A Cultural Study of The Atharvaveda (An Old and Rare Book)

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The Present work relates to a cultural study of the Atharvaveda. This Veda is an ocean of practical wisdom and it contains vivid description of social customs, cultural traditions medical science, astronomy, philosophy of the Vedic era. The book is an analytical and critical study of this Veda. It has been divided into 10 chapters wherein subjects like geography, social life, economic conditions, education along with various branches of learning, and polity etc. Have been dealt with succinctly.

The entire Indian Philosophy has its origin in the Atharvaveda. Likewise, our ancient medical system, which is still in vogue as Ayurvedic system, originated and developed from Atharvaveda. Many other facets of life and culture, educations and learning, economy and polity, custom and tradition have their roots in the Atharvaveda.

Dr. Dvivedi is a renowned scholar of the Vedas. He has taken care to ensure that nothing significant in the Atharvaveda is omitted. It is hoped that the work will prove a boon to the Vedic scholars.

The Vedas have been universally recognised as the treasure of knowledge and wisdom beneficial to mankind. They contain a large variety of material dealing with spiritual, religious, social, cultural and scientific subjects.

The present work relates to a cultural study of Atharvaveda. This Veda is regarded as an ocean of Practical wisdom and it contains vivid description of social customs, cultural traditions, medical science, astronomy, philosophy etc. of the Vedic era. I have attempted in this book to present an analytical and critical study of the entire text of the Atharvaveda and to show that a great deal of its contents are still relevant to modern times. The book has been divided into 10 Chapters wherein subjects like geography, Social life, economic conditions, education along with various branches of learning, social beliefs, religion and Philosophy, politics and polity etc. have been dealt with succinctly.

It is true that in the Atharvaveda topics like black – magic and sorcery have also been covered and they do provide interesting reading. But some of the Western scholars, in their exuberance to describe witchcraft and sorcery prevalent in ancient times, have given the impression that Atharvaveda deals with magic formulae in a big way and nothing much about other matters. That such conclusion is utterly misconceived will be evident after reading the present book. The entire Indian philosophy, which is rated universally as superlative, has its origin in the Atharvaveda. Likewise, our ancient medical system, which is still in vogue as ayurvedic system, originated and developed from Atharvaveda. Many other facets of life and culture, education and learning, economy and polity as well as custom and tradition have roots in the Atharvaveda.

I have taken care to ensure that nothing significant in the Atharvaveda is committed. At places comparative text from other Vedas have also been studied for better comprehension. It may be clarified here that many vedic names of gods and deities are indicative of some qualities and are not confined their meaning as proper nouns. For example, name like Indra, Soma, Agni etc. may, according to given context, denote the proper noun or may mean Supreme Being, or Individual Soul, or kind or Scholar or Commander. For scholars aiming at in Depth study of certain texts of the Atharvaveda, I am confident that the Notes the Bibliography and the Index would be helpful.

Dr. Uttam Kumar Singh, Principal of Government Degree College gave me invaluable assistance in rendering English translation of my book Atharvaveda Ka Sanskritik Adhyayan. Professor Bal Chand Srivastava extended whole – hearted cooperation to me in this venture. I am grateful to them. I would be grateful to learned readers if they indicate any inaccuracies or omission to enable me to correct them in subsequent editions.