A History of Sanskrit Literature c10.33

c10.33

The oldest name of this Veda is *Atharvāṅgirasaḥ*, a designation occurring in the text of the *Atharva-veda*, and found at the beginning of its MSS. themselves. This word is a compound formed of the names of two ancient families of priests, the Atharvans and Angirases. In the opinion of Professor Bloomfield the former term is here synonymous with "holy charms," as referring to auspicious practices, while the latter is an equivalent of "witchcraft charms." The term *atharvan* and its derivatives, though representing only its benevolent side, would thus have come to designate the fourth Veda as a whole. In its plural form (*atharvāṇaḥ*) the word in this sense is found several times in the Brāhmaṇas, but in the singular it seems first to occur in an Upanishad. The adjective *ātharvaṇa*, first found as a neuter plural with the sense of "Atharvan hymns" in the *Atharva-veda* itself (Book XIX.), is common from that time onwards. The name *atharva-veda* first appears in Sūtras about as early as *ṛigveda* and similar designations of the other Saṃhitās. There are besides two other names of the *Atharva-veda*, the use of which is practically limited to the ritual texts of this Veda. In one of these, *Bhṛigu-aṅgirasaḥ*, the name of another ancient family of fire-priests, the Bhṛigus, takes the place of that of the Angirases. The other, *brahma-veda*, has outside the Atharvan literature only been found once, and that in a Gṛihya Sūtra of the *Rigveda*.