The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c22.s1.17

v1.c22.s1.17

The Atharvans are mentioned in the Rigveda thrice only in the plural, and eleven times in the singular. The essential feature of Atharvan is that he produces Agni, to become the messenger of Vivasvant. He practised devotion along with Manu and Dadhyañc, and was helped by Indra. According to the Atharvaveda,⁷ Atharvan brought to Indra a cup of Soma, received from Varuṇa a mystic cow, and dwells in heaven. The Atharvans as a family appear with the Aṅgirases, Navagvas, and Bhṛgus and live in heaven, destroying goblins. In some passages the word certainly simply means priest as when Atharvans receive cows from Açvatha as gifts,¹ and a Bṛhaddiva Atharvan² seems to have been a real poet. In the ritual they appear to have used honey as real priests. Plants are described as connected with them in the Atharvaveda, as they are connected with the Aṅgirases, but the Atharvans seem clearly not to be connected with witchcraft and similar practices. The alternation of the compounds Atharvāṅgiras and Bhṛgvaṅgiras points to their being closely related to the Bhṛgus, but there is no adequate evidence for the theory of Hillebrandt³ that the Bhṛgus are the clan and Atharvan its priest.