Page:A History of Hindu Chemistry Vol 1.djvu/24



which is the characteristic beauty of the Rigveda, one Rishi says pathetically of himself:

"Behold I am a composer of hymns, my father is a physician, my mother grinds corn on stone. We are all engaged in different occupations " (IX. 112, 3),

"Princes like Divodása, and bards and leaders of the tribe of the Angiras, administered medicines and gloried in effecting cures. A skilled physician is distinctly defined as one who lives in a place abounding with medicinal plants, and who assiduously devotes his time to the acquisition of knowledge ."

Thus not only in the Atharvan but even in the Rik, we can trace the earliest literary record of Indian Medicine.

The "Atharva-veda" deals chiefly with sorcery, witch-craft and demonology. There are deadly imprecations against evil-doers;