Atharva Veda

The Atharva Veda is the last of the four
Vedas, which are the oldest and most
authoritative Hindu religious texts. In
many ways the Atharva Veda is the
most unusual. Whereas the other
three—Rg Veda, Sama Veda, and Yajur
Veda—focus mainly on sacrificial rituals, the Atharva Veda is largely a collection of spells and incantations that can
be used to counter or correct misfortune, and also to bring about one’s
desired result. Its unusual contents
make it very different from the other
three, and since some early sources
mention only the first three Vedas, it
apparently gained authority as a Veda
sometime later.