The Atharvaveda is arranged into twenty books, or kāṇḍas, which together contain roughly seven hundred and thirty hymns (sūktas) comprising about six thousand mantras. These books do not form a rigidly systematized treatise; rather, they preserve a layered and somewhat fluid collection that mirrors the living concerns of those who used them. The internal hierarchy is clear: books are divided into hymns, and hymns into individual verses, yet the guiding principle of arrangement is more thematic than doctrinal. This gives the text a distinctive character among the Vedas, reflecting its close relationship with everyday life, healing, and protection.

The earlier books, especially the first seven, tend to consist of shorter hymns that address very concrete needs: healing of diseases, protection from hostile forces, the securing of prosperity, and the safeguarding of domestic well‑being. Here one encounters spells, charms, and prayers that move in the space between folk practice and sacred rite, suggesting a world in which the boundaries between the magical and the liturgical are porous. These hymns are often grouped by function, so that healing formulas cluster together, as do charms for protection or success. The organizing thread is thus the human situation—illness, fear, desire, rivalry—rather than an abstract theological system.

In the middle portion, particularly books eight through twelve, the hymns become longer and more varied, and the horizon of concern widens. Alongside powerful magical formulas stand more speculative and cosmological compositions, as well as rites connected with social and royal life. The Atharvavedic vision here begins to engage not only with immediate needs but also with questions of order, kingship, and the larger structure of reality. The same thematic principle of organization persists, yet the themes themselves grow more expansive and reflective.

The later books, from thirteen onward, gather more specialized and often more solemn material. There are hymns for marriage and family rites, for royal and protective rituals, and for the final transitions of life, including funeral and death ceremonies. Some of these books preserve short, potent formulas for protection and success, while others dwell on the proper conduct of cremation and post‑funeral observances. The nineteenth and twentieth books have the character of supplements, containing additional charms and ritual verses, and in the twentieth book, hymns that are shared with the Ṛgvedic tradition and adapted for Atharvavedic ritual purposes. Across this span, the Atharvaveda’s structure reveals a movement from intimate domestic concerns to broader social, royal, and funerary horizons, yet always anchored in the practical and ritual needs of embodied existence.