4. Atharvaveda

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Speculations on the nature of man, life, good and evil

The Atharvaveda Samhita, as with the other Vedas, includes some hymns such as 4.1, 5.6, 10.7, 13.4, 17.1, 19.53-54, with metaphysical questions on the nature of existence, man, heaven and hell, good and evil. 
Hymn 10.7 of Atharvaveda, for example, asks questions such as "what is the source of cosmic order? what and where is planted this notion of faith, holy duty, truth? how is earth and sky held? is there space beyond the sky? what are seasons and where do they go? does Skambha (literally "cosmic pillar", synonym for Brahman) penetrate everything or just somethings? does Skambha know the future? is Skambha the basis of Law, Devotion and Belief? who or what is Skambha?"

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The wonderful structure of Man

(...) How many gods and which were they,
who gathered the breast, the neck bones of man?
how many disposed the two teats? who the two collar bones?
how many gathered the shoulder bones? how many the ribs?
Who brought together his two arms, saying, "he must perform heroism?"
(...) Which was the god who produced his brain, his forehead, his hindhead?
(...) Whence now in man come mishap, ruin, perdition, misery?
accomplishment, success, non-failure? whence thought?
What one god set sacrifice in man here?
who set in him truth? who untruth?
whence death? whence the immortal?

— Atharvaveda 10.2.4 - 10.2.14, Paippalāda Edition (Abridged),

The Atharvaveda, like other Vedic texts, states William Norman Brown, goes beyond the duality of heaven and hell, and speculates on the idea of Skambha or Brahman as the all pervasive monism. Good and evil, Sat and Asat (truth and untruth) are conceptualized differently in these hymns of Atharvaveda, and the Vedic thought, wherein these are not dualistic explanation of nature of creation, universe or man, rather the text transcends these and the duality therein. Order is established out of chaos, truth is established out of untruth, by a process and universal principles that transcend good and evil.

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Prayer for peace

Some hymns are prayer qua prayer, desiring harmony and peace. For example,

Give us agreement with our own; with strangers give us unity
Do ye, O Asvins, in this place join us in sympathy and love.
May we agree in mind, agree in purpose; let us not fight against the heavenly spirit
Around us rise no din of frequent slaughter, nor Indra's arrow fly, for day is present!

— Atharvaveda 7.52,

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Brahmana

The Atharvaveda includes Gopatha Brahmana text, that goes with Atharva Samhita.

Upanishads

The Atharvaveda has three primary Upanishads embedded within it.

1. Mundaka Upanishad

2. Mandukya Upanishad

3. Prashna Upanishad

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Mundaka Upanishad

The Mundaka Upanishad, embedded inside the Atharvaveda, is a poetic-style Upanishad with 64 verses, written in the form of mantras. However, these mantras are not used in rituals; rather they are used for teaching and meditation on spiritual knowledge. In ancient and medieval era Indian literature and commentaries, the Mundaka Upanishad is referred to as one of the Mantra Upanishads.

The Mundaka Upanishad contains three Mundakams (parts), each with two sections. The first Mundakam, states Roer, defines the sciences of "Higher Knowledge" and "Lower Knowledge", and then asserts that the acts of oblations and pious gifts are foolish and do nothing to reduce unhappiness in the current life or the next - rather, it is knowledge that frees people. 
The second Mundakam describes the nature of the Brahman, the Atman (Self, Soul), and the path to know Brahman. The third Mundakam continues the discussion and then asserts that the state of knowing Brahman is one of freedom, fearlessness, liberation and bliss. The Mundaka Upanishad is one of text that discuss the pantheism theory in Hindu scriptures. The text, like other Upanishads, also discusses ethics.

Through continuous pursuit of Satya (truthfulness), Tapas (perseverance, austerity), Samyajñāna (correct knowledge), and Brahmacharya, one attains Atman (Self, Soul).

— Mundaka Upanishad, 3.1.5

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Mandukya Upanishad

The Mandukya Upanishad is the shortest of all the Upanishads, found in the Atharvaveda text. The text discusses the syllable Om, presents the theory of four states of consciousness, and asserts the existence and nature of the Atman (Soul, Self).

The Mandukya Upanishad is notable for inspiring Gaudapada's Karika, a classic of the Vedanta school of Hinduism. The Mandukya Upanishad is among the oft-cited texts on chronology and the philosophical relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism.

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Prashna Upanishad

The Prashna Upanishad is from the Paippalada school of Atharvavedins.

The text contains six Prashna (questions), and each forms a chapter with a discussion of its answers. The first three questions are profound metaphysical questions but, states Eduard Roer, they do not contain any defined philosophical answers; they are mostly embellished mythology and symbolism. The fourth section, in contrast, contains some substantial philosophy. The last two sections discuss the symbol Om and the concept of Moksha.

The Prashna Upanishad is notable for its structure and its sociological insights into the education process in ancient India.

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Manuscripts and translations

The Shaunakiya text was published by Rudolf Roth and William Dwight Whitney in 1856, by Shankar Pandurang Pandit in the 1890s, and by Vishva Bandhu in 1960–1962. The first complete English translation was made by Ralph T.H. Griffith in 1895-96, followed shortly by Maurice Bloomfield's translation of about one third of the hymns in 1897. These were followed by a nearly complete translation (missing Book 20) with textual commentary by William Dwight Whitney, published in 1905, which is still cited in contemporary scholarship.

A corrupted and badly damaged version of the Paippalāda text was edited by Leroy Carr Barret from 1905 to 1940 from a single Kashmirian Śāradā manuscript (now in Tübingen). Durgamohan Bhattacharyya discovered palm leaf manuscripts of the Paippalada recension in Odisha in 1957. His son Dipak Bhattacharya has published the manuscripts. Thomas Zehnder translated Book 2 of the Paippalada recension into German in 1999, and Arlo Griffiths, Alexander Lubotsky and Carlos Lopez have separately published English translations of its Books 5 through 15.

The Gopatha Brahmana was translated by Hukam Chand Patyal as a dissertation at Pune University.

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Influence : Medicine and health care

Kenneth Zysk states that the "magico-religious medicine had given way to a medical system based on empirical and rational ideas" in ancient India by around the start of Christian era, still the texts and people of India continued to revere the ancient Vedic texts. Rishi Sushruta, remembered for his contributions to surgical studies, credits Atharvaveda as a foundation. Similarly, the verse 30.21 of the Caraka Samhita, states it reverence for the Atharvaveda as follows,

Therefore, the physician who has inquired in verse 30.20 about , devotion to the Atharvaveda is ordered from among the four: Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.

— Sutrasthara 30.21, Atharvaveda

The roots of Ayurveda – a traditional medical and health care practice in India—states Dominik Wujastyk, are in the texts called Caraka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita, both of which say that doctors, when asked, should assert their allegiance and inspiration to be the Vedas, especially Atharvaveda. Khare and Katiyar state that the Indian tradition directly links Ayurveda to Atharvaveda.

Wujastyk clarifies that the Vedic texts are a religious discourse and while herbal health care traditions are found in Atharvaveda, the systematic, scholarly medical literature of ancient India is first found in the Caraka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita. Kenneth Zysk adds Bhela Samhita to this list.

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Literature

The verse 11.7.24 of Atharvaveda contains the oldest known mention of the Indic literary genre the Puranas.

The 1st millennium AD Buddhist literature included books of magico-religious mantras and spells for protection from evil influences of non-human beings such as demons and ghosts. These were called Pirita (Pali: Paritta) and Rakkhamanta ("mantra for protection"), and they share premises and style of hymns found in Atharvaveda.