On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c8.s6.22

v1.c8.s6.22

The Brahmins learn the four Veda treatises. The first called Shou (壽), "Longevity" (the Āyur-Veda) tells of nourishing life and keeping the constitution in order; the second called Tzu (祠), "Worship" (the Yajur Veda) tells of the making of offerings and supplications; the third called Ping (平) "Making even" (the Sāma Veda) describes ceremonial etiquette, divination, and military tactics; the fourth called Shu (術) or "Arts" (the Atharva Veda) tells us of the various skilled arts, exorcisms, medicine. The teacher must have a wide, thorough, and minute knowledge of these, with an exhaustive comprehension of all that is abstruse in them.