Atharvaveda and Related Topics

Vedas

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The Vedas (,, वेदः) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India.

The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the Atharvaveda.

A page from the Taittiriya Samhita, a layer of text within the Yajurveda

There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda.

Rigveda

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Ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (sūktas).

Rigveda (padapatha) manuscript in Devanagari, early 19th century. After a scribal benediction ('), the first line has the first pada, RV 1.1.1a ('). The pitch-accent is marked by underscores and vertical overscores in red.

A map of tribes and rivers mentioned in the Rigveda.

Geographical distribution of the Late Vedic Period. Each of major regions had their own recension of Rig Veda (Śākhās), and the versions varied.

Rigveda manuscript page, Mandala 1, Hymn 1 (Sukta 1), lines 1.1.1 to 1.1.9 (Sanskrit, Devanagari script)

Devi sukta, which highlights the goddess tradition of Hinduism is found in Rigveda hymns 10.125. It is cited in Devi Mahatmya and is recited every year during the Durga Puja festival.

The hymn 10.85 of the Rigveda includes the Vivaha-sukta (above). Its recitation continues to be a part of Hindu wedding rituals.

Book 10 contributes the largest number of the 1350 verses of Rigveda found in Atharvaveda, or about one fifth of the 5987 verses in the Atharvaveda text.

Yajurveda

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Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.

A page from the Vajasneyi samhita found in the Shukla Yajurveda (Sanskrit, Devanagari script). This version of the manuscript opens with salutations to Ganesha and Sadashiva (Shaivism).

Yajurveda text describes formula and mantras to be uttered during sacrificial fire (yajna) rituals, shown. Offerings are typically ghee (clarified butter), grains, aromatic seeds, and cow milk.

Ashvamedhika parva of the Mahabharata describes the year long ceremony according to Yajurveda.

The exact century of Yajurveda's composition is unknown, and estimated by Witzel to be between 1200 and 800 BCE, contemporaneous with Samaveda and Atharvaveda.

Brahmana

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Page form the Mimamsa sutra of Jaiminimi, who also recorded the Jaiminiya Brahmana and other works.

Extract from a 13th-century manuscript of the Shatapatha Brahmana (Khanda 14).

The Brahmanas (Sanskrit: ब्राह्मणम्, Brāhmaṇam) are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas.

Samaveda

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Veda of melodies and chants.

Geography of the Early Vedic period. Samaveda recensions from the Kauthuma (north India) and Jaiminiya (central India) regions are among those that have survived, and their manuscripts have been found in different parts of India.

The veena (vīṇā) is mentioned in Samaveda.

While its earliest parts are believed to date from as early as the Rigvedic period, the existing compilation dates from the post-Rigvedic Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit, between c. 1200 and 1000 BCE or "slightly rather later," roughly contemporary with the Atharvaveda and the Yajurveda.

Agni

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Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism.

Agni (fire) is a part of major rites-of-passage rituals such as weddings and cremation in Indian religions.

A pre-3rd century CE, Kushan Empire era red-stone Agni statue. Art of Mathura.

Agni with an aura of flames, seated on ram.

Saptapadi, a Hindu wedding ritual, around Agni in progress.

Agni is a part of the ritual grammar in many Hindu festivals. Above Holika for Holi, includes Agni.

Agni god in southeast corner of the 11th-century Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneshwar Odisha. The ram is carved below him.

Agni seated on a ram, 14th–15th century Indonesia.

Agni (right) with his son Skanda (Karttikeya), about 1st-century CE.

The Buddhist Fire God "Katen" (火天) in Japanese art. Dated 1127 CE, Kyoto National Museum.

According to Atharvaveda, it is Agni that conveys the soul of the dead from the pyre to be reborn in the next world or life.

Vedic Sanskrit

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Ancient language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European language family.

This period includes both the mantra and prose language of the Atharvaveda (Paippalada and Shaunakiya), the Ṛg·veda Khilani, the Samaveda Saṃhitā, and the mantras of the Yajurveda.

Upanishads

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The Upanishads (उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts of Hindu philosophy which supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.

Impact of a drop of water, a common analogy for Brahman and the Ātman

Adi Shankara, expounder of Advaita Vedanta and commentator (bhashya) on the Upanishads

German 19th century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, impressed by the Upanishads, called the texts "the production of the highest human wisdom".

All Upanishads are associated with one of the four Vedas—Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda (there are two primary versions or Samhitas of the Yajurveda: Shukla Yajurveda, Krishna Yajurveda), and Atharvaveda.

Brahman

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In Hinduism, Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.

A drop in the ocean: an analogy for Ātman merging into Brahman.

Swan (Hansa, हंस) is the symbol for Brahman-Atman in Hindu iconography.

A brāhm a ṇ a (ब्राह्मण) (masculine, same pronunciation as above), means priest; in this usage the word is usually rendered in English as "Brahmin". This usage is also found in the Atharva Veda. In neuter plural form, Brahmāṇi. See Vedic priest.