प्रश्नमुण्डकमाण्डुक्याथर्वशिरोऽथर्वशिखाबृहज्जाबालनृसिंहतापनीनारदपरिव्राजकसीताशरभमहानारायणरामरहस्यरामतापनीशाण्डिल्यपरमहंसपरिव्राजकअन्नपूर्णासूर्यात्मपाशुपतपरब्रह्मत्रिपुरातपनदेवीभावनाब्रह्मजाबालगणपतिमहावाक्यगोपालतपनकृष्णहयग्रीवदत्तात्रेयगारुडानामथर्ववेदगतानामेकत्रिंशत्संख्याकानामुपनिषदां भद्रं कर्णेभिरिति शान्तिः
praśnamuṇḍakamāṇḍukyātharvaśiro'tharvaśikhābṛhajjābālanṛsiṃhatāpanīnāradaparivrājakasītāśarabhamahānārāyaṇarāmarahasyarāmatāpanīśāṇḍilyaparamahaṃsaparivrājakaannapūrṇāsūryātmapāśupataparabrahmatripurātapanadevībhāvanābrahmajābālagaṇapatimahāvākyagopālatapanakṛṣṇahayagrīvadattātreyagāruḍānāmatharvavedagatānāmekatriṃśatsaṃkhyākānāmupaniṣadāṃ bhadraṃ karṇebhiriti śāntiḥ
«For the thirty-one upaniṣads belonging to the Atharvaveda — Praśna, Muṇḍaka, Māṇḍūkya, Atharvaśiras, Atharvaśikhā, Bṛhajjābāla, Nṛsiṃhatāpanī, Nāradaparivrājaka, Sītā, Śarabha, Mahānārāyaṇa, Rāmarahasya, Rāmatāpanī, Śāṇḍilya, Paramahaṃsaparivrājaka, Annapūrṇā, Sūrya, Ātma, Pāśupata, Parabrahma, Tripurātapana, Devībhāvana, Brahma, Jābāla, Gaṇapati, Mahāvākya, Gopālatapana, Kṛṣṇa, Hayagrīva, Dattātreya, and Gāruḍa — the invocation is ‘the auspicious with our ears’…»
71a6a87717a9 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The distribution ends with the Atharvaveda, and worth noting is that thirty-one are counted to it — the second-largest share. Add that this list contains the last five books of the Vaishnava reading: Gaṇapati, Mahāvākya, Gopālatapana, Kṛṣṇa, Hayagrīva, Dattātreya, and Gāruḍa — all seven are Atharvan. That is, the last quarter of the Vaishnava path ran almost entirely through the Atharvaveda; and this explains why those books contain so many mantras, seeds, and applications: the Atharvaveda is the Veda of charm and daily practice.
Add the invocation: bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ, bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhir yajatrāḥ. Translation: «May we hear the auspicious with our ears, O gods; may we see the auspicious with our eyes, O worthy of worship; with firm limbs and bodies may we reach the span appointed by the gods». Worth examining it, for it is, I think, the most human of the five.
In it one asks: to hear the good, to see the good, to be strong, and to live out one's appointed span. Not a word of knowledge, not a word of liberation. This detail, I think, is worth attention: before reading books on the self, a prayer is spoken for health and good tidings.
And this, I think, is the exact measure of these people's attitude toward life: they did not despise it and were not in haste to leave it.