Consists of first Indic text dealing with medicine. It identifies the causes of disease as living causative agents.

The Atharvaveda (Sanskrit: अथर्ववेद, atharvavéda, a tatpurusha compound of atharvān, a type of priest, and veda meaning “knowledge”) is a sacred text of Hinduism, and one of the four Vedas, often called the “fourth Veda”.

The Atharvaveda is considered by many to be a dark and mystic science, pertaining to the spirits and the afterlife. In the Mahabharata, when the Pandavas are exiled to the forests for thirteen years, Bheema, being frustrated, suggests to Yudishthra that they consult the Atharvaveda, and “shrink time, and hereby compress thirteen years to thirteen days…”

• The Atharva Veda is the first Indic text dealing with medicine. It identifies the causes of disease as living causative agents such as the yatudhānya, the kimīdi, the kṛimi and the durṇama. The atharvāns seek to kill them with a variety of drugs in order to counter the disease(see XIX.34.9). This approach to disease is surprisingly advanced compared to the trihumoral theory developed in the puraṇic era. Remnants of the original atharvānic thought did persist in the puraṇic era as can be seen in suṣruta’s medical treatise (garuḍa purāṇa, karma kāṃḍa – chapter: 164). Here following the atharvān theory the puraṇic text suggests germs as a cause for leprosy. In the same chapter suṣruta also expands on the role of helminths in disease. These two can be directly traced back to the AV saṃhita. The hymn AV I.23-24 describes the disease leprosy and recommends the rajanī auṣadhi for its treatment. From the description of the auṣadhi as black branching entity with dusky patches, it is very likely that is lichen with antibiotic properties. Thus the AV can stake a claim to being one of the earliest texts to record uses of the antibiotic agents.
• The Atharva Veda also informs us about warfare. A variety of devices such as the an arrow with a duct for poison (apāskambha) and castor bean poison, poisoned net and hook traps, use of disease spreading bugs and smoke screens find a place in the AV saṃhita (eg. hymns IX .9, IX.10, the triśaṃdi and nyārbudi hymns). These references to military practices and associated kśatriya rites were what gave the AV its formidable reputation. In the Mahabharata era that followed shortly after the end of the atharvān period there is a frequent comparison between weapons and the mantras of the heroes. Probably, this comparison was initially supposed to mean the application of deadly weapons as mentioned in the atharvān tradition.
• Several regular and special rituals of the Aryans are a major concern of the AV, just as in the three other vedas. The major rituals covered by the AV are marriage in kāṃḍa – XIV and the funeral in kāṃḍa – XVIII. There are also hymns that are specific to rituals of the bhṛigu-agnirasas, vṛātyas and kśatriyas. One of the most important of these rites is the Viśhāsahi Vrata, performed to invoke the īṃdra and Viṣṇu with the mantras of the XVIIth kāṃḍa. The Vṛātya rituals were performed by individuals who took on a nomadic ascetic way of living and were generally sent into neighboring states by the ruler of a particular state. They appear to have served a role in reconnaissance and negotiations with neighboring states (compare with Arjuna‘s Vṛātya-like journey into the Yadu principality to woo Subhadra). Finally, there are some rituals aimed at the destruction of the enemies (Abhichārika hymns and rites) particularly using the closing mantras of the XVIth kāṃḍa. While these support traditional negative views on the AV, in content they are mirrored by several other hymns from the Rig as well as the Yajuṣes. Moreover, Abhichārika rites were an integral part of the vedic as amply attested in the brāhmaṇa literature (see the tale of Yavakrdḍa in the Jaiminiya brāhmaṇa). Thus the AV as such began fully within the classic vedic fold, though it was more specific to certain clans of fire priests. The development of the Abhichārika rites to their more ‘modern’ form was seen only in the vidhāna literature and in fact began within the Rigvedic tradition in the form of the ṛigvidhāna. The author of the ṛigvidhāna provides passing reference to the development of similar rites in the AV tradition (the references to the Agnirasa Krityās). These rites reached their culmination in the Kauśika and Vaitana Sūtra and in some of the Pariśiśhthas (appendices) of the atharvān literature. However, these are far removed from the actual hymns themselves suggesting that they represent an encrustation on the atharvanic practice rather than its original form. While in its most extreme form Atharvanic Abhichārika faded away, it did seed the mainstream Hindu culture resulting in the origin of the Puranic form of the fire ritual (yaga-s). It also provided the launching pad for the worship of late evolving popular deities like Kumara and Ganapati to capture the mainstream Hindu ritual.