THE ORIGIN OF MEDICINE IN THE ATHARVAVEDA: SACRED HEALING AND MEDICINAL HERBS IN EARLY VEDIC THOUGHT

The Atharvaveda represents the earliest systematic articulation of medical thought in India, combining ritual, theology, and empirical knowledge of medicinal plants. Unlike the ?gveda, where healing is largely divine and hymnic, the Atharvaveda introduces concrete therapeutic practices, disease classifications, and the explicit invocation of herbs (o?adhaya?) as agents of cure. This paper examines the origin of medicine as presented in the Atharvaveda, focusing on its cosmological foundations, concept of disease, and the role of herbs as living, divine powers. A consolidated list of medicinal plants named in the Atharvaveda is provided, demonstrating the text’s significance as a precursor to classical Ayurveda.