A report on Vedas and Atharvaveda

Four Vedas
Four Vedas
The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the Atharvaveda.
A page from the Atharva Veda Samhita, its most ancient layer of text.
Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari
Rishi Caraka (above), the author of Caraka Samhita credits Atharvaveda as an inspiration.
A page from the Taittiriya Samhita, a layer of text within the Yajurveda

The text is the fourth Veda, and is a late addition to the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism.

- Atharvaveda

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

- Vedas
Four Vedas

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The four Vedas

Rigveda

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Ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (sūktas).

Ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (sūktas).

The four Vedas
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.

It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (śruti) known as the Vedas.

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.

Four Vedas

Yajurveda

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Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.

Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.

Four Vedas
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.

Yajurveda is one of the four Vedas, and one of the scriptures of Hinduism.

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.

A 17th-century manuscript page of Sadvimsha Brahmana, a Pañcaviṃśa-Brāhmaṇa supplement (Sanskrit, Devanagari). It is found embedded in the Samaveda.

Brahmana

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A 17th-century manuscript page of Sadvimsha Brahmana, a Pañcaviṃśa-Brāhmaṇa supplement (Sanskrit, Devanagari). It is found embedded in the Samaveda.
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).
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Atharva-Veda samhita page.

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

Four Vedas

Samaveda

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Veda of melodies and chants.

Veda of melodies and chants.

Four Vedas
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.

One of the four Vedas, it is a liturgical text which consists of 1,875 verses.

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.

Samhita

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Saṃhitā literally means "put together, joined, union", a "collection", and "a methodically, rule-based combination of text or verses".

Saṃhitā literally means "put together, joined, union", a "collection", and "a methodically, rule-based combination of text or verses".

Saṃhitā also refers to the most ancient layer of text in the Vedas, consisting of mantras, hymns, prayers, litanies and benedictions.

Vedic Samhita refer to mathematically precise metrical archaic text of each of the Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda).

Vyasa, the sage who, according to tradition, composed the Upanishads.

Upanishads

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

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

Vyasa, the sage who, according to tradition, composed the Upanishads.
Geography of the Late Vedic Period
A page of Isha Upanishad manuscript
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".

They are the most recent part of the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, and deal with meditation, philosophy, consciousness and ontological knowledge; earlier parts of the Vedas deal with mantras, benedictions, rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices.

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.

God of Fire

Agni

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God of Fire
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.

Agni ( English:, अग्नि) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism.

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.

The syllable Aum rendered with pluta

Vedic Sanskrit

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

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

The syllable Aum rendered with pluta

It is attested in the Vedas and related literature compiled over the period of the mid-2nd to mid-1st millennium BCE.

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.

(Om) signifies the essence of Brahman, the ultimate reality.

Brahman

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

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

(Om) signifies the essence of Brahman, the ultimate reality.
A drop in the ocean: an analogy for Ātman merging into Brahman.
Swan (Hansa, हंस) is the symbol for Brahman-Atman in Hindu iconography.

Brahman is a key concept found in the Vedas, and it is extensively discussed in the early Upanishads.

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.

Kuru and other kingdoms in the Late Vedic period.

Kuru Kingdom

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Vedic Indo-Aryan tribal union in northern Iron Age India, encompassing parts of the modern-day states of Delhi, Haryana, and some parts of western Uttar Pradesh, which appeared in the Middle Vedic period (c.

Vedic Indo-Aryan tribal union in northern Iron Age India, encompassing parts of the modern-day states of Delhi, Haryana, and some parts of western Uttar Pradesh, which appeared in the Middle Vedic period (c.

Kuru and other kingdoms in the Late Vedic period.
Modern replica of utensils and falcon shaped altar used for Agnicayana, an elaborate srauta ritual from the Kuru period.
Kuru and other kingdoms in the Late Vedic period.
Modern performance of Agnicayana, an elaborate srauta ritual from the Kuru period
A silver coin from the Kuru Kingdom, earliest example of the coinage in India.
Pre-Mauryan (Ganges Valley) Kurus (Kurukshetras) coin, c. 350–315 BCE. AR 15 Mana – Half Karshapana (15 mm, 1.50 g). Triskeles-like geometric pattern/aix-armed symbol.
The later Kuru state in the Mahajanapada period, c. 600 BCE

The Kuru kingdom decisively changed the religious heritage of the early Vedic period, arranging their ritual hymns into collections called the Vedas, and developing new rituals which gained their position in Indian civilization as the Srauta rituals, which contributed to the so-called "classical synthesis" or "Hindu synthesis".

The Atharvaveda (XX.127) praises Parikshit, the "King of the Kurus", as the great ruler of a thriving, prosperous realm.