Atharvaveda
अथर्ववेद
Also written: atharvaveda · atharva veda · vedic medicine · ayurveda origin
The Atharvaveda is the Veda closest to the ground. Where the other three serve the great sacrifice, this one serves the household: healing a fever, setting a bone, protecting a field, blessing a marriage, steadying a kingdom. It is also the Veda of the brahmā priest, who oversees the whole rite in silence.
Contents
| Theme | Examples |
|---|---|
| Bhaiṣajya — healing | Hymns to herbs and waters; fevers, wounds, poisons, jaundice, snake-bite. The direct root of Āyurveda |
| Āyuṣya — long life | Blessings for lifespan, vitality and recovery |
| Gṛhya — household | Marriage, childbirth, building a house, agriculture, cattle |
| Rājya — kingship | Consecration of a king, unity of the assembly, the duties of rule |
| Pauṣṭika and rakṣā | Prosperity and protection |
| Adhyātma — metaphysics | The Skambha hymn, the Kāla (Time) hymns, the Pṛthivī Sūkta to the Earth |
The hymn to the Earth
माता भूमिः पुत्रोऽहं पृथिव्याः।
mātā bhūmiḥ putro'haṁ pṛthivyāḥ
The Earth is my mother; I am the son of the Earth.
The Pṛthivī Sūkta, 63 verses long, is the oldest ecological text in any language: it asks that what is dug from the earth be replaced, that her waters and forests not be injured, and that she bear no wound from her children.
The sources of knowledge in Sanātana Dharma
The complete library: Nigama and Āgama, śruti and smṛti, the four Vedas with their four layers, the six Vedāṅg…
Śruti — that which was heard
What apauruṣeya means, how the Veda was preserved syllable-perfect for millennia without writing, and why śrut…
Smṛti — that which was remembered
The vast human-authored body: Vedāṅga, Itihāsa, Purāṇa, Dharma Śāstra, Sūtra, Darśana, Āgama and Kāvya — deriv…
Nigama and Āgama — the two revealed streams
The Vedic and the Tantric revelations: their different forms, their different eligibility rules, why every tem…
The four Vedas
Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda and Atharvaveda — what each contains, the priest each belongs to, its śākhās, and …
Ṛgveda
The oldest surviving text of the tradition: 1,028 hymns in ten maṇḍalas, its structure, its great hymns, and w…
Last revised 2026-08-16. Corrections are welcome — see how this site is written.