Later Sanskrit tradition tends to remember the Atharvaveda in two intertwined ways: as a fully canonical Veda and as a reservoir of highly practical, this‑worldly knowledge. Puranic texts repeatedly enumerate it alongside the Ṛg, Yajur, and Sāma, and they associate it with the lineages of Atharvan and Aṅgiras, thereby affirming its status as sacred revelation. At the same time, these same sources highlight its distinctive character by linking it with mantras for protection, exorcism, and the handling of malevolent forces. Narratives that speak of royal priests and seers using specialized lore for safeguarding kings and kingdoms often trace that power back to Atharvavedic knowledge. In such portrayals, the Atharvaveda stands as both equal to the other Vedas and yet marked by a special concern for guarding life, polity, and household from subtle dangers.

Classical medical literature draws deeply on this Atharvanic heritage. Texts of the āyurvedic tradition explicitly acknowledge Atharvavedic hymns and mantras as sources for therapeutic practices, disease prevention, and protection from poisons. Healing rites, mantra‑based therapies, and the sacralization of herbs and remedies are frequently grounded in Atharvavedic authority. In this way, the Atharvaveda is not treated merely as an archaic collection of spells, but as a living wellspring for the science of life, where ritual and medicine converge. Its reputation as a text of healing thus persists as a major strand in later Sanskrit discourse.

A further stream of citation appears in ritual and esoteric literature. Tantric and related works, as well as Puranic discussions of magical and protective rites, often present their mantras and procedures as continuations of Atharvavedic spells and practices. Protective formulas, rites of pacification, and operations aimed at countering hostile forces are framed as developments of earlier Atharvanic materials. Domestic and royal rituals described in later manuals similarly preserve Atharvavedic mantras where protection, consecration, or expiation is at stake. Through such references, the Atharvaveda is remembered as an early, authoritative treasury of mantra‑śāstra.

Taken together, these strands of citation reveal a consistent image: the Atharvaveda is honored as the fourth Veda while being singled out for its practical, often “folk” orientation—spells, healing rituals, and protective rites that address the vulnerabilities of embodied and social life. Later Puranic and classical authors do not merely catalog it; they reinterpret it as a foundational scriptural source for royal protection, medical knowledge, and the ritual management of misfortune. In their hands, the Atharvaveda becomes a bridge between the lofty sacrificial world of the other Vedas and the everyday concerns of health, safety, and spiritual defense.