Atharvaveda Saṃhitā
The Atharvaveda Saṃhitā had 9 Śākhās: (1) Śaunakīya, (2) Paippalāda, (3) Stauda, (4) Mauda, (5) Jājala, (6) Jalada, (7) Brahmavada, (8) Devadarśa and (9) Cāraṇavaidyā.
Among these 9 Śākhās, only the Śaunakīya recension and manuscripts of Paippalāda recension (very recently re-discovered) have survived. The Paippalāda Śā́khā is believed to be more ancient.
Now a few words on other (extinct) Śākhās.
Based on the literary evidence, followers of the Devadarśa Śākhā once lived in coastal Andhra Pradesh. Two other Atharvaveda Śākhās, Shaulkayani and Munjakeshi, seem to have been prevalent in the same region.
Cāraṇavaidyā and Jājala Śākhās seem to have existed in Gujarat, Central India and few places of Rajasthan. According to the Vayu and Brahmanda Puranas, the Saṃhitā of the Cāraṇavaidyā Śākhā had 6026 mantras.
Mauda Śākhā of Atharvaveda was still practiced in Kashmir up to 1980; at that time, the libraries and gurukulas were burnt by extremists and users of this tradition expelled from the valley.
Based on the Majjhima Nikaya, followers of Staudayana Śākhā lived in Koshala (central-eastern Uttar Pradesh). This Śākhā has gone entirely lost by now.
.jpg)
