On one side a priest by a small fire altar, on the other a woman gathering plants beside a big tree

Episode 5 of 8 · Yajurveda and Atharvaveda

The Veda of Doing and the Veda of Daily Life

1 min read
Ages 3–8
6 pages
Free

Two more Vedas: one for careful ceremonies, and one for plants, health, home and Mother Earth.

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The Yajurveda is the Veda of doing. It has short sayings and instructions for special ceremonies called yajnas, where offerings were made into a fire.
In a yajna everything was done with great care: the right words, in the right order, at the right time. It was a bit like following a very careful recipe.
There are two main kinds of Yajurveda. The Shukla, or bright, one is neatly arranged. The Krishna, or dark, one mixes the sayings with explanations, like a busy cupboard instead of a tidy one.
The Atharvaveda is the fourth Veda. It is about everyday life: staying healthy, plants that help us get better, a happy home and living peacefully with others.
It also has a beautiful hymn that praises the Earth as a mother who looks after all her children, the plants, the animals and the people.
Many people connect the plant knowledge in this Veda with Ayurveda, India's old way of looking after health.

The big ideaCaring for the Earth and for each other is part of everyday life.

Talk about it: What is one small thing you can do today to look after the Earth?

Learn more

Facts, a quiz and words to know

Did you know?

Yajus means a sacred formula said during a ceremony. The Yajurveda is the Veda of the priest who does the actions of a yajna, the fire offering.
The two kinds are Shukla (white, bright) and Krishna (dark). The Shukla Yajurveda is also called the Vajasaneyi Samhita.
When people made an offering into the fire they said "Svaha!". This word is still said in many ceremonies today.
The Isha Upanishad, one of the best-loved Upanishads, is the last chapter of the Shukla Yajurveda.
The Atharvaveda has about 730 hymns in twenty books. It includes charms for health, healing plants, a safe journey and a peaceful home.
Its twelfth book has a famous hymn to Mother Earth, the Bhumi Sukta. One line says: "The Earth is my mother, and I am her child."
For a long time the first three Vedas were called the "threefold knowledge". The Atharvaveda was added as the fourth.

Quick quiz

1Which Veda is the Veda of doing and ceremony?
1. Yajurveda
2. Samaveda
3. Rigveda
Show the answer
A. Yajurveda. Yajus are the words of the yajna.
2What are the two kinds of Yajurveda called?
1. Shukla and Krishna
2. Big and Small
3. Old and New
Show the answer
A. Shukla and Krishna. Bright and dark.
3Which Veda has the hymn to Mother Earth?
1. Atharvaveda
2. Samaveda
3. Rigveda
Show the answer
A. Atharvaveda. The Bhumi Sukta is in the Atharvaveda.
4What word was said when an offering went into the fire?
1. Svaha
2. Namaste
3. Shanti
Show the answer
A. Svaha. Svaha!
5Which Veda is about everyday life and healing plants?
1. Yajurveda
2. Atharvaveda
3. Samaveda
Show the answer
B. Atharvaveda. The Atharvaveda.

Words to know

Yajna: A ceremony of offerings made into a sacred fire
Yajus: A sacred sentence said during a yajna
Shukla: White or bright
Krishna: Dark (here it describes a kind of Yajurveda)
Bhumi: The Earth
Ayurveda: The old Indian science of health and long life

Think and do

Talk about it. The Atharvaveda calls the Earth our mother. What does it mean to look after a mother? How can we look after the Earth?

Try it. Plant a seed in a pot. Water it each day and draw how it changes over two weeks.

Remember: Caring for the Earth and each other.

Up next

Written for children from well-known scholarly and public sources, including UNESCO and the texts themselves. Nobody knows exactly when the Vedas were composed, so we say 'more than 3,000 years ago'. Families follow the Vedas in different ways; this series simply tells what the books are and what they say.