The Fourth Veda is known as Atharvaveda. Although some of the hymns of the Atharvaveda are as old as the Rigveda, originally it was not considered as a Veda at all. It was only much later, some time before the rise of Buddhism and Jainism, the concept of four Vedas became popular and the Atharvaveda was officially recognized as the fourth Veda. Most of the hymns of the Atharvaveda are magical chants and spells intended to control sickness, diseases. snake bites, bad dreams and evil spirits or to attract success, happiness and prosperity, suggestive of the growing influence of magical ritualism in post Rigvedic India and the popularity of other religious traditions that indulged in it.


The Atharvan priests, who recited the verses of the Atharvaveda and performed rituals based on them, were in demand in the royal courts of ancient India because of the psychological comfort and protection they seemed to offer through their knowledge. The Atharvaveda contains about 730 hymns of which few are derived from the Rigveda.