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Updated: May 6, 2025
The protecting powers invoked are often the gods of the Rig Veda , but prayers and incantations are also addressed directly to diseases and demons or, on the other hand, to healing plants and amulets . We can hardly be wrong in supposing that in such invocations the Atharva reflects the popular practice of its time, but it prefers the invocation of counteracting forces, whether Vedic deities or magical plants, to the propitiation of malignant spirits, such as the worship of the goddesses presiding over smallpox and cholera which is still prevalent in India.
Atharva Veda Veda cha implies that the Atharvans were not generally included under the term Veda by which the first three Vedas only were meant. Punyaha-vachana is a peculiar rite. The priest or some other Brahmana is invited. Gifts are then made to him, and he utters benedictions in return upon the giver.
Secondly, in the spells and charms of the Atharva , which received the Brahmanic imprimatur later than the other three Vedas, we find an outlook differing from that of the other Vedas and resembling the popular religion of China. Mankind are persecuted by a host of evil spirits and protect themselves by charms addressed directly to their tormentors or by invoking the aid of beneficent powers.
In several passages the Mahâbhârata speaks of the Atharva as the highest Veda and represents the Pâṇḍavas as practising polyandry, a custom which still prevails among many Himalayan tribes. The Rig Veda depicts a life not far advanced in material arts but, considering the date, humane and civilized.
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