occur
in
Atharva^iras;
1,
rig
aham yagut aham sama*ham atharvangiraso*hamktika.;.
Mu-
Up. 12-14, r/gve da, yaguh, saman, atharva/za ibid. 1, upanishadam Maha Up. 3, gayaatharvavedagatanam tram khanda rz'gveda/z, traish/ubha;// Mando ya^urveda//, gagatam khandah samaveda//, anush/ubha/w //ando*tharva. . ;
veda/z.
Cf. also ATulika
Up.
10, j^, 14.
turning to the Grzhya-sutras it would be natural to anticipate a closer degree of intimacy with the Atharvan, and hence a more frequent and less formulaic
On
in the
reference
to
its
writings.
For the subject,
Gr/hyasutras.
matter of these textsing,
..... Atharvanic, besidesin
is itself,
broadly speakdashed strongly being
with
many elements2.
Atharvanic featurestinction1
of vidhana or sorcery-practice, i.e. the narrower sense and by dis-
Many
verses quoted in the Grz'hya-sutras arenot designate the fourth
The Upanishads doThe
weI,
trust certain doubtful variants
301, note.
earliest
Veda as Brahmaveda, unless and addenda, reported by Weber, Ind. Stud. occurrence of Brahmaveda is at Saukh. Gn'h. I, 16,I,
13 (see above, p. xxvii). 2 Cf., e.g. the use of roots, Par.
13,ff.
1
;
.Sahkh.
I,
19,
1
;
23,
1
;
the battle-
charm,'
Ajv.
Ill,
12
(cf.
p.
1176,
of thisTar.I,
volume); the16, 24ff.
bhaisha^yani,6;Ilir.
remedial charms,' Asv. Ill,
3
ff.
;
;
III,
II,
7;
xliv
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.Atharva-
identical with, or variants of those contained in thesa//mita.
But even the as they must have been
in
Grz'hya-rites, popular, nay vulgar, their untrammelled beginnings,
were, so to speak, Rishified, and passed through in due time a process of school-treatment which estranged them as far as possible from the specifically Atharvanic connections,
and assimilated them, as far as possible, to the Rigveda, Sama-veda, and Ya^ur-veda, as the case may be.
Thus
the battle-charm, A.sv. Ill, 1%, instead of drawing upon the very abundant mantras of this kind, contained in the AV. (see p. 117 ff.), is decked out with the scattering
material of this sort that
(see the notes to Stenzler's
be extracted from the RV. and Oldenberg's translations). In general the preference for mantras of the particular
may
not quite as great as in the 5rautaanticipation of a marked degree of literary with the Atharvan is not materialised. The relationship Gr/hya-siitras of the Sama-veda (Gobhila and Khadira),schoolis
nearly
if
sutras.
The
and Apastamba 1 do not seem to mention the Atharvan at all Aivalayana (III, 3, 1-3), on the occasion of the svadhyaya, the daily recitation of the Veda, recommends the Atharvan, but the mention of this text is that which we have found to be the normal one in the 5rauta-literafollowed by ture, i.e. preceded by rzk, ya^u/^, and saman 2 brahma;/a, kalpa, gatha, nara^a///si, itihasa, and purawa, ; ;.
long
Similarly Hira/^yakcrin (II, 19, 6), list of deities, mentions in order r/gveda, ya^urveda, samaveda, and itihasapura;/a in 6arikhayana I, 24, 8 the;
in
connection with a
Atharvan
is
even omitted
in
a similar
list,
which catalogues
Apast. VII, 18
Par. Ill, 7; Apast. Ill, 9,
the sawmanasyani, 'charms to secure harmony,' ff VIII, 23, 6. 7; Hir. I, 13, 19 ff. (cf. p. 134 ff.), &c. See in general the list of miscellaneous Grzhya-rites in Oldenberg's index to the Gr/hya-sutras, Sacred Books, vol. xxx, p. 306 ff.(cf.]).
1
ff.)
;
4
.
;
1 This Sutra mentions neither rik, saman, nor atharvan, a probably unconscious preoccupation with the yagu/i that must not be construed as intentional chauvinism against the other Vedas. The mantra-materials quoted and
employed do not'*
differ in their general
physiognomy from those of the other
Sutras, but they are always referred to as yagu/i.
The passage6-
texts presented5, 7> 5-
by the Tait. Ar.
contains in slightly different arrangement the list of Vedic II, 9 and 10, above; cf. also Sat. Br. XI,
INTRODUCTION.
xlv
rigveda, ya^urveda, samaveda, vakovakyam, itihasapuraam, and finally sarvan vedan (cf. the same grouping, Sat.Br. XI, 5, 7, 6 ff.). But in Sankh. I, 16, 3 (brahmaveda) Hir. II, 3, 9 (atharvangirasa/z) II, 18, 3; 20, 9 (atharvaPar. II, 10, 7 (atharvaveda) II, 10, 21 (atharva//am) veda);
;
;
;
there
a distinct advance along the line of later development in the familiar mention of the fourth Veda this isis;
not
balanced altogether by the restriction to theI,
trayi,
15; 24, 2; Hir. I, 5, 13; II, 13, i, or the Asv. restriction to two Vedas, Gobh. I, 6, 19 III, 2, 48 Par. I, 6, 3 = vSankh. I, 13. 4, because these passages I, J, 6^arikh.22,; ;
are to a considerable extent quotations, or modifications The true value of this of mantras derived from the miti.
testimonysutras,
is
as
much
the Grz'hyachronological, not sentimental as their subject-matter is akin to the:
Atharvan, are not imbued with a sense of its especial value and importance, any more than the ^rauta-texts. They handle their materialsin
a self-centred
fashion, without
acknowledging any dependence upon the literary collections of the Atharvans their more frequent reference to the fourth Veda is formulaic in every single instance, and the;
greater frequency with which it is mentioned marks the later chronology of the Grz'hya-sutras (cf. Oldenberg, Sacred
Books,
vol.
xxx, pp.
i
The construction of as we have seen, suchATr The AV.rr,
and xvii ff.). the Vedicagainst &
literature in general
is,
as to forbid
nation
there
any genuine discrimiIn so the Atharvan.
in the
law-
far as this
Veda
offers thelifeit
sion
by
against the ills of demons) in so far as;
(disease
means of defence and posses-
life
blessings pronounced of the individual,its;
at
the
sacramental pointsconceptiontois
presents the auspicious in thedeath,it
from
is
holy byreligion
very terms.
Even
witchcraft
part of the
it has penetrated and has become intimately with the holiest Vedic rites the broad current blended;
of popular religion and superstition has infiltrated itself through numberless channels into the higher religion thatis
sumed
presented by the Brahman priests, and it may be prethat the priests were neither able to cleanse their
xlvi
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
of folk-belief with which religious beliefs from the mass was surrounded, nor is it at all likely that they found But there is another field it in their interest to do so. also reach down to the Veda, in of literature whose roots which judgment must be passed over the more unclean
ownit
The broad sinister phases of Atharvanic activity. arena on which men meet in daily contact is the true The need of doing unto others field for the golden rule.and
what one would have others do untothe opposite undone, is sure to be expression in the proper literature.legal
felt,
and leaving and sure to gain This literature is theoneself,
literature (dharma), more narrowly that part of it which deals with the mutual rights and obligations of men, the vyavahara-chapters of the legal Sutras and 6astras. Here also the Atharvan retains in a measure its place by
virtue of
its
indispensable
profound hold upon popular beliefs, because sciences like medicine and astrology are
distinction, and because the Atharvan performs, especially for the king, inestimable services in the The king's chaplain injury and overthrow of enemies. was in all probability as a rule an Atharvan (purohita)
Atharvanic by
But incantations, sorceries, and (cf. Ya^wav. I, 312). love-charms do work injury, and the dharma-literature pronounces with no uncertain voice the judgment that thepriest
Atharvan, while useful and indispensable under certain circumstances, is on the whole inferior in character andposition, that its practices are impure, and either stand in need of regulation, or must be prohibited by the proper
punishments.inis not mentioned very frequently either the Dharma-sutras, the older metrical Dharma-j-astras, or in the more modern legal Smr/tis. In Vishwu XXX, 37;
The Atharvan
Baudh.107);
II, 5, 9, 141
ioi
(cf.i,
Manup.
nanda, vol.
Ya^vZav. I, 44 (cf. Manu II, Auj-anasa-smr/ti III, 44 (C7iva514), the Atharvan is mentioned in the;
IV,
3,
4;
;
II, 85)
1
In
this
passage,
vedatharvapura;zani setihasani,
distinct
from the2,
trayi, the
veda by distinction
;
cf.
the Atharvan is kept Weber, Indische Literatur-
geschichte
p. 165, note.
INTRODUCTION.normal Vedic manner,i.e.
xl Vll
preceded by the traividya, and
followed by other literary types, especially the itihasapuIt is worthy of note that in only three of the five ra//am.cases (Baudh. II, 5,9,
14; Ykgnav.
I,
44; Aus.;
Ill, 44),
the older
atharvaiigirasa/z appears have atharvaveda, or atharvan. But it seems altogether impossible to derive from this any chronological indications as to the date of a given legal text, since U^anas, or even
name
the other three
Ya^wavalkya, is certainly later than Baudhayana and Vish/m. At this time the names atharvaveda, atharvan, atharva;/a have established themselves as the equivalent of the olderatharvarigirasa/z, but the older name crops out at times in At Ya^;7av. I, 3 the fourth Veda is a purely chance way. also implied as one of the fourteen foundations of know-
ledge and law, without being mentioned by name cf. also Au^anasa-smrz'ti V, 66 (Civananda, vol. i, p. 531, bottom). The Atharvan, however, holds also the position of the;
fourth
Veda;
in cases
where no additional
literature
is
men-
at Baudh. Ill, 9, 4 burnt oblations are offered to tioned the four Vedas and many divinities at Baudh. IV, 5, 1 the;
Saman, Rik, Ya^us, and Atharva-veda are mentioned
in
connection with oblations calculated to procure the special wishes of one's heart (kamyesh/aya//). At Vas. XXII, 9the Vedas (sarvaManda/zsaw/hita//) are the Atharvan is the purificatory texts among intended to be included, especially as the
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