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111-751: The Atharvaveda - parishishta uses the name "tula-purusha-vidhi" to describe the ceremony. The Matsya Purana calls it "tula-purusha-dana", while the Linga Purana calls it by various names such as "tula-purusha-dana", "tuladhirohana", "tularoha", and "tulabhara". Majority of the ancient inscriptions that record the ceremony are written in Sanskrit language; some of them are in Tamil and Kannada , and some later inscriptions also feature Telugu language. The early Sanskrit-Tamil inscriptions from Tamil Nadu and Sinhala-Tamil inscriptions from Sri Lanka used

222-581: A collection of palm leaf manuscripts in Odisha in 1957. The Atharvaveda is sometimes called the "Veda of magical formulas ", a description considered incorrect by other scholars. In contrast to the 'hieratic religion' of the other three Vedas, the Atharvaveda is said to represent a 'popular religion', incorporating not only formulas for magic , but also the daily rituals for initiation into learning ( upanayana ), marriage and funerals. Royal rituals and

333-489: A historical collection of beliefs and rituals addressing practical issues of daily life of the Vedic society, and it is not a liturgical Yajurveda-style collection. The Caraṇavyuha , a later era Sanskrit text, states that the Atharvaveda had nine shakhas , or schools: paippalāda , stauda , mauda , śaunakīya , jājala , jalada , brahmavada , devadarśa and cāraṇavaidyā . Of these, only

444-455: A household. Some hymns were not about magic spells and charms, but prayer qua prayer and philosophical speculations. The contents of the Atharvaveda contrasts with the other Vedas. The 19th century Indologist Weber summarized the contrast as follows, The spirit of the two collections [Rigveda, Atharvaveda] is indeed widely different. In the Rigveda there breathes a lively natural feeling,

555-424: A husband! As this comfortable cave, O Indra!, furnishing a safe abode hath become pleasing to all life, thus may this woman be a favourite of fortune, beloved, not at odds with her husband! Do thou ascend the full, inexhaustible ship of fortune; upon this bring, hither the suitor who shall be agreeable to thee! Bring hither by thy shouts, O lord of wealth, the suitor, bend his mind towards her; turn thou

666-468: A loved one or recovery from some illness. In these cases, the affected would be given substances such as a plant (leaf, seed, root) and an amulet . Some magic spells were for soldiers going to war with the goal of defeating the enemy, others for anxious lovers seeking to remove rivals or to attract the lover who is less than interested, some for success at a sporting event, in economic activity, for bounty of cattle and crops, or removal of petty pest bothering

777-457: A particularly close connection to Vedic ( Brahmana ) literature. The Panchavimsha Brahmana (at 25.15.3) enumerates the officiant priests of a sarpasattra among whom the names Dhritarashtra and Janamejaya, two main figures of the Mahābhārata' s sarpasattra , as well as Takshaka , a snake in the Mahābhārata , occur. The Suparnakhyana , a late Vedic period poem considered to be among

888-550: A pond and assumes it is not water and falls in. Bhima , Arjuna , the twins and the servants laugh at him. In popular adaptations, this insult is wrongly attributed to Draupadi, even though in the Sanskrit epic, it was the Pandavas (except Yudhishthira) who had insulted Duryodhana. Enraged by the insult, and jealous at seeing the wealth of the Pandavas, Duryodhana decides to host a dice-game on Shakuni's suggestion. This suggestion

999-461: A princess from Gandhara, who blindfolds herself for the rest of her life so that she may feel the pain that her husband feels. Her brother Shakuni is enraged by this and vows to take revenge on the Kuru family. One day, when Pandu is relaxing in the forest, he hears the sound of a wild animal. He shoots an arrow in the direction of the sound. However, the arrow hits the sage Kindama , who was engaged in

1110-519: A role in the Mahābhārata , some parts of the epic may have already been known in his day. Another aspect is that Panini determined the accent of mahā-bhārata . However, the Mahābhārata was not recited in Vedic accent . The Greek writer Dio Chrysostom ( c.  40  – c.  120 CE ) reported that Homer 's poetry was being sung even in India. Many scholars have taken this as evidence for

1221-401: A sexual act in the guise of a deer. He curses Pandu that if he engages in a sexual act, he will die. Pandu then retires to the forest along with his two wives, and his brother Dhritarashtra rules thereafter, despite his blindness. Pandu's older queen Kunti, however, had been given a boon by Sage Durvasa that she could invoke any god using a special mantra. Kunti uses this boon to ask Dharma ,

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1332-467: A similar distinction. At least three redactions of the text are commonly recognized: Jaya (Victory) with 8,800 verses attributed to Vyasa, the Bharata with 24,000 verses as recited by Vaisampayana , and finally the Mahābhārata as recited by Ugrashrava Sauti with over 100,000 verses. However, some scholars, such as John Brockington, argue that Jaya and Bharata refer to the same text, and ascribe

1443-456: A similar nature, likely of new compositions and was added later. The 143 hymns of the 20th book of Atharvaveda Samhita is almost entirely borrowed from the Rigveda. The hymns of Atharvaveda cover a motley of topics, across its twenty books. Roughly, the first seven books focus primarily on magical poems for all sorts of healing and sorcery, and Michael Witzel states these are reminiscent of Germanic and Hittite sorcery stanzas, and may likely be

1554-520: A tunnel. They escape to safety through the tunnel and go into hiding. During this time, Bhima marries a demoness Hidimbi and has a son Ghatotkacha . Back in Hastinapur, the Pandavas and Kunti are presumed dead. Whilst they were in hiding, the Pandavas learn of a swayamvara which is taking place for the hand of the Pāñcāla princess Draupadī . The Pandavas, disguised as Brahmins , come to witness

1665-589: A very short uneventful life and dies. Vichitravirya, the younger son, rules Hastinapura . Meanwhile, the King of Kāśī arranges a swayamvara for his three daughters, neglecting to invite the royal family of Hastinapur. To arrange the marriage of young Vichitravirya, Bhishma attends the swayamvara of the three princesses Amba , Ambika , and Ambalika , uninvited, and proceeds to abduct them. Ambika and Ambalika consent to be married to Vichitravirya. The oldest princess Amba, however, informs Bhishma that she wishes to marry

1776-546: A warm love for nature; while in the Atharva there prevails, on the contrary, only an anxious dread of her evil spirits and their magical powers. In the Rigveda we find the people in a state of free activity and independence; in the Atharva we see it bound in the fetters of the hierarchy and superstition. Jan Gonda cautions that it would be incorrect to label Atharvaveda Samhita as mere compilation of magical formulas, witchcraft and sorcery. While such verses are indeed present in

1887-629: Is as follows: The historicity of the Kurukshetra War is unclear. Many historians estimate the date of the Kurukshetra war to Iron Age India of the 10th century BCE. The setting of the epic has a historical precedent in Iron Age ( Vedic ) India, where the Kuru kingdom was the center of political power during roughly 1200 to 800 BCE. A dynastic conflict of the period could have been

1998-559: Is based on a story that is the precursor to the Mahābhārata . The Urubhanga , a Sanskrit play written by Bhasa who is believed to have lived before Kalidasa, is based on the slaying of Duryodhana by the splitting of his thighs by Bhima . The copper-plate inscription of the Maharaja Sharvanatha (533–534 CE) from Khoh ( Satna District, Madhya Pradesh ) describes the Mahābhārata as a "collection of 100,000 verses" ( śata-sahasri saṃhitā ). The division into 18 parvas

2109-426: Is born blind. Ambalika turns pale and bloodless upon seeing him, and thus her son Pandu is born pale and unhealthy (the term Pandu may also mean 'jaundiced' ). Due to the physical challenges of the first two children, Satyavati asks Vyasa to try once again. However, Ambika and Ambalika send their maid instead, to Vyasa's room. Vyasa fathers a third son, Vidura , by the maid. He is born healthy and grows up to be one of

2220-453: Is cognate to Avestan āθrauuan "priest" and possibly related to Tocharian *athr , "superior force". The Atharvaveda is also occasionally referred to as Bhrgvangirasah and Brahmaveda , after Bhrigu and Brahma , respectively. The Atharvaveda is dated by Flood at ca. 900 BCE, while Michael Witzel gives a dating at, or slightly after, c. 1200/1000 BCE. The ancient Indian tradition initially recognized only three Vedas. The Rigveda,

2331-406: 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 ?" The wonderful structure of Man (...) How many gods and which were they, who gathered

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2442-587: Is first recited at Takshashila by the sage Vaisampayana , a disciple of Vyasa, to the King Janamejaya who was the great-grandson of the Pandava prince Arjuna . The story is then recited again by a professional storyteller named Ugrashrava Sauti , many years later, to an assemblage of sages performing the 12-year sacrifice for the king Saunaka Kulapati in the Naimisha Forest . The text

2553-1004: 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. Mahabharata Divisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas The Mahābhārata ( / m ə ˌ h ɑː ˈ b ɑːr ə t ə , ˌ m ɑː h ə -/ mə- HAH - BAR -ə-tə, MAH -hə- ; Sanskrit : महाभारतम् , IAST : Mahābhāratam , pronounced [mɐɦaːˈbʱaːrɐt̪ɐm] )

2664-466: Is one of oldest surviving record of the evolutionary practices in religious medicine and reveals the "earliest forms of folk healing of Indo-European antiquity". ' The Atharvaveda Samhita contains hymns many of which were charms, magic spells and incantations meant to be pronounced by the person who seeks some benefit, or more often by a sorcerer who would say it on his or her behalf. The most frequent goal of these hymns, charms, and spells were long life of

2775-652: Is one of the two major Smriti texts and Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered in Hinduism , the other being the Rāmāyaṇa . It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War , a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas . It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or puruṣārtha (12.161). Among

2886-490: Is possible that the tula-purusha ceremony traveled from the southern Pandya kingdom of Tamil Nadu to Maharashtra-Karnataka, which was ruled by the Rashtrakutas . It may have subsequently spread to other neighbouring areas, such as Madhya Pradesh (from Maharashtra), Andhra Pradesh (from Karnataka), and Sri Lanka (from Tamil Nadu). Notable performers include: The Islamic Mughal rulers also appear to have borrowed

2997-415: Is reborn to King Drupada as Shikhandi (or Shikhandini) and causes Bhishma's fall, with the help of Arjuna , in the battle of Kurukshetra. When Vichitravirya dies young without any heirs, Satyavati asks her first son Vyasa , born to her from a previous union with the sage Parashara , to father children with the widows. The eldest, Ambika, shuts her eyes when she sees him, and so her son Dhritarashtra

3108-526: Is right, as well as the converse. The Mahābhārata itself ends with the death of Krishna , and the subsequent end of his dynasty and ascent of the Pandava brothers to heaven. It also marks the beginning of the Hindu age of Kali Yuga , the fourth and final age of humankind, in which great values and noble ideas have crumbled, and people are heading towards the complete dissolution of right action, morality, and virtue. King Janamejaya's ancestor, Shantanu ,

3219-576: Is sometimes called the "Veda of magical formulas ", an epithet declared to be incorrect by many scholars. The Samhita layer of the text likely represents a developing 2nd millennium BCE tradition of magico-religious rites to address superstitious anxiety, spells to remove maladies believed to be caused by demons, and herbs- and nature-derived potions as medicine. Many books of the Atharvaveda Samhita are dedicated to rituals without magic and to theosophy. The text, states Kenneth Zysk ,

3330-909: Is suggested by the writings of the European travelers Niccolao Manucci , Jean-Baptiste Tavernier , and François Bernier . In 2015, the Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickramasinghe participated in a tulabharam ceremony at the Guruvayur Temple , and offered 77 kg of sandalwood worth approximately ₹ 850,000 to the temple. Atharvaveda Divisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda ( Sanskrit : अथर्ववेद , IAST : Atharvaveda , from अथर्वन् , "priest" and वेद , "knowledge") or Atharvana Veda ( Sanskrit : अथर्वणवेद , IAST : Atharvaṇaveda )

3441-401: Is the "knowledge storehouse of atharvāṇas , the procedures for everyday life". The text is the fourth Veda , and is a late addition to the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism . The language of the Atharvaveda is different from Rigvedic Sanskrit, preserving pre-Vedic Indo-European archaisms . It is a collection of 730 hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books. About a sixth of

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3552-430: Is translated as "Great Bharat (India)", or "the story of the great descendents of Bharata ", or as " The Great Indian Tale ". The Mahābhārata is the longest epic poem known and has been described as "the longest poem ever written". Its longest version consists of over 100,000 śloka or over 200,000 individual verse lines (each shloka is a couplet), and long prose passages. At about 1.8 million words in total,

3663-500: The Sāmaveda . There is no absolute dating of any Vedic text including the Atharvaveda. The dating for Atharvaveda is derived from the new metals and items mentioned therein; it, for example, mentions iron (as krsna ayas , literally "black metal"), and such mentions have led Michael Witzel to the estimate that the Atharvaveda hymns were compiled in the early Indian Iron Age , at, or slightly after, c. 1200/1000 BCE. corresponding to

3774-669: The Kali Yuga epoch, based on planetary conjunctions, by Aryabhata (6th century). Aryabhata's date of 18 February 3102 BCE for Mahābhārata war has become widespread in Indian tradition. Some sources mark this as the disappearance of Krishna from the Earth. The Aihole inscription of Pulakeshin II , dated to Saka 556 = 634 CE, claims that 3,735 years have elapsed since the Bhārata battle, putting

3885-545: The Guru–shishya tradition , which traces all great teachers and their students of the Vedic times. The first section of the Mahābhārata states that it was Ganesha who wrote down the text to Vyasa's dictation, but this is regarded by scholars as a later interpolation to the epic and the "Critical Edition" does not include Ganesha. The epic employs the story within a story structure, otherwise known as frametales , popular in many Indian religious and non-religious works. It

3996-658: The Kaurava and the Pandava . Although the Kaurava is the senior branch of the family, Duryodhana , the eldest Kaurava, is younger than Yudhishthira , the eldest Pandava. Both Duryodhana and Yudhishthira claim to be first in line to inherit the throne. The struggle culminates in the Kurukshetra War , in which the Pandavas are ultimately victorious. The battle produces complex conflicts of kinship and friendship, instances of family loyalty and duty taking precedence over what

4107-509: The Kushan Period (200 CE). According to what one figure says at Mbh. 1.1.50, there were three versions of the epic, beginning with Manu (1.1.27), Astika (1.3, sub-Parva 5), or Vasu (1.57), respectively. These versions would correspond to the addition of one and then another 'frame' settings of dialogues. The Vasu version would omit the frame settings and begin with the account of the birth of Vyasa. The astika version would add

4218-413: The Mahābhārata has put an enormous effort into recognizing and dating layers within the text. Some elements of the present Mahabharata can be traced back to Vedic times. The background to the Mahābhārata suggests the origin of the epic occurs "after the very early Vedic period " and before " the first Indian 'empire' was to rise in the third century B.C." That this is "a date not too far removed from

4329-427: The Mahābhārata is attributed to Vyāsa . There have been many attempts to unravel its historical growth and compositional layers. The bulk of the Mahābhārata was probably compiled between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE, with the oldest preserved parts not much older than around 400 BCE. The text probably reached its final form by the early Gupta period ( c.  4th century CE ). The title

4440-564: The Mahābhārata is roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined, or about four times the length of the Rāmāyaṇa . Within the Indian tradition it is sometimes called the fifth Veda . The epic is traditionally ascribed to the sage Vyasa , who is also a major figure in the epic. Vyasa described it as being an itihasa ( transl.  history ). He also describes

4551-686: The Mundaka Upanishad , the Mandukya Upanishad and the Prashna Upanishad . The Veda may be named, states Monier Williams , after the mythical priest named Atharvan who was first to develop prayers to fire, offer Soma, and who composed "formulas and spells intended to counteract diseases and calamities". The name Atharvaveda, states Laurie Patton, is for the text being "Veda of the Atharvāṇas". The oldest name of

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4662-476: The brahmanas should bathe the donor, and have him wear a white garment. The donor should wear garlands made of white flowers, and circumambulate the weighing scale with flowers in his folded hands. Finally, the text states, the donor should step into one of the pans of the weighing scale, and the brahmanas should place pure gold pieces of equal weight in the other pan. After invoking the Goddess Earth ,

4773-543: The sarpasattra and ashvamedha material from Brahmanical literature, introduce the name Mahābhārata , and identify Vyasa as the work's author. The redactors of these additions were probably Pancharatrin scholars who according to Oberlies (1998) likely retained control over the text until its final redaction. Mention of the Huna in the Bhishma Parva however appears to imply that this Parva may have been edited around

4884-474: The tula-dana practice from the Hindu rulers. According to emperor Akbar 's courtier Abu'l-Fazl , Akbar was weighed against gold and other valuable items twice every year. English visitors such as Thomas Coryat and Thomas Roe mention that the custom was followed by his son Jahangir as well. Jahangir's successor Aurangzeb discontinued the practice for himself, but his sons were apparently weighed against objects to be donated, upon recovery from illness. This

4995-630: The wife of all five brothers . After the wedding, the Pandava brothers are invited back to Hastinapura. The Kuru family elders and relatives negotiate and broker a split of the kingdom, with the Pandavas obtaining and demanding only a wild forest inhabited by Takshaka , the king of snakes, and his family. Through hard work, the Pandavas build a new glorious capital for the territory at Indraprastha . Shortly after this, Arjuna elopes with and then marries Krishna's sister, Subhadra . Yudhishthira wishes to establish his position as king; he seeks Krishna's advice. Krishna advises him, and after due preparation and

5106-672: The "earliest traces of epic poetry in India," is an older, shorter precursor to the expanded legend of Garuda that is included in the Astika Parva , within the Adi Parva of the Mahābhārata . The earliest known references to bhārata and the compound mahābhārata date to the Ashtadhyayi ( sutra 6.2.38) of Panini ( fl. 4th century BCE) and the Ashvalayana Grihyasutra (3.4.4). This may mean that

5217-400: The 1st millennium BCE, describes tula-purusha, besides other sacrifices such as the hiranya-garbha (the donation of a golden vessel) and gosahasra (the donation of a thousand cows). A section of the later text Matsya Purana mentions the tula-purusha ceremony as the first and the best among the sixteen great gifts ( maha-danas ). According to scholar R. C. Hazara, this particular section

5328-427: The 4th century. The Adi Parva includes the snake sacrifice ( sarpasattra ) of Janamejaya , explaining its motivation, detailing why all snakes in existence were intended to be destroyed, and why despite this, there are still snakes in existence. This sarpasattra material was often considered an independent tale added to a version of the Mahābhārata by "thematic attraction" (Minkowski 1991), and considered to have

5439-518: The 78 CE. This places Yudhishthara (and therefore, the Mahabharata war) around 2448–2449 BCE (2526–78). Some scholars have attempted to identify the "Shaka" calendar era mentioned by Varāhamihira with other eras, but such identifications place Varāhamihira in the first century BCE, which is impossible as he refers to the 5th century astronomer Aryabhata . Kalhana 's Rajatarangini (11th century), apparently relying on Varāhamihira, also states that

5550-465: The 8th or 9th century B.C." is likely. The Mahabharata started as an orally-transmitted tale of the charioteer bards . It is generally agreed that "Unlike the Vedas , which have to be preserved letter-perfect, the epic was a popular work whose reciters would inevitably conform to changes in language and style," so the earliest 'surviving' components of this dynamic text are believed to be no older than

5661-494: The Atharvaveda are prayers and incantations wishing a child or loved one to get over some sickness and become healthy again, along with comforting the family members. The Vedic era assumption was that diseases are caused by evil spirits, external beings or demonic forces who enter the body of a victim to cause sickness. Hymn 5.21 of the Paippalāda edition of the text, for example, states, Heaven our father, and Earth our mother, Agni

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5772-567: The Atharvaveda texts adapt verses from the Rigveda , and except for Books 15 and 16, the text is mainly in verse deploying a diversity of Vedic meters. Two different recensions of the text – the Paippalāda and the Śaunakīya – have survived into modern times. Reliable manuscripts of the Paippalada edition were believed to have been lost, but a well-preserved version was discovered among

5883-548: 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

5994-466: The Pandava brothers, from their youth and into manhood, leads to the Kurukshetra war. After the deaths of their mother (Madri) and father (Pandu), the Pandavas and their mother Kunti return to the palace of Hastinapur. Yudhishthira is made Crown Prince by Dhritarashtra, under considerable pressure from his courtiers. Dhritarashtra wanted his son Duryodhana to become king and lets his ambition get in

6105-570: The Pandavas flourished 653 years after the beginning of the Kali Yuga; Kalhana adds that people who believe that the Bharata war was fought at the end of the Dvapara Yuga are foolish. The core story of the work is that of a dynastic struggle for the throne of Hastinapura , the kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan. The two collateral branches of the family that participate in the struggle are

6216-454: The Samhita layer, a significant portion of the Samhita text are hymns for domestic rituals without magic or spells, and some are theosophical speculations such as "all Vedic gods are One". Additionally, the non-Samhita layers of Atharvaveda text include a Brahmana and several influential Upanishads. The Atharvaveda includes mantras and verses for treating a variety of ailments. For example,

6327-512: The Shaunakiya recension, and the more recently discovered manuscripts of Paippalāda recension have survived. The Paippalāda edition is more ancient. The two recensions differ in how they are organized, as well as content. For example, the Book 10 of Paippalada recension is more detailed and observed carefully not doing a single mistake, more developed and more conspicuous in describing monism ,

6438-508: The ancient Indian texts. For example, in the Mahabharata , King Shibi , a descendant of King Bharata of the Lunar dynasty , was tested by Indra and Agni . They approached Shibi in the forms of an eagle and a dove. The dove sought Shibi's protection from the eagle, who asked Shibi to give his flesh measure for measure in exchange for the dove's life. Shibi, ready to offer anything to save

6549-420: The assistance of Rukmini. Rukmini placed a tulasi (basil) leaf upon the other end of the scale, regarded to represent her love for Krishna, which immediately balanced the scales. Several inscriptions of India mention the historical performances of the tula-purusha . The earliest of these inscriptions are from the present-day Tamil Nadu (7th-8th century) and Maharashtra - Karnataka region (8th-9th century). It

6660-671: The attempt but is interrupted by Draupadi who refuses to marry a suta (this has been excised from the Critical Edition of Mahabharata as later interpolation ). After this, the swayamvara is opened to the Brahmins leading Arjuna to win the contest and marry Draupadi. The Pandavas return home and inform their meditating mother that Arjuna has won a competition and to look at what they have brought back. Without looking, Kunti asks them to share whatever Arjuna has won amongst themselves, thinking it to be alms . Thus, Draupadi ends up being

6771-433: The attention of every agreeable suitor towards her! 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

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6882-442: The average duration of a reign, arrived at an estimate of 850  BCE for Adhisimakrishna, and thus approximately 950  BCE for the Bharata battle. B. B. Lal used the same approach with a more conservative assumption of the average reign to estimate a date of 836 BCE, and correlated this with archaeological evidence from Painted Grey Ware (PGW) sites, the association being strong between PGW artifacts and places mentioned in

6993-421: The balasa, cough, udraja, terrible are your missiles, O fever, avoid us with them. Several hymns in the Atharvaveda such as hymn 8.7, just like the Rigveda's hymn 10.97, is a praise of medicinal herbs and plants, suggesting that speculations about the medical and health value of plants and herbs was an emerging field of knowledge in ancient India. The Atharvavedic hymn states (abridged), The tawny colored, and

7104-603: The birth of Parikshit (Arjuna's grandson) and the accession of Mahapadma Nanda (400–329 BCE), which would yield an estimate of about 1400 BCE for the Bharata battle. However, this would imply improbably long reigns on average for the kings listed in the genealogies. Of the second kind is analysis of parallel genealogies in the Puranas between the times of Adhisimakrishna ( Parikshit 's great-grandson) and Mahapadma Nanda . Pargiter accordingly estimated 26 generations by averaging 10 different dynastic lists and, assuming 18 years for

7215-407: The book with the shortest hymns as Book 1, and then in an increasing order (a few manuscripts do the opposite). Most of the hymns are poetic and set to different meters, but about a sixth of the book is prose. Most of the hymns of Atharvaveda are unique to it, except for the one sixth of its hymns that it borrows from the Rigveda , primarily from its 10th mandala. The 19th book was a supplement of

7326-526: 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

7437-688: The ceremony should be officiated by eight priests ( rtvij ), two for each of the four Vedas . A man knolwedgable about the Vedanta , the Puranas , and the Shastras , should be appointed as the preceptor ( guru ). Four homas should be offered to the deities, accompanied by the recital of Vedic hymns. After the homa ceremony, the guru should invoke the Lokapalas (deities associated with directions) with flowers, incense, and recital of mantras . Next,

7548-419: The concept of "oneness of Brahman , all life forms and the world". The Atharvaveda Samhita originally was organized into 18 books ( Kāṇḍas ), and the last two were added later. These books are arranged neither by subject nor by authors (as is the case with the other Vedas), but by the length of the hymns. Each book generally has hymns of about a similar number of verses, and the surviving manuscripts label

7659-602: The core 24,000 verses, known as the Bhārata , as well as an early version of the extended Mahābhārata , were composed by the 4th century BCE. However, it is uncertain whether Panini referred to the epic, as bhārata was also used to describe other things. Albrecht Weber mentions the Rigvedic tribe of the Bharatas , where a great person might have been designated as Mahā-Bhārata. However, as Panini also mentions figures that play

7770-511: The date of Mahābhārata war at 3137BCE. Another traditional school of astronomers and historians, represented by Vrddha Garga , Varāhamihira and Kalhana , place the Bharata war 653 years after the Kali Yuga epoch, corresponding to 2449 BCE. According to Varāhamihira's Bṛhat Saṃhitā (6th century), Yudhishthara lived 2,526 years before the beginning of the Shaka era , which begins in

7881-411: The donor should give half the gold to the guru , and the rest to the brahmanas. The donor may also grant villages to the priests. The donor should "honour the brahmanas, other respectable people, and the poor and the helpless with gifts". The Linga Purana gives a similar description, and adds that the gold pieces should be dedicated to the god Shiva . The Atharvaveda - parishishta , composed in

7992-548: The dove, began slice off bits of himself. Even after much cutting, the balance scales did not move, and when at last when Shibi himself stood on the scale of the balance, the gods appeared to him and blessed him. Another legend of the Tulabhara relates to Krishna and his queen-consorts, Rukmini and Satyabhama . In the Bhagavata Purana , Satyabhama is described to have often attempted to prove her superiority over

8103-493: The duties of the court priests are also included in the Atharvaveda. The Atharvaveda was likely compiled as a Veda contemporaneously with Samaveda and Yajurveda , or about 1200 BCE – 1000 BCE. Along with the Samhita layer of text, the Atharvaveda includes a Brahmana text, and a final layer of the text that covers philosophical speculations. The latter layer of Atharvaveda text includes three primary Upanishads, influential to various schools of Hindu philosophy . These include

8214-482: The earliest 'external' references we have to the epic, which include an reference in Panini 's 4th century BCE grammar Ashtadhyayi 4:2:56. Vishnu Sukthankar, editor of the first great critical edition of the Mahābhārata , commented: "It is useless to think of reconstructing a fluid text in an original shape, based on an archetype and a stemma codicum . What then is possible? Our objective can only be to reconstruct

8325-485: The early Kuru Kingdom . The priests who practised the Atharvaveda were considered to be the lowest tier of Brahmins , in comparison to the priests who practised the Rigveda, Samaveda, or Yajurveda [considered by whom?]. A stigma held by some against Atharvaveda priests is documented in Odisha well into the modern day. The Atharvaveda is a collection of 20 books, with a total of 730 hymns of about 6,000 stanzas. The text is, state Patrick Olivelle and other scholars,

8436-458: The elimination of some opposition, Yudhishthira carries out the rājasūya yagna ceremony; he is thus recognized as pre-eminent among kings. The Pandavas have a new palace built for them, by Maya the Danava . They invite their Kaurava cousins to Indraprastha. Duryodhana walks round the palace, and mistakes a glossy floor for water, and will not step in. After being told of his error, he then sees

8547-489: The entire court, but Draupadi's disrobe is prevented by Krishna, who miraculously make her dress endless, therefore it couldn't be removed. Dhritarashtra, Bhishma, and the other elders are aghast at the situation, but Duryodhana is adamant that there is no place for two crown princes in Hastinapura. Against his wishes Dhritarashtra calls for another dice game. The Pandavas are required to go into exile for 12 years, and in

8658-467: The epic. John Keay suggests "their core narratives seem to relate to events from a period prior to all but the Rig Veda." Attempts to date the events using methods of archaeoastronomy have produced, depending on which passages are chosen and how they are interpreted, estimates ranging from the late 4th to the mid-2nd millennium BCE. The late 4th-millennium date has a precedent in the calculation of

8769-406: The event. Meanwhile, Krishna, who has already befriended Draupadi, tells her to look out for Arjuna (though now believed to be dead). The task was to string a mighty steel bow and shoot a target on the ceiling, which was the eye of a moving artificial fish, while looking at its reflection in oil below. In popular versions, after all the princes fail, many being unable to lift the bow, Karna proceeds to

8880-643: The existence of a Māhabhārata at this date, whose episodes Dio or his sources identify with the story of the Iliad . Several stories within the Mahābhārata took on separate identities of their own in Classical Sanskrit literature . For instance, the Abhijnanashkuntala by the renowned Sanskrit poet Kalidasa ( c.  400 CE ), believed to have lived in the era of the Gupta dynasty,

8991-399: The five brothers, who are from then on usually referred to as the Pandava brothers. Dhritarashtra has a hundred sons, and one daughter— Duhsala —through Gandhari , all born after the birth of Yudhishthira. These are the Kaurava brothers, the eldest being Duryodhana , and the second Dushasana . Other Kaurava brothers include Vikarna and Sukarna. The rivalry and enmity between them and

9102-401: The fourth Veda, and make references to only three Vedas. Olson states that the ultimate acceptance of Atharvaveda as the fourth Veda probably came in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BCE. However, notes Max Muller , the hymns of Atharvaveda existed by the time Chandogya Upanishad was completed (~700 BCE), but were then referred to as "hymns of Atharvangirasah". Frits Staal states that

9213-483: The god of justice, Vayu , the god of the wind, and Indra , the lord of the heavens for sons. She gives birth to three sons, Yudhishthira , Bhima , and Arjuna , through these gods. Kunti shares her mantra with the younger queen Madri , who bears the twins Nakula and Sahadeva through the Ashwini twins. However, Pandu and Madri indulge in lovemaking, and Pandu dies. Madri commits suicide out of remorse. Kunti raises

9324-588: The heavenly spirit Around us rise no din of frequent slaughter, nor Indra's arrow fly, for day is present! The Atharvaveda includes Gopatha Brahmana text, that goes with Atharva Samhita . The Atharvaveda has three primary Upanishads embedded within it. 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,

9435-443: The immortal? 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

9546-455: The inspiration for the Jaya , the foundation on which the Mahābhārata corpus was built, with a climactic battle, eventually coming to be viewed as an epochal event. Puranic literature presents genealogical lists associated with the Mahābhārata narrative. The evidence of the Puranas is of two kinds. Of the first kind, there is the direct statement that there were 1,015 (or 1,050) years between

9657-438: The king of Hastinapura , had a short-lived marriage with the goddess Ganga and had a son, Devavrata (later to be called Bhishma , a great warrior), who becomes the heir apparent. Many years later, when King Shantanu goes hunting, he sees Satyavati , the daughter of the chief of fishermen, and asks her father for her hand. Her father refuses to consent to the marriage unless Shantanu promises to make any future son of Satyavati

9768-429: The king of Shalva whom Bhishma defeated at their swayamvara. Bhishma lets her leave to marry the king of Shalva, but Shalva refuses to marry her, still smarting at his humiliation at the hands of Bhishma. Amba then returns to marry Bhishma but he refuses due to his vow of celibacy. Amba becomes enraged and becomes Bhishma's bitter enemy, holding him responsible for her plight. She vows to kill him in her next life. Later she

9879-408: The king upon his death. To resolve his father's dilemma, Devavrata agrees to relinquish his right to the throne. As the fisherman is not sure about the prince's children honoring the promise, Devavrata also takes a vow of lifelong celibacy to guarantee his father's promise. Shantanu has two sons by Satyavati, Chitrāngada and Vichitravirya . Upon Shantanu's death, Chitrangada becomes king. He lives

9990-546: The men-watcher, let them send the ten days’ fever far away from us. O fever, these snowy mountains with Soma on their back have made the wind, the messenger, the healer for us, Disappear from here to the Maratas. Neither the women desire you, nor the men whosoever, Neither a small one, nor a grown-up weeps here from desire of fever. Do not harm our grown-up men, do not harm our grown-up women, Do not harm our boys, do not harm our girls. You who simultaneously discharge

10101-628: The name "tula-bhara" (literally "weighing on the scales") to describe the ceremony. The Sanskrit inscriptions from other regions, the Kannada inscriptions, and the Puranas generally use the name "tula-purusha" and its variants. "Tula-purusha" is the most common name for the ceremony in the historical records. The longer forms are "tula-purusha-dana" or "tula-purusha-mahadana", which are sometimes abbreviated as "tula-dana" (the words "dana" and "mahadana" mean "donation" and "great donation" respectively). The 13th century inscriptions from Tamil Nadu also use

10212-432: The oldest form of the text which it is possible to reach based on the manuscript material available." That manuscript evidence is somewhat late, given its material composition and the climate of India, but it is very extensive. The Mahābhārata itself (1.1.61) distinguishes a core portion of 24,000 verses: the Bhārata proper, as opposed to additional secondary material, while the Ashvalayana Grihyasutra (3.4.4) makes

10323-668: The oldest section. Books 8 to 12 are speculations of a variety of topics, while Books 13 to 18 tend to be about life cycle rites of passage rituals. The Srautasutra texts Vaitāna Sūtra and the Kauśika Sūtra are attached to the Atharvaveda Shaunaka edition, as are a supplement of Atharvan Prayascitthas , two Pratishakhyas , and a collection of Parisisthas . For the Paippalada edition of Atharvaveda, corresponding texts were Agastya and Paithinasi Sutras but these are lost or yet to be discovered. The Atharvaveda

10434-428: The other wives of Krishna, especially his principal wife, Rukmini. The sage Narada once incited Satyabhama into undertaking a vrata (vow) in which she had to "donate" her husband to the former, and pay the latter's weight in gold to regain him. She had Krishna sit upon one side of the weighing scale, and poured all of her gold jewellery upon the other end. The scale did not budge. Swallowing her pride, Satyabhama sought

10545-497: The pale, the variegated and the red, the dusky tinted, and the black – all Plants we summon hitherward. I speak to Healing Herbs spreading, and bushy, to creepers, and to those whose sheath is single, I call for thee the fibrous, and the reed like, and branching plants, dear to Vishwa Devas, powerful, giving life to men. The conquering strength, the power and might, which ye, victorious plants possess, Therewith deliver this man here from this consumption, O ye Plants: so I prepare

10656-460: The positive auspicious side came to be celebrated and the name Atharva Veda became widespread. The latter name Angiras which is linked to Agni and priests in the Vedas, states George Brown, may also be related to Indo-European Angirôs found in an Aramaic text from Nippur. Michael Witzel states the etymology of Atharvan is Proto Indo-Iranian *atharwan "[ancient] priest, sorcerer", and it

10767-463: The principal works and stories in the Mahābhārata are the Bhagavad Gita , the story of Damayanti , the story of Shakuntala , the story of Pururava and Urvashi , the story of Savitri and Satyavan , the story of Kacha and Devayani , the story of Rishyasringa and an abbreviated version of the Rāmāyaṇa , often considered as works in their own right. Traditionally, the authorship of

10878-500: The remedy. The contents of the Atharvaveda have been studied to glean information about the social and cultural mores in the Vedic era of India. A number of verses relate to spells for gaining a husband, or a wife, or the love of a woman, or to prevent any rivals from winning over one's "love interest". May O Agni!, a suitor after our own heart come to us, may he come to this maiden with fortune! May she be agreeable to suitors, charming at festivals, promptly obtain happiness through

10989-448: The terms "tularohana" (or "tularoha") and "tuladhiroha-vidhi" (or "tuladhirohana") for the ceremony. The Matsya Purana provides several requirements for a tula-purusha ceremony, including directions for constructing the mandapa (pavilion) required for the ceremony. It states that the weighing scale ( tula ) should have two posts and a crossbeam, made from the same wood, and should be ornamented with gold. The text further states that

11100-573: The text may be a compilation of poetry and knowledge that developed in two different regions of ancient India, the Kuru region in northern India and the Pancalas region of eastern India. The former was home to Paippalāda, whose name was derived from the sacred fig tree named Pippala (Sanskrit: पिप्पल). This school's compositions were in the Rigvedic style. The Pancalas region contributions came from composer-priests Angirasas and Bhargavas, whose style

11211-462: 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. 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

11322-439: The text, according to its own verse 10.7.20, was Atharvangirasah , a compound of " Atharvan " and " Angiras ", both Vedic scholars. Each scholar called the text after itself, such as Saunakiya Samhita , meaning the "compiled text of Saunakiya". The "Atharvan" and "Angiras" names, states Maurice Bloomfield, imply different things, with the former considered auspicious while the latter implying hostile sorcery practices. Over time,

11433-588: The theory of Jaya with 8,800 verses to a misreading of a verse in the Adi Parva (1.1.81). The redaction of this large body of text was carried out after formal principles, emphasizing the numbers 18 and 12. The addition of the latest parts may be dated by the absence of the Anushasana Parva and the Virata Parva from the " Spitzer manuscript ". The oldest surviving Sanskrit text dates to

11544-488: The verse 3.12.9.1 of Taittiriya Brahmana, the verse 5.32-33 of Aitareya Brahmana and other Vedic era texts mention only three Vedas. The acceptance of the Atharvanas hymns and traditional folk practices was slow, and it was accepted as another Veda much later than the first three, by both orthodox and heterodox traditions of Indian philosophies. The early Buddhist Nikaya texts, for example, do not recognize Atharvaveda as

11655-538: The verses in hymn 4.15 of the recently discovered Paippalada version of the Atharvaveda, discuss how to deal with an open fracture, and how to wrap the wound with Rohini plant ( Ficus infectoria , native to India): Let marrow be put together with marrow, and joint together with joint, together what of the flesh fallen apart, together sinew and together your bone. Let marrow come together with marrow, let bone grow over together with bone. We put together your sinew with sinew, let skin grow with skin. Numerous hymns of

11766-471: The way of preserving justice. Shakuni, Duryodhana, and Dushasana plot to get rid of the Pandavas. Shakuni calls the architect Purochana to build a palace out of flammable materials like lac and ghee. He then arranges for the Pandavas and the Queen Mother Kunti to stay there, intending to set it alight. However, the Pandavas are warned by their wise uncle, Vidura , who sends them a miner to dig

11877-594: The wisest figures in the Mahabharata . He serves as Prime Minister (Mahamantri or Mahatma) to King Pandu and King Dhritarashtra. When the princes grow up, Dhritarashtra is about to be crowned king by Bhishma when Vidura intervenes and uses his knowledge of politics to assert that a blind person cannot be king. This is because a blind man cannot control and protect his subjects. The throne is then given to Pandu because of Dhritarashtra's blindness. Pandu marries twice, to Kunti and Madri . Dhritarashtra marries Gandhari ,

11988-460: Was accepted by Yudhisthira despite the rest of the Pandavas advising him not to play. Shakuni , Duryodhana's uncle, now arranges a dice game, playing against Yudhishthira with loaded dice. In the dice game, Yudhishthira loses all his wealth, then his kingdom. Yudhishthira then gambles his brothers, himself, and finally his wife into servitude. The jubilant Kauravas insult the Pandavas in their helpless state and even try to disrobe Draupadi in front of

12099-560: Was composed during 550-650 CE. The Linga Purana also mentions the sixteen great donations; according to R. C. Hazara, the relevant portion of the text was composed during c. 600-1000 CE, most probably after 800 CE. These donations are also described in the later digests devoted to the topic of charity ( dāna ), such as Ballala 's Dana-sagara , and the Danakhanda section of Hemadri 's Chaturvarga-chintamani (13th century). Several legendary performances of Tulabhara are mentioned in

12210-453: Was described by some early 20th-century Indologists as unstructured and chaotic. Hermann Oldenberg supposed that the original poem must once have carried an immense "tragic force" but dismissed the full text as a "horrible chaos." Moritz Winternitz ( Geschichte der indischen Literatur 1909) considered that "only unpoetical theologists and clumsy scribes" could have lumped the parts of disparate origin into an unordered whole. Research on

12321-535: Was unlike the metric Rigvedic composition, and their content included forms of medical sorcery. The Atharvaveda editions now known are a combination of their compositions. The core text of the Atharvaveda falls within the classical Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit , during the 2nd millennium BC - younger than the Rigveda , and roughly contemporary with the Yajurveda mantras, the Rigvedic Khilani , and

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