A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s3.32

v1.c8.s3.32

The great importance of the Atharvaveda-Saṁhitā lies in the very fact that it is an invaluable source of knowledge of the real popular belief as yet uninfluenced by the priestly religion, of the faith in numberless spirits, imps, ghosts, and demons of every kind, and of the witchcraft, so eminently important for ethnology and for the history of religion. How very important the Atharvaveda is for the ethnologist, may be shown by the following glance at the various classes of hymns which the collection contains.