The Atharvaveda

Author : Atharvan And ANGIRAS
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781677526857
Total Pages : 629 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (268 download)

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Download or read book Atharva Veda - the Fourth Book written by Atharvan And ANGIRAS and published by . This book was released on 2019-12 with total page 629 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Atharvaveda is composed in Vedic Sanskrit, and it is a collection of 730 hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books. The text is in poem form deploying a diversity of Vedic matters. The Atharvaveda is sometimes called the "Veda of magical formulas". It is said to represent a 'popular religion', incorporating not only formulas for magic, but also the daily rituals for initiation into learning (upanayana), marriage and funerals. Royal rituals and the duties of the court priests are also included in the Atharvaveda. The core text of the Atharvaveda falls within the classical Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit, during the 2nd millennium BC - younger than the Rigveda, and roughly contemporary with the Yajurveda mantras, the Rigvedic Khilani, and the Sāmaveda. There is no absolute dating of any Vedic text including the Atharvaveda. The dating for Atharvaveda is derived from the new metals and items mentioned therein; it, for example, mentions iron (as krsna ayas, literally "black metal"), and such mentions have led the scholars to the estimate that the Atharvaveda hymns were compiled in the early Indian Iron Age, c. 1200 to 1000 BC, corresponding to the early Kuru Kingdom. The Atharvaveda represents a developing 2nd millennium BCE tradition of magical-religious rites to address superstitious anxiety, spells to remove maladies believed to be caused by demons, and herbs- and nature-derived potions as medicine. Many books of the Atharvaveda Samhita are dedicated to rituals without magic and to theosophy. The text is one of oldest surviving record of the evolutionary practices in religious medicine and reveals the earliest forms of folk healing. It contains hymns many of which were charms, magic spells and incantations meant to be pronounced by the person who seeks some benefit, or more often by a sorcerer who would say it on his or her behalf. The most frequent goal of these hymns charms and spells were long life of a loved one or recovery from some illness. In these cases, the affected would be given substances such as a plant (leaf, seed, root) and an amulet. Some magic spells were for soldiers going to war with the goal of defeating the enemy, others for anxious lovers seeking to remove rivals or to attract the lover who is less than interested, some for success at a sporting event, in economic activity, for bounty of cattle and crops, or removal of petty pest bothering a household. Some hymns were not about magic spells and charms, but prayer qua prayer and philosophical speculations. A significant portion of the text book are hymns for domestic rituals without magic or spells, and some are theosophical speculations such as "all Vedic gods are One". The Atharvaveda includes mantras and verses for treating a variety of ailments. For example, the verses in hymn 4.15 of the recently discovered Paippalada version of the Atharvaveda, discuss how to deal with an open fracture, and how to wrap the wound with Rohini plant (Ficus Infectoria, native to India). Numerous hymns of the Atharvaveda are prayers and incantations wishing a child or loved one to get over some sickness and become healthy again, along with comforting the family members. The Vedic era assumption was that diseases are caused by evil spirits, external beings or demonic forces who enter the body of a victim to cause sickness.