Apast. VII, 18 (cf. p. 1 ff.) ; the sawmanasyani, 'charms to secure harmony,' Par. Ill, 7; Apast. Ill, 9, 4 ff. ; VIII, 23, 6. 7; Hir. I, 13, 19 ff. (cf. p. 134 ff.), &c. See in general the list of miscellaneous Grz'hya-rites in Olden- berg's index to the Gr/hya-sutras, Sacred Books, vol. xxx, p. 306 ff.
1 This Sutra mentions neither rik, saman, nor atharvan, a probably un- conscious preoccupation with the yaguh that must not be construed as intentional chauvinism against the other Vedas. The mantra-materials quoted and employed do not differ in their general physiognomy from those of the other Sutras, but they are always referred to as ya^-uyfc.
a The passage contains in slightly different arrangement the list of Vedic texts presented by the Tait. Ar. II, 9 and 10, above ; cf. also 6at. Br. XI, 5,7.5-6.
INTRODUCTION. xlv
rigveda, ya^oirveda, samaveda, vakovakyam, itihasapura- ^am, and finally sarvan vedan (cf. the same grouping, Sat. Br. XI, 5, 7, 6 ff.). But in 5ankh. I, 16, 3 (brahmaveda) ; Hir. II, 3, 9 (atharvangirasa//) ; II, 18, 3; 20, 9 (atharva- veda) ; Par. II, 10, 7 (atharvaveda) ; II, 10, 21 (atharva^am) there is a distinct advance along the line of later develop- ment in the familiar mention of the fourth Veda ; this is not balanced altogether by the restriction to the trayi, vSarikh. I, 22, 15 ; 24, 2 ; Hir. I, 5, 13; II, 13, 1, or the restriction to two Vedas, Gobh. I, 6, 19 ; III, 2, 48 ; Asv. I, 7, 6— Par. I, 6, 3 = 5ankh. I, 13, 4, because these passages are to a considerable extent quotations, or modifications of mantras derived from the srutl The true value of this testimony is chronological, not sentimental : the Grzhya- sutras, as much as their subject-matter is akin to the Atharvan, are not imbued with a sense of its especial value and importance, any more than the irauta-texts. They handle their materials in a self-centred fashion, without acknowledging any dependence upon the literary collections of the Atharvans ; their more frequent reference to the fourth Veda is formulaic in every single instance, and the greater frequency with which it is mentioned marks the later chronology of the Grzhya-sutras (cf. Oldenberg, Sacred Books, vol. xxx, pp. i and xvii ff.).
The construction of the Vedic literature in general is, as we have seen, such as to forbid any genuine discrimi-
TheAV nation tnere against the Atharvan. In so in the law- far as this Veda offers the means of defence books' against the ills of life (disease and posses- sion by demons); in so far as it presents the auspicious blessings pronounced at the sacramental points in the life of the individual, from conception to death, it is holy by its very terms. Even witchcraft is part of the religion ; it has penetrated and has become intimately blended with the holiest Vedic rites; the broad current of popular religion and superstition has infiltrated itself through numberless channels into the higher religion that is presented by the Brahman priests, and it may be pre- sumed that the priests were neither able to cleanse their
xlvi HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
own religious beliefs from the mass of folk-belief with which it was surrounded, nor is it at all likely that they found it in their interest to do so. But there is another field of literature whose roots also reach down to the Veda, in which judgment must be passed over the more unclean and sinister phases of Atharvanic activity. The broad arena on which men meet in daily contact is the true field for the golden rule. The need of doing unto others what one would have others do unto oneself, and leaving the opposite undone, is sure to be felt, and sure to gain expression in the proper literature. This literature is the legal literature (dharma), more narrowly that part of it which deals with the mutual rights and obligations of men, the vyavahara-chapters of the legal Sutras and 6astras. Here also the Atharvan retains in a measure its place by virtue of its profound hold upon popular beliefs, because indispensable sciences like medicine and astrology are Atharvanic by distinction, and because the Atharvan per- forms, especially for the king, inestimable services in the injury and overthrow of enemies. The king's chaplain (purohita) was in all probability as a rule an Atharvan priest (cf. Ya^Tzav. I, 3 1 2). But incantations, sorceries, and love-charms do work injury, and the dharma-literature pronounces with no uncertain voice the judgment that the Atharvan, while useful and indispensable under certain circumstances, is on the whole inferior in character and position, that its practices are impure, and either stand in need of regulation, or must be prohibited by the proper punishments.
The Atharvan is not mentioned very frequently either in the Dharma-sutras, the older metrical Dharma-^astras, or in the more modern legal Smrztis. In Vish/zu XXX, 37 ; Baudh. II, 5, 9, 14 ; IV, 3, 4; Ya^Vzav. I, 44 (cf. Manu II, 107) ; 10 l 1 (cf. Manu II, 85) ; Aayanasa-smrzti III, 44 (Giva- nanda, vol. i, p. 514), the Atharvan is mentioned in the
1 In this passage, vedatharvapura/zani setihasani, the Atharvan is kept distinct from the trayi, the veda by distinction ; cf. Weber, Indische Literatur- geschichte2, p. 165, note.
INTRODUCTION. xlvii
normal Vedic manner, i.e. preceded by the traividya, and followed by other literary types, especially the itihasapu- ra^am. It is worthy of note that in only three of the five cases (Baudh. II, 5, 9, 14; Ya^/zav. I, 44; Aus. Ill, 44), the older name atharvangirasa^ appears ; the other three have atharvaveda, or atharvan. But it seems altogether impossible to derive from this any chronological indications as to the date of a given legal text, since U^anas, or even Ya^Tzavalkya, is certainly later than Baudhayana and Vish/m. At this time the names atharvaveda, atharvan, atharva/za have established themselves as the equivalent of the older atharvaiigirasa^, but the older name crops out at times in a purely chance way. At Ya^/zav. I, 3 the fourth Veda is also implied as one of the fourteen foundations of know- ledge and law, without being mentioned by name ; cf. also Aoyanasa-smrz'ti V, 66 (Civananda, vol. i, p. 531, bottom). The Atharvan, however, holds also the position of the fourth Veda in cases where no additional literature is -men- tioned ; at Baudh. Ill, 9, 4 burnt oblations are offered to the four Vedas and many divinities ; at Baudh. IV, 5, 1 the Saman, Rik, Ya^us, and Atharva-veda are mentioned in connection with oblations calculated to procure the special wishes of one's heart (kamyesh/aya^). At Vas. XXII, 9 the Sa;;zhitas of all the Vedas (sarva/£/£anda^sa;/zhita/£) are counted among the purificatory texts : the Atharvan is probably intended to be included, especially as the Athar- va.riras (see below) is explicitly mentioned. In the late Vrzddhaharita-sa/^hita III, 451 the atharva/?ani (sc. suktani) are on a level with the riko ya^u^shi and samani. In the Aiuanasa-smmi III, 86 (Civananda, vol. i, p. 518) the twice- born is recommended to read either a Veda, two Vedas, the Vedas, or the four Vedas, a distinction between the trayi vidya and the four Vedas, not explicitly stated elsewhere. The Atharva^iras, an Upanishad connected with the AV., is mentioned a number of times, Gaut. XIX, 12 ; Vas. XXII, 9; XXVIII, 14 ; Aiu-anasa-smrz'ti IV, 5 ; the same text is mentioned under the name of 5iras at Baudh. IV, i, 28;
1 See £ivanandavidyasagara's Dharma^astrasawgraha, vol. i, p. 213.
xlviii HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
Vas. XXI, 6-8 ; XXV, 13 ; Vish/zu LV, 9. Certain vows called Siras, Baudh. II, 8, 14, 2; Vas. XXVI, 12, also emanate from the sphere of Atharvanic practices ; so Govinda at Baudh. loc. cit. More pointedly, and without the company of the traividya, the sacred texts of the Atharvan and Angiras (jrutir atharvangirasi/z) are recom- mended as the true weapons with which the Brahma/za may slay his enemies, Manu XI, 33 ; the king must choose for his chaplain (purohita) one who is skilled in the Atharvan and Angiras (atharvangirase),, Ya^av. I, 312 2; and the same recommendation is implied at Gaut. XI, 15. 17, where the king is enjoined to take heed of that which astrologers and interpreters of omens tell him, and to cause the puro- hita to perform in his house-fire among other expiatory rites (i-anti), rites for prosperity (mangala), and witchcraft practices (abhi^ara) against enemies 2. Such a purohita is eo ipso an Atharvan priest. In the Atri-sa;^hita (Civct- nanda's collection, vol. i, p. 45) ^yotirvido . . . atharva/za/z, ( Atharvan priests skilled in astrology* are recommended for the performance of jraddhas and sacrifices (cf. Vishnu III, 75 ; Ya^Tzav. I, 332). The sn&taka must not live in a country without physicians, Vish/zu LXXI, 66, and the king should consult his physicians in the morning, Y£gna.v. I, 332. At Vish/zu III, 87, the king himself is urged to be conversant with incantations dispelling the effects of poison and sickness, and at Manu VII, 217, the food of the king is rendered salubrious by sacred texts that destroy poison : these passages evidently refer to Atharvanic bhai- sha^yarii (cf. p. 25 ff.), and Atharvan priests skilled in their use. At Baudh. II, 8, 15,4; Vish/zu LXXIII, 11 ; LXXXI, 4, the demons called yatudhana are driven out by means of sesame, in perfect accord with AV. I, 7, 1.
Thus far then the dharma-literature expresses regard for the Atharvan, and distinct dependence upon its literature and its practices. But the ever dubious quality of the fourth Veda sounds from notes pitched in a different key. In the
1 The king himself is urged (ib. I, 310) to devote himself to the trayi.
2 This is the stereotyped summary of the functions of the AV., jantapush/i- kabhi/karika ; see p. xxix.
INTRODUCTION. xlix
first place we may remark that the conspicuous omission of this Veda which characterises the ^rauta-literature, with- out pronounced disapproval of the Atharvan, is continued in the dharma-texts. Thus notably in the prohibition of the recital of the other Vedas while the sound of the Samans is heard, these texts mention only the rzk and the ya^u/z ; see Gaut. XVI, 21'; Vas. XIII, 30; Vishmi XXX, 26; Manu IV, 123. 124. At Baudh. IV, 5, 29; Manu XI, 263-66, the recitation of the traividya is recommended as a most efficient means of purification and release from sin. In the cosmogonic account, Manu I, 23, only rzk, yagu/i, and saman are derived from the primeval creation. In Baudh. II, 8, 14, 4. 5; Manu III, 145, the traividya and its adherents only appear at the funeral-offerings (iraddha), though the Atri-sa^hita singles out Atharvans skilled in astronomy on that very occasion (see above, p. xlviii). At Manu XII, 112 (cf. Ya^/zav. I, 9) adherents of the three Vedas are recommended as an assembly (parishad) to decide points of law; at Ya^/zav. II, 21 1 punishment is declared for him that abuses one skilled in the three Vedas ; at Ya^av. I, 310 the king is urged to devote himself to the study of the trayi (vidya) ; his chaplain, on the other hand, must be skilled in the manipulation of the atharvangirasam (ib. I, 312). The inferiority of the Atharvan is stated outright at Apast. II, 11, 29, 10. 11, where it is said that the know- ledge of women and 5udras is a supplement of the Atharva- veda (cf. Biihler, Sacred Books, vol. ii, p. xxix) ; and yet more brusquely Vish/zu V, 191 counts him that recites a deadly incantation from the Atharva-veda as one of the seven kinds of assassins.
Still more frequently, performances which imply the knowledge and use of the Atharvan are decried and punished, though the writings of the Atharvan are not expressly mentioned. Thusjiiagir rites with intent to harm enemies, and sorceries^ajid cnmeg in general cause impurity, and are visited with_seyere penances at Apast. I, 9, 26, 7 ; 10, 29, 15; Baudh. II, 1, 2, 16 ; Gaut. XXV, 7; Vish/zu XXXVII, 26; LIV, 25; Manu IX, 290; XI, J 98; Ya^Tzav. Ill, 289. Yet the other side of the coin is turned [42] d
1 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
1 He has in mind the asseveration of the poet, RV. VII, 104, 15, adya1 muriyayadi yatudhano asmi, &c, 'may I die to-day if I am a sorcerer.'
3 Cf. ' Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda,' Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 484 ff. (19 ff. of the reprint) ; the present volume, pp. 160, 532 ff.
8 Cf. the same prohibition in the Mahabharata, below, p. liv.
4 The commentator Narada states that they are permissible, if practised against a husband or relative.
Introduction. H
205, he who practises for a multitude (gramaya^aka) is
pronounced impure: we may presume that this kind of
activity was largely, if not entirely in the hands of Athar-
van-priests ; cf. the note on p. xl.