Atharvan ( ,

nominative In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants of E ...

singular: अथर्वा ) is a legendary

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...

sage (

rishi In Indian religions, a ''rishi'' ( ) is an accomplished and enlightened person. They find mention in various Vedic texts. Rishis are believed to have composed hymns of the Vedas. The Post-Vedic tradition of Hinduism regards the rishis as "gre ...

) of Hinduism, who along with Angiras, is supposed to have authored (" heard") the

Atharvaveda The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', the proced ...

. He is also said to have first instituted the fire-sacrifice or yajña. Sometimes he is also reckoned among the seven seers, the Saptarishi. His clan is known as the Atharvanas. Atharvan married Shanti, daughter of Prajapati Kardama, and had a great sage Dadhichi as a son. He is referred to as a member of the Bhrigu clan. According to the

Mundaka Upanishad The Mundaka Upanishad (, ) is an ancient Sanskrit Vedic text, embedded inside Atharva Veda. It is a Mukhya (primary) Upanishad, and is listed as number 5 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads of Hinduism. It is among the most widely translat ...

and other texts, he was the eldest son and ( Manasaputra) born from mind of the creator deity,

Brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

Etymology

Vedic ''atharvan'' is cognate with

Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...

''āθrauuan'' / ''aθaurun'', "priest", but the etymology of the term is not yet conclusively established. It has been traditionally thought to be etymologically related to the

'' ātar'' but some have attempted to question it.

References

* Boyce, Mary (2002). "Āθravan". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Mazda Pub. pp. 16–17. Available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/atravan-priest (accessed on 30 December 2012). * * Witzel, Michael (2003). "Linguistic Evidence for Cultural Exchange in Prehistoric Western Central Asia". ''Sino-Platonic Papers'' Volume 129. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. Rishis Hindu mythology {{Hindu-myth-stub

Etymology

See also

References