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The Rigveda (Sanskrit: ऋग्वेदṛgveda, from ṛc 'praise'^[1] and veda 'knowledge') is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrithymns along with associated commentaries on liturgy, ritual and mysticalexegesis. It is one of the four sacred canonical texts (śruti) of Hinduism known as the Vedas.^[2][3]

The core text, known as the Rigveda Samhita, is a collection of 1,028 hymns (sūktas) in about 10,600 verses (called ṛc, eponymous of the name Rigveda), organized into ten books (maṇḍalas).In the eight books that were composed the earliest, the hymns are mostly praise of specific deities.^[4] The younger books (books 1 and 10) in part also deal with philosophical or speculative questions,^[5] with the virtue of dāna (charity) in society^[6] and with other metaphysical issues in their hymns.^[7]

The oldest layers of the Rigveda Samhita are among the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language, perhaps of similar age as certain Hittite texts.^[8]Philological and linguistic evidence indicates that the bulk of the Rigveda Samhita was composed in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, most likely between c. 1500 and 1200 BC,^[9][10][11] although a wider approximation of c. 1700–1100 BC has also been given.^{[12][13][note 1]} The initial codification of the Rigveda took place during the early Kuru kingdom (c. 1200–900 BC).

Translation of the Hymns of the Rigveda which while aiming especially at close. Translated the Rigveda and many other Vedic and Sanskrit texts into English. First of all, Vedas are poems. So, it is the interpretation that matters, not the translation. Once a Zen master famously told his disciples to “kill the Buddha if they.

Some of its verses continue to be recited during Hindu rites of passage celebrations (such as weddings) and prayers, making it probably the world's oldest religious text in continued use.^[18][19]

The associated material has been preserved from two shakhas or 'schools', known as Śākalyaand Bāṣkala. The school-specific commentaries are known as Brahmanas (Aitareya-brahmana and Kaushitaki-brahmana) Aranyakas (Aitareya-aranyaka and Kaushitaki-aranyaka), and Upanishads (partly excerpted from the Aranyakas: Bahvrca-brahmana-upanishad, Aitareya-upanishad, Samhita-upanishad, Kaushitaki-upanishad).

• 1Text
  • 1.1Organization
  • 1.5Manuscripts
• 2Contents
• 4Reception in Hinduism

Text

Organization

Mandalas

The text is organized in ten 'books', or maṇḍalas ('circles'), of varying age and length.^[20] The text clearly originates as oral literature, and 'books' may be a misleading term, the individual mandalas are, much rather, standalone collections of hymns that were intended to be memorized by the members of various groups of priests.^[21]

This is particularly true of the 'family books', mandalas 2–7, which form the oldest part of the Rigveda and account for 38 per cent of the entire text. They are called 'family books' because each of them is attributed to an individual rishi, and was transmitted within the lineage of this rishi's family, or of his students.^[22]

The hymns within each of the family books are arranged in collections each dealing with a particular deity: Agni comes first, Indra comes second, and so on. They are generally arranged by decreasing number of hymns within each section.^[23] Within each such collection, the hymns are arranged in descending order of the number of stanzas per hymn. If two hymns in the same collection have equal numbers of stanzas then they are arranged so that the number of syllables in the metre are in descending order.^[24][25] The second to seventh mandalas have a uniform format.^[23]

The eighth and ninth mandalas, comprising hymns of mixed age, account for 15% and 9%, respectively. The ninth mandala is entirely dedicated to Soma and the Soma ritual.The hymns in the ninth mandala are arranged by both their prosody structure (chanda) and by their length.^[23]

The first and the tenth mandalas are the youngest; they are also the longest books, of 191 suktas each, accounting for 37% of the text. Nevertheless, some of the hymns in mandalas 8, 1 and 10 may still belong to an earlier period and may be as old as the material in the family books.^[26] The first mandala has a unique arrangement not found in the other nine mandalas. The first 84 hymns of the tenth mandala have a structure different than the remaining hymns in it.^[23]

Prosody

Each mandala consists of hymns or sūktas (su- + ukta, literally, 'well recited, eulogy') intended for various rituals. The sūktas in turn consist of individual stanzas called ṛc ('praise', pl.ṛcas), which are further analysed into units of verse called pada ('foot' or step).

The meters most used in the ṛcas are the gayatri (3 verses of 8 syllables), anushtubh (4×8), trishtubh (4×11) and jagati (4×12). The trishtubh meter (40%) and gayatri meter (25%) dominate in the Rigveda.^[27][28][29]

For pedagogical convenience, each mandala is divided into roughly equal sections of several sūktas, called anuvāka ('recitation'), which modern publishers often omit. Another scheme divides the entire text over the 10 mandalas into aṣṭaka ('eighth'), adhyāya ('chapter') and varga ('class'). Some publishers give both classifications in a single edition.

The most common numbering scheme is by book, hymn and stanza (and pada a, b, c .., if required). E.g., the first verse is in three times eight syllables (gayatri):

1.1.1a agním ī́ḷe puróhitaṃ 1b yajñásya deváṃ ṛtvíjam 1c hótāraṃ ratna-dhā́tamam
'Agni I invoke, the house-priest / the god, minister of sacrifice / the presiding priest, bestower of wealth.'

Composers

Tradition associates a rishi (the composer) with each ṛc of the Rigveda.^[30] Most sūktas are attributed to single composers. The 'family books' (2–7) are so-called because they have hymns by members of the same clan in each book; but other clans are also represented in the Rigveda. In all, 10 families of rishis account for more than 95 per cent of the ṛcs; for each of them the Rigveda includes a lineage-specific āprī hymn (a special sūkta of rigidly formulaic structure, used for rituals.

Transmission

The original text (as authored by the Rishis) is close to but not identical to the extant Samhitapatha, but metrical and other observations allow reconstruction (in part at least) of the original text from the extant one, as printed in the Harvard Oriental Series, vol. 50 (1994).^[32]

The surviving form of the Rigveda is based on an early Iron Age collection that established the core 'family books' (mandalas 2–7, ordered by author, deity and meter^[33]) and a later redaction, coeval with the redaction of the other Vedas, dating several centuries after the hymns were composed. This redaction also included some additions (contradicting the strict ordering scheme) and orthoepic changes to the Vedic Sanskrit such as the regularization of sandhi (termed orthoepische Diaskeuase by Oldenberg, 1888).

As with the other Vedas, the redacted text has been handed down in several versions, most importantly the Padapatha, in which each word is isolated in pausa form and is used for just one way of memorization; and the Samhitapatha, which combines words according to the rules of sandhi (the process being described in the Pratisakhya) and is the memorized text used for recitation.

The Padapatha and the Pratisakhya anchor the text's true meaning,^[34] and the fixed text was preserved with unparalleled fidelity for more than a millennium by oral tradition alone.^[35] In order to achieve this the oral tradition prescribed very structured enunciation, involving breaking down the Sanskrit compounds into stems and inflections, as well as certain permutations. This interplay with sounds gave rise to a scholarly tradition of morphology and phonetics. The Rigveda was probably not written down until the Gupta period (4th to 6th centuries AD), by which time the Brahmi script had become widespread (the oldest surviving manuscripts are from c. 1040 AD, discovered in Nepal).^[2][36] The oral tradition still continued into recent times.

There is a widely accepted timeframe for the initial codification of the Rigveda by compiling the hymns very late in the Rigvedic or rather in the early post-Rigvedic period, including the arrangement of the individual hymns in ten books, coeval with the composition of the younger Veda Samhitas. This time coincides with the early Kuru kingdom, shifting the center of Vedic culture east from the Punjab into what is now Uttar Pradesh. The fixing of the samhitapatha (by enforcing regular application of sandhi) and of the padapatha (by dissolving Sandhi out of the earlier metrical text), occurred during the later Brahmana period, in roughly the 6th century BC.^[37]

Recensions

Several shakhas ('branches', i. e. recensions) of Rig Veda are known to have existed in the past. Of these, Śākalya is the only one to have survived in its entirety. Another shakha that may have survived is the Bāṣkala, although this is uncertain.^[38][39][40]

The surviving padapatha version of the Rigveda text is ascribed to Śākalya.^[41] The Śākala recension has 1,017 regular hymns, and an appendix of 11 vālakhilya hymns^[42] which are now customarily included in the 8th mandala (as 8.49–8.59), for a total of 1028 hymns.^[43] The Bāṣkala recension includes eight of these vālakhilya hymns among its regular hymns, making a total of 1025 regular hymns for this śākhā.^[44] In addition, the Bāṣkala recension has its own appendix of 98 hymns, the Khilani.^[45]

In the 1877 edition of Aufrecht, the 1028 hymns of the Rigveda contain a total of 10,552 ṛcs, or 39,831 padas. The Shatapatha Brahmana gives the number of syllables to be 432,000,^[46] while the metrical text of van Nooten and Holland (1994) has a total of 395,563 syllables (or an average of 9.93 syllables per pada); counting the number of syllables is not straightforward because of issues with sandhi and the post-Rigvedic pronunciation of syllables like súvar as svàr.

Three other shakhas are mentioned in Caraṇavyuha, a pariśiṣṭa (supplement) of Yajurveda: Māṇḍukāyana, Aśvalāyana and Śaṅkhāyana. The Atharvaveda lists two more shakhas. The differences between all these shakhas are very minor, limited to varying order of content and inclusion (or non-inclusion) of a few verses. The following information is known about the shakhas other than Śākalya and Bāṣkala:^[47]

• Māṇḍukāyana: Perhaps the oldest of the Rigvedic shakhas.
• Aśvalāyana: Includes 212 verses, all of which are newer than the other Rigvedic hymns.
• Śaṅkhāyana: Very similar to Aśvalāyana
• Saisiriya: Mentioned in the Rigveda Pratisakhya. Very similar to Śākala, with a few additional verses; might have derived from or merged with it.

Manuscripts

Writing appears in India around the 3rd century BC in the form of the Brāhmī script, but texts of the length of the Rigveda were likely not written down until much later,^{[note 2]} and the oldest extant manuscripts date to c. 1040 AD, discovered in Nepal.^[2] While written manuscripts were used for teaching in medieval times, they were written on birch bark or palm leaves, which decompose and therefore were routinely copied over the generations to help preserve the text. Some Rigveda commentaries may date from the second half of the first millennium AD. The hymns were thus composed and preserved by oral tradition for several^[51] millennia from the time of their composition until the redaction of the Rigveda, and the entire Rigveda was preserved in shakhas for another 2,500 years from the time of its redaction until the editio princeps by Rosen, Aufrecht and Max Müller.

Versions

There are, for example, 30 manuscripts of Rigveda at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, collected in the 19th century by Georg Bühler, Franz Kielhorn and others, originating from different parts of India, including Kashmir, Gujarat, the then Rajaputana, Central Provinces etc. They were transferred to Deccan College, Pune, in the late 19th century. They are in the Sharada and Devanagari scripts, written on birch bark and paper. The oldest of them is dated to 1464. The 30 manuscripts of Rigveda preserved at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune were added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2007.^[52][53]

Of these 30 manuscripts, nine contain the samhita text, five have the padapatha in addition. 13 contain Sayana's commentary. At least five manuscripts (MS. no. 1/A1879-80, 1/A1881-82, 331/1883-84 and 5/Viś I) have preserved the complete text of the Rigveda. MS no. 5/1875-76, written on birch bark in bold Sharada, was only in part used by Max Müller for his edition of the Rigveda with Sayana's commentary.

Müller used 24 manuscripts then available to him in Europe, while the Pune Edition used over five dozen manuscripts, but the editors of Pune Edition could not procure many manuscripts used by Müller and by the Bombay Edition, as well as from some other sources; hence the total number of extant manuscripts known then must surpass perhaps eighty at least.^[54]

Comparison

The various Rigveda manuscripts discovered so far show some differences. Broadly, the most studied Śākala recension has 1017 hymns, includes an appendix of eleven valakhīlya hymns which are often counted with the eighth mandala, for a total of 1028 metrical hymns. The Bāṣakala version of Rigveda includes eight of these vālakhilya hymns among its regular hymns, making a total of 1025 hymns in the main text for this śākhā. The Bāṣakala text also has an appendix of 98 hymns, called the Khilani, bringing the total to 1,123 hymns. The manuscripts of Śākala recension of the Rigveda have about 10,600 verses, organized into ten Books (Mandalas).^[55][56] Books 2 through 7 are internally homogeneous in style, while Books 1, 8 and 10 are compilation of verses of internally different styles suggesting that these books are likely a collection of compositions by many authors.^[56]

The first mandala is the largest, with 191 hymns and 2006 verses, and it was added to the text after Books 2 through 9. The last, or the 10th Book, also has 191 hymns but 1754 verses, making it the second largest. The language analytics suggest the 10th Book, chronologically, was composed and added last.^[56] The content of the 10th Book also suggest that the authors knew and relied on the contents of the first nine books.^[56]

The Rigveda is the largest of the four Vedas, and many of its verses appear in the other Vedas.^[57] Almost all of the 1875 verses found in Samaveda are taken from different parts of the Rigveda, either once or as repetition, and rewritten in a chant song form. The Books 8 and 9 of the Rigveda are by far the largest source of verses for Sama Veda. The Book 10 contributes the largest number of the 1350 verses of Rigveda found in Atharvaveda, or about one fifth of the 5987 verses in the Atharvaveda text.^[56] A bulk of 1875 ritual-focussed verses of Yajurveda, in its numerous versions, also borrow and build upon the foundation of verses in Rigveda.^[57][58]

Contents

Altogether the Rigveda consists of:

• the Samhita (hymns to the deities, the oldest part of the Rigveda)
• the Brahmanas, commentaries on the hymns
• the Aranyakas or 'forest books'
• the Upanishads

In western usage, 'Rigveda' usually refers to the Rigveda Samhita, while the Brahmanas are referred to as the 'Rigveda Brahmanas' (etc.). Technically speaking, however, 'the Rigveda' refers to the entire body of texts transmitted along with the Samhita portion. Different bodies of commentary were transmitted in the different shakhas or 'schools'.Only a small portion of these texts has been preserved: The texts of only two out of five shakhas mentioned by the Rigveda Pratishakhya have survived.The late (15th or 16th century) Shri Guru Charitra even claims the existence of twelve Rigvedic shakhas.The two surviving Rigvedic corpora are those of the Śākala and the Bāṣkala shakhas.

Hymns

The Rigvedic hymns are dedicated to various deities, chief of whom are Indra, a heroic god praised for having slain his enemy Vrtra; Agni, the sacrificial fire; and Soma, the sacred potion or the plant it is made from. Equally prominent gods are the Adityas or Asura gods Mitra–Varuna and Ushas (the dawn). Also invoked are Savitr, Vishnu, Rudra, Pushan, Brihaspati or Brahmanaspati, as well as deified natural phenomena such as Dyaus Pita (the shining sky, Father Heaven), Prithivi (the earth, Mother Earth), Surya (the sun god), Vayu or Vata (the wind), Apas (the waters), Parjanya (the thunder and rain), Vac (the word), many rivers (notably the Sapta Sindhu, and the Sarasvati River). The Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Sadhyas, Ashvins, Maruts, Rbhus, and the Vishvadevas ('all-gods') as well as the 'thirty-three gods' are the groups of deities mentioned.^{[citation needed]}

• Mandala 1 comprises 191 hymns. Hymn 1.1 is addressed to Agni, and his name is the first word of the Rigveda. The remaining hymns are mainly addressed to Agni and Indra, as well as Varuna, Mitra, the Ashvins, the Maruts, Usas, Surya, Rbhus, Rudra, Vayu, Brhaspati, Visnu, Heaven and Earth, and all the Gods. This Mandala is dated to have been added to Rigveda after Mandala 2 through 9, and includes the philosophical Riddle Hymn 1.164, which inspires chapters in later Upanishads such as the Mundaka.^[5][59][60]
• Mandala 2 comprises 43 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra. It is chiefly attributed to the Rishi gṛtsamada śaunahotra.^{[citation needed]}
• Mandala 3 comprises 62 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra and the Vishvedevas. The verse 3.62.10 has great importance in Hinduism as the Gayatri Mantra. Most hymns in this book are attributed to viśvāmitra gāthinaḥ.^{[citation needed]}
• Mandala 4 comprises 58 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra as well as the Rbhus, Ashvins, Brhaspati, Vayu, Usas, etc. Most hymns in this book are attributed to vāmadeva gautama.^{[citation needed]}
• Mandala 5 comprises 87 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra, the Visvedevas ('all the gods'), the Maruts, the twin-deity Mitra-Varuna and the Asvins. Two hymns each are dedicated to Ushas (the dawn) and to Savitr. Most hymns in this book are attributed to the atri clan.^{[citation needed]}
• Mandala 6 comprises 75 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra, all the gods, Pusan, Ashvin, Usas, etc. Most hymns in this book are attributed to the bārhaspatya family of Angirasas.^{[citation needed]}
• Mandala 7 comprises 104 hymns, to Agni, Indra, the Visvadevas, the Maruts, Mitra-Varuna, the Asvins, Ushas, Indra-Varuna, Varuna, Vayu (the wind), two each to Sarasvati (ancient river/goddess of learning) and Vishnu, and to others. Most hymns in this book are attributed to vasiṣṭha maitravaruṇi.^{[citation needed]}
• Mandala 8 comprises 103 hymns to various gods. Hymns 8.49 to 8.59 are the apocryphal vālakhilya. Hymns 1–48 and 60–66 are attributed to the kāṇva clan, the rest to other (Angirasa) poets.^{[citation needed]}
• Mandala 9 comprises 114 hymns, entirely devoted to Soma Pavamana, the cleansing of the sacred potion of the Vedic religion.^{[citation needed]}
• Mandala 10 comprises additional 191 hymns, frequently in later language, addressed to Agni, Indra and various other deities. It contains the Nadistuti sukta which is in praise of rivers and is important for the reconstruction of the geography of the Vedic civilization and the Purusha sukta which has been important in studies of Vedic sociology.^[61] It also contains the Nasadiya sukta (10.129) which deals with multiple speculations about the creation of universe, and whether anyone can know the right answer.^[62] The marriage hymns (10.85) and the death hymns (10.10–18) still are of great importance in the performance of the corresponding Grhya rituals.

Rigveda Brahmanas

Of the Brahmanas that were handed down in the schools of the Bahvṛcas (i.e. 'possessed of many verses'), as the followers of the Rigveda are called, two have come down to us, namely those of the Aitareyins and the Kaushitakins. The Aitareya-brahmana^[63] and the Kaushitaki- (or Sankhayana-) brahmana evidently have for their groundwork the same stock of traditional exegetic matter. They differ, however, considerably as regards both the arrangement of this matter and their stylistic handling of it, with the exception of the numerous legends common to both, in which the discrepancy is comparatively slight. There is also a certain amount of material peculiar to each of them.^{[citation needed]}

The Kaushitaka is, upon the whole, far more concise in its style and more systematic in its arrangement features which would lead one to infer that it is probably the more modern work of the two. It consists of 30 chapters (adhyaya); while the Aitareya has 40, divided into eight books (or pentads, pancaka), of five chapters each. The last 10 adhyayas of the latter work are, however, clearly a later addition though they must have already formed part of it at the time of Pāṇini (c. 5th century BC), if, as seems probable, one of his grammatical sutras, regulating the formation of the names of Brahmanas, consisting of 30 and 40 adhyayas, refers to these two works. In this last portion occurs the well-known legend (also found in the Shankhayana-sutra, but not in the Kaushitaki-brahmana) of Shunahshepa, whom his father Ajigarta sells and offers to slay, the recital of which formed part of the inauguration of kings.^{[citation needed]}

While the Aitareya deals almost exclusively with the Soma sacrifice, the Kaushitaka, in its first six chapters, treats of the several kinds of haviryajna, or offerings of rice, milk, ghee, etc., whereupon follows the Soma sacrifice in this way, that chapters 7–10 contain the practical ceremonial and 11–30 the recitations (shastra) of the hotar. Sayana, in the introduction to his commentary on the work, ascribes the Aitareya to the sage Mahidasa Aitareya (i.e. son of Itara), also mentioned elsewhere as a philosopher; and it seems likely enough that this person arranged the Brahmana and founded the school of the Aitareyins. Regarding the authorship of the sister work we have no information, except that the opinion of the sage Kaushitaki is frequently referred to in it as authoritative, and generally in opposition to the Paingya—the Brahmana, it would seem, of a rival school, the Paingins. Probably, therefore, it is just what one of the manuscripts calls it—the Brahmana of Sankhayana (composed) in accordance with the views of Kaushitaki.^{[citation needed]}

Rigveda Aranyakas and Upanishads

Each of these two Brahmanas is supplemented by a 'forest book', or Aranyaka. The Aitareyaranyaka is not a uniform production. It consists of five books (aranyaka), three of which, the first and the last two, are of a liturgical nature, treating of the ceremony called mahavrata, or great vow. The last of these books, composed in sutra form, is, however, doubtless of later origin, and is, indeed, ascribed by Hindu authorities either to Shaunaka or to Ashvalayana. The second and third books, on the other hand, are purely speculative, and are also styled the Bahvrca-brahmana-upanishad. Again, the last four chapters of the second book are usually singled out as the Aitareya Upanishad,^[64] ascribed, like its Brahmana (and the first book), to Mahidasa Aitareya; and the third book is also referred to as the Samhita-upanishad. As regards the Kaushitaki-aranyaka, this work consists of 15 adhyayas, the first two (treating of the mahavrata ceremony) and the 7th and 8th of which correspond to the first, fifth, and third books of the Aitareyaranyaka, respectively, whilst the four adhyayas usually inserted between them constitute the highly interesting Kaushitaki (Brahmana-) Upanishad,^[65] of which we possess two different recensions. The remaining portions (9–15) of the Aranyaka treat of the vital airs, the internal Agnihotra, etc., ending with the vamsha, or succession of teachers.

Dating and historical context

The Vedic Sanskrit text of the redacted version of the Rig Veda was transmitted remarkably unchanged, preserving, apart from certain prosodic changes (the systematic application of sandhi rules) the linguistic stage of the Late Bronze Age.Because of the faithful preservation of the text, the language was no longer immediately understandable to scholars of Classical Sanskrit by about 500 BC, necessitating commentaries interpreting the meaning of the text of the hymns.^[66] The Brahmanas contain numerous misinterpretations, due to this linguistic change,^[66] some of which were characterised by Sri Aurobindo as 'grotesque nonsense.'^[66]

The earliest text were composed in greater Punjab (northwest India and Pakistan), and the more philosophical later texts were most likely composed in or around the region that is the modern era state of Haryana.^[67]

Philological estimates tend to date the bulk of the text to the second half of the second millennium.^{[note 3]}

Being composed in an early Indo-Aryan language, the hymns must post-date the Indo-Iranian separation, dated to roughly 2000 BC.^[69] A reasonable date close to that of the composition of the core of the Rigveda is that of the Mitanni documents of c. 1400 BC, which contain Indo-Aryan nomenclature.^[70] Other evidence also points to a composition close to 1400 BC.^[71][72]

The Rigveda's core is accepted to date to the late Bronze Age, making it one of the few examples with an unbroken tradition. Its composition is usually dated to roughly between c. 1500 BC – 1200 BC.^{[9][10][11][note 4]}

The Rigveda is far more archaic than any other Indo-Aryan text. For this reason, it was in the center of attention of western scholarship from the times of Max Müller and Rudolf Roth onwards. The Rigveda records an early stage of Vedic religion. There are strong linguistic and cultural similarities with the early IranianAvesta,^[73][74] deriving from the Proto-Indo-Iranian times,^[75] often associated with the early Andronovo culture (or rather, the Sintashta culture within the early Andronovo horizon) of c. 2000 BC.^[76]

The Rigveda offers no direct evidence of social or political system in Vedic era, whether ordinary or elite.^[61] Only hints such as cattle raising and horse racing are discernible, and the text offers very general ideas about the ancient Indian society. There is no evidence, state Jamison and Brereton, of any elaborate, pervasive or structured caste system.^[61] Social stratification seems embryonic, then and later a social ideal rather than a social reality.^[61] The society was semi-nomadic and pastoral with evidence of agriculture since hymns mention plow and celebrate agricultural divinities.^[77] There was division of labor, and complementary relationship between kings and poet-priests but no discussion of relative status of social classes.^[61] Women in Rigveda appear disproportionately as speakers in dialogue hymns, both as mythical or divine Indrani, Apsaras Urvasi, or Yami, as well as Apāla Ātreyī (RV 8.91), Godhā (RV 10.134.6), Ghoṣā Kākṣīvatī (RV 10.39.40), Romaśā (RV 1.126.7), Lopāmudrā (RV 1.179.1-2), Viśvavārā Ātreyī (RV 5.28), Śacī Paulomī (RV 10.159), Śaśvatī Āṅgirasī (RV 8.1.34). The women of Rigveda are quite outspoken and appear more sexually confident than men, in the text.^[61] Elaborate and esthetic hymns on wedding suggest rites of passage had developed during the Rigvedic period.^[61] There is little evidence of dowry and no evidence of sati in it or related Vedic texts.^[78]

The Rigvedic hymns mention rice and porridge, in hymns such as 8.83, 8.70, 8.77 and 1.61 in some versions of the text,^[79] however there is no discussion of rice cultivation.^[77] The term 'ayas' (metal) occurs in the Rigveda, but it is unclear which metal it was.^[80] Iron is not mentioned in Rigveda, something scholars have used to help date Rigveda to have been composed before 1000 BC.^[67] Hymn 5.63 mentions 'metal cloaked in gold', suggesting metal working had progressed in the Vedic culture.^[81]

Some of the names of gods and goddesses found in the Rigveda are found amongst other belief systems based on Proto-Indo-European religion, while words used share common roots with words from other Indo-European languages.^[82]

The horse (ashva), cattle, sheep and goat play an important role in the Rigveda. There are also references to the elephant (Hastin, Varana), camel (Ustra, especially in Mandala 8), ass (khara, rasabha), buffalo (Mahisa), wolf, hyena, lion (Simha), mountain goat (sarabha) and to the gaur in the Rigveda.^[83] The peafowl (mayura), the goose (hamsa) and the chakravaka (Tadorna ferruginea) are some birds mentioned in the Rigveda.

Reception in Hinduism

Shruti

The Vedas as a whole are classed as 'shruti' in Hindu tradition.This has been compared to the concept of divine revelation in Western religious tradition, but Staal argues that 'it is nowhere stated that the Veda was revealed', and that shruti simply means 'that what is heard, in the sense that it is transmitted from father to son or from teacher to pupil'.^[84] The Rigveda, or other Vedas, do not anywhere assert that they are apauruṣeyā, and this reverential term appears only centuries after the end of the Vedic period in the texts of the Mimamsa school of Hindu philosophy.^[84][85][86] The text of Rigveda suggests it was 'composed by poets, human individuals whose names were household words' in the Vedic age, states Staal.^[84]

Medieval Hindu scholarship

By the period of Puranic Hinduism, in the medieval period, the language of the hymns had become 'almost entirely unintelligible', and their interpretation mostly hinged on mystical ideas and sound symbolism.^[87]

According to Hindu tradition, the Rigvedic hymns along with the other Vedas, the Mahabharata and the Puranas were compiled by sage Vyāsa.^[88] According to the Śatapatha Brāhmana, the number of syllables in the Rigveda is 432,000, but the surviving Rigveda does not confirm this number. The Rigveda does have embedded numerical patterns such as 10,800 stanzas, which corresponds to 30 times 360, and a fourth of 432 that appears in many Hindu contexts (108 Upanishads). The Shatapatha Brahmana claims that there are 10,800,000 stars in the sky. According to Thomas McEvilley, an art historian and academic who compared Greek and Indian literature, the numbers such as 432 and 108 may be of significance to the Hindus, but many numerology claims do not verify and the 'believer is left with the consolation of thinking that the missing' are there 'but unmanifest'.^[89]

The authors of the Brāhmana literature discussed and interpreted the Vedic ritual. Yaska was an early commentator of the Rigveda by discussing the meanings of difficult words. In the 14th century, Sāyana wrote an exhaustive commentary on it.^{[citation needed]}

A number of other commentaries (bhāṣyas) were written during the medieval period, including the commentaries by Skandasvamin (pre-Sayana, roughly of the Gupta period), Udgitha (pre-Sayana), Venkata-Madhava (pre-Sayana, c. 10th to 12th centuries) and Mudgala (after Sayana, an abbreviated version of Sayana's commentary).^{[90][full citation needed]}

Arya Samaj and Aurobindo movements

In the 19th- and early 20th-centuries, some reformers like Swami Dayananda Saraswati—founder of the Arya Samaj, Sri Aurobindo—founder of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, discussed the Vedas, including the Rig veda, for their philosophies. According to Robson, Dayanand believed 'there were no errors in the Vedas (including the Rigveda), and if anyone showed him an error, he would maintain that it was a corruption added later'.^[91]

Dayananda and Aurobindo interpret the Vedic scholars had a monotheistic conception.^[92] Aurobindo attempted to interpret hymns to Agni in the Rigveda as mystical.^[92] Aurobindo states that the Vedic hymns were a quest after a higher truth, define the Rta (basis of Dharma), conceive life in terms of a struggle between the forces of light and darkness, and sought the ultimate reality.^[92]

Contemporary Hinduism

Rigveda, in contemporary Hinduism, has been a reminder of the ancient cultural heritage and point of pride for Hindus, with some hymns still in use in major rites of passage ceremonies, but the literal acceptance of most of the textual essence is long gone.^[95][96]Louis Renou wrote that the text is a distant object, and 'even in the most orthodox domains, the reverence to the Vedas has come to be a simple raising of the hat'.^[95] Musicians and dance groups celebrate the text as a mark of Hindu heritage, through incorporating Rigvedic hymns in their compositions, such as in Hamsadhvani and Subhapantuvarali of Carnatic music, and these have remained popular among the Hindus for decades.^[95] However, the contemporary Hindu beliefs are distant from the precepts in the ancient layer of Rigveda samhitas:

The social history and context of the Vedic texts are extremely distant from contemporary Hindu religious beliefs and practice, a reverence for the Vedas as an exemplar of Hindu heritage continues to inform a contemporary understanding of Hinduism. Popular reverence for Vedic scripture is similarly focused on the abiding authority and prestige of the Vedas rather than on any particular exegesis or engagement with the subject matter of the text.

In contemporary Hindu nationalism, the Rigveda has also been adduced in the 'Indigenous Aryans' debate (see Out of India theory).^[97][98] These theories are controversial.^[99][100]

Monism debate

While the older hymns of the Rigveda reflect sacrifical ritual typical of polytheism,^[101] its younger parts, specifically mandalas 1 and 10, have been noted as containing monistic or henotheistic speculations.^[101]

There was neither non-existence nor existence then;
Neither the realm of space, nor the sky which is beyond;
What stirred? Where? In whose protection?

There was neither death nor immortality then;
No distinguishing sign of night nor of day;
That One breathed, windless, by its own impulse;
Other than that there was nothing beyond.

Darkness there was at first, by darkness hidden;
Without distinctive marks, this all was water;
That which, becoming, by the void was covered;
That One by force of heat came into being;

Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it?
Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?
Gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.
Who then knows whence it has arisen?

Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute;
Perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not;
Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows,

My king in italian. How was Italian class today?

—Rigveda 10.129 (Abridged, Tr: Kramer / Christian)^[62] This hymn is one of the roots of Hindu philosophy.^[102]

A widely-cited example of such speculations is hymn 1.164.46:

They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, and he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutman.
To what is One, sages give many a title they call it Agni, Yama, Matarisvan.

Max Muller notably introduced the term 'henotheism' for the philosophy expressed here, avoiding the connotations of 'monotheism' in Judeo-Christian tradition.^[104][105] Other widely-cited examples of monistic tendencies include hymns 1.164, 8.36 and 10.31,^[106][107] Other scholars state that Rigveda includes an emerging diversity of thought, including monotheism, polytheism, henotheism and pantheism, the choice left to the preference of the worshipper.^[108] and the Nasadiya Sukta (10.129), one of the most widely cited Rigvedic hymns in popular western presentations.

Ruse (2015) commented on the old discussion of 'monotheism' vs. 'henotheism' vs. 'monism' by noting an 'atheistic streak' in hymns such as 10.130.^[109]

Examples from Mandala 1 adduced to illustrate the 'metaphysical' nature of the contents of the younger hymns include:1.164.34: 'What is the ultimate limit of the earth?', 'What is the center of the universe?', 'What is the semen of the cosmic horse?', 'What is the ultimate source of human speech?';1.164.34: 'Who gave blood, soul, spirit to the earth?', 'How could the unstructured universe give origin to this structured world?';1.164.5: 'Where does the sun hide in the night?', 'Where do gods live?';1.164.6: 'What, where is the unborn support for the born universe?';1.164.20 (a hymn that is widely cited in the Upanishads as the parable of the Body and the Soul): 'Two birds with fair wings, inseparable companions; Have found refuge in the same sheltering tree. One incessantly eats from the fig tree; the other, not eating, just looks on.'.^[7]

Translations

The first published translation of any portion of the Rigveda in any European language was into Latin, by Friedrich August Rosen (Rigvedae specimen, London 1830). Predating Müller'seditio princeps of the text by 19 years, Rosen was working from manuscripts brought back from India by Colebrooke. H. H. Wilson was the first to make a complete translation of the Rig Veda into English, published in six volumes during the period 1850–88.^[110] Wilson's version was based on the commentary of Sāyaṇa. Müller's Rig Veda Sanhita in 6 volumes Muller, Max, ed. (W. H. Allen and Co., London, 1849) has an English preface^[111] The birch bark from which Müller produced his translation is held at The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, India.^[112]

The Rigveda is the earliest, the most venerable, obscure, distant and difficult for moderns to understand – hence is often misinterpreted or worse: used as a peg on which to hang an idea or a theory.

Like all archaic texts, the Rigveda is difficult to translate into modern language,^[114][115] 'There are no closely contemporary extant texts, which makes it difficult to interpret.' ^[116]and early translations contained straightforward errors.^[84] Another issue is the choice of translation for technical terms such as mandala, conventionally translated 'book', but more literally rendered 'cycle'.^[84][117]

Some notable translations of the Rig Veda include:

See also

Notes

1. ^ It is certain that the hymns post-date Indo-Iranian separation of ca. 2000 BC and probably that of the relevant Mitanni documents of c. 1400 BC. The oldest available text is estimated to be from 1200 BC. Philological estimates tend to date the bulk of the text to the second half of the second millennium:
   • Max Müller: 'the hymns of the Rig-Veda are said to date from 1500 B.C.'^[14]
   • Thomas Oberlies (Die Religion des Rgveda, 1998, p. 158) based on 'cumulative evidence' sets a wide range of 1700–1100 BC.^[12] Oberlies (1998:155) gives an estimate of 1100 BC for the youngest hymns in book 10.^[15]
   • The EIEC (s.v. Indo-Iranian languages, p. 306) gives 1500–1000 BC.
   • Flood and Witzel both mention c. 1500–1200 BC.^[9][10]
   • Anthony mentions c. 1500–1300 BC.^[11]
   Some have used astronomical references in the Rigveda to date it to as early as 4000 BC,^[16] while Lok Tilak dates back it to 6000 BC.^[17]
2. ^Al-Biruni, an 11th-century Persian scholar who visited northwest India, credited a Brahmin by the name of Vasukra, in Kashmir writing down the Vedas in his memoirs.^[48] Modern scholarship states that the Vedas were codified and written down for the first time in the 1st millennium BC.^[49][50]
3. ^Compare Max Müller's statement 'the hymns of the Rig-Veda are said to date from 1500 BC'^[68]
4. ^Oberlies (1998:155) gives an estimate of 1100 BC for the youngest hymns in book 10. Estimates for a terminus post quem of the earliest hymns are far more uncertain. Oberlies (p. 158) based on 'cumulative evidence' sets wide range of 1700–1100. The Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture (s.v. Indo-Iranian languages, p. 306) gives 1500–1000 BC.

References

1. ^Derived from the root ṛc 'to praise', cf. Dhātupātha 28.19. Monier-Williams translates Rigveda as 'a Veda of Praise or Hymn-Veda'.
2. ^ ^abcdMichael Witzel (1997), The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu, Harvard University, in Witzel 1997, pp. 259–264
3. ^Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN978-0595269259, p. 273
4. ^Werner, Karel (1994). A Popular Dictionary of Hinduism. Curzon Press. ISBN0-7007-1049-3.
5. ^ ^abStephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0199370184, pp. 4, 7–9
6. ^C Chatterjee (1995), Values in the Indian Ethos: An Overview, Journal of Human Values, Vol 1, No 1, pp. 3–12;
   Original text translated in English: The Rig Veda, Mandala 10, Hymn 117, Ralph T. H. Griffith (Translator);
7. ^ ^abAntonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN978-0595269259, pp. 64–69Jan Gonda, A History of Indian Literature: Veda and Upanishads, Volume 1, Part 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032, pp. 134–135.
8. ^p. 126, History of British Folklore, Richard Mercer Dorson, 1999, ISBN9780415204774
9. ^ ^abcFlood 1996, p. 37.
10. ^ ^abcWitzel 1995, p. 4.
11. ^ ^abcAnthony 2007, p. 454.
12. ^ ^abOberlies 1998 p. 158
13. ^Lucas F. Johnston, Whitney Bauman (2014). Science and Religion: One Planet, Many Possibilities. Routledge. p. 179.
14. ^Max Müller (1892). ('Veda and Vedanta'), 7th lecture in India: What Can It Teach Us: A Course of Lectures Delivered Before the University of Cambridge.
15. ^Oberlies 1998 p. 155
16. ^1998 presentation
17. ^Indus Civilization. Discovery Publishing House. 2004. ISBN9788171418657.
18. ^Klaus Klostermaier (1984). Mythologies and Philosophies of Salvation in the Theistic Traditions of India. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 6. ISBN978-0-88920-158-3.
19. ^Lester Kurtz (2015), Gods in the Global Village, SAGE Publications, ISBN978-1483374123, p. 64, Quote: 'The 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda are recited at initiations, weddings and funerals..'
20. ^George Erdosy 1995, pp. 68–69.
21. ^'The Rigveda is not a book, but a library and a literature.' Arnold, Edward Vernon (2009), Vedic Metre in its historical development, Cambridge University Press (Original Pub: 1905), ISBN978-1113224446, p. ix
22. ^Barbara A. Holdrege (2012). Veda and Torah: Transcending the Textuality of Scripture. State University of New York Press. pp. 229–230. ISBN978-1-4384-0695-4.
23. ^ ^abcdPincott, Frederic (1887). 'The First Maṇḍala of the Ṛig-Veda'. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 19 (4): 598–624. doi:10.1017/s0035869x00019717.Stephanie W. Jamison; Joel P. Brereton (2014). The Rigveda. Oxford University Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN978-0-19-937018-4.
24. ^George Erdosy 1995, pp. 68–69, 180-189.
25. ^Gregory Possehl & Michael Witzel 2002, pp. 391–393.
26. ^Bryant 2001, pp. 66–67.
27. ^Kireet Joshi (1991). The Veda and Indian Culture: An Introductory Essay. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 101–102. ISBN978-81-208-0889-8.
28. ^A history of Sanskrit Literature, Arthur MacDonell, Oxford University Press/Appleton & Co, p. 56
29. ^Stephanie W. Jamison; Joel P. Brereton (2014). The Rigveda. Oxford University Press. p. 74. ISBN978-0-19-937018-4.
30. ^In a few cases, more than one rishi is given, signifying lack of certainty.
31. ^Talageri (2000), p. 33
32. ^B. van Nooten and G. Holland, Rig Veda. A metrically restored text. Cambridge: Harvard Oriental Series 1994
33. ^H. Oldenberg, Prolegomena,1888, Engl. transl. New Delhi: Motilal 2004
34. ^K. Meenakshi (2002). 'Making of Pāṇini'. In George Cardona, Madhav Deshpande, Peter Edwin Hook (eds.). Indian Linguistic Studies: Festschrift in Honor of George Cardona. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 235. ISBN978-81-208-1885-9.CS1 maint: Uses editors parameter (link)
35. ^Witzel, Michael (2003). 'Vedas and Upanisads'. In Flood, Gavin (ed.). The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. pp. 68–69. ISBN978-0631215356. The Vedic texts were orally composed and transmitted, without the use of script, in an unbroken line of transmission from teacher to student that was formalized early on. This ensured an impeccable textual transmission superior to the classical texts of other cultures; it is, in fact, something like a tape-recording of ca. 1500–500 BC. Not just the actual words, but even the long-lost musical (tonal) accent (as in old Greek or in Japanese) has been preserved up to the present. On the other hand, the Vedas have been written down only during the early second millennium ce,..
36. ^The oldest manuscript in the Pune collection dates to the 15th century. The Benares Sanskrit University has a Rigveda manuscript of the 14th century. Earlier manuscripts are extremely rare; the oldest known manuscript preserving a Vedic text was written in the 11th century in Nepal (catalogued by the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project, Hamburg.
37. ^Keith, Arthur Berriedale (1920). Rigveda Brahmanas: the Aitareya and Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. p. 44.
38. ^Michael Witzel says that 'The RV has been transmitted in one recension (the śākhā of Śākalya) while others (such as the Bāṣkala text) have been lost or are only rumored about so far.' Michael Witzel, p. 69, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, Gavin Flood (ed.), Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2005.
39. ^Maurice Winternitz (History of Sanskrit Literature, Revised English Translation Edition, 1926, vol. 1, p. 57) says that 'Of the different recensions of this Saṃhitā, which once existed, only a single one has come down to us.' He adds in a note (p. 57, note 1) that this refers to the 'recension of the Śākalaka-School.'
40. ^Sures Chandra Banerji (A Companion To Sanskrit Literature, Second Edition, 1989, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, pp. 300–301) says that 'Of the 21 recensions of this Veda, that were known at one time, we have got only two, viz. Śākala and Vāṣkala.'
41. ^Maurice Winternitz (History of Sanskrit Literature, Revised English Translation Edition, 1926, vol. 1, p. 283.
42. ^Mantras of 'khila' hymns were called khailika and not ṛcas (Khila meant distinct 'part' of Rgveda separate from regular hymns; all regular hymns make up the akhila or 'the whole' recognised in a śākhā, although khila hymns have sanctified roles in rituals from ancient times).
43. ^Hermann Grassmann had numbered the hymns 1 through to 1028, putting the vālakhilya at the end. Griffith's translation has these 11 at the end of the eighth mandala, after 8.92 in the regular series.
44. ^cf. Preface to Khila section by C.G.Kāshikar in Volume-5 of Pune Edition of RV (in references).
45. ^These Khilani hymns have also been found in a manuscript of the Śākala recension of the Kashmir Rigveda (and are included in the Poone edition).
46. ^equalling 40 times 10,800, the number of bricks used for the uttaravedi: the number is motivated numerologically rather than based on an actual syllable count.
47. ^Stephanie W. Jamison & Joel P. Brereton 2014, p. 16.
48. ^Sachau, Edward (Translator). 'Alberuni's India. An account of the religion, philosophy, literature, geography, chronology, astronomy, customs, laws and astrology of India about AD 1030'. archive.org. Kegan, Paul, Trench and Trubner Co. Ltd. p. 126. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
49. ^Barbara A. West (2010). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. Infobase. p. 282. ISBN978-1-4381-1913-7.
50. ^Michael McDowell; Nathan Robert Brown (2009). World Religions At Your Fingertips. Penguin. p. 208. ISBN978-1-101-01469-1.
51. ^Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0199370184, pp. 13–14
52. ^'Rigveda'. UNESCOMemory of the World Programme. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014.
53. ^'Rig Veda in UNESCO's 'Memory of the World' Register'. Hinduism.about.com. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
54. ^cf. Editorial notes in various volumes of Pune Edition, see references.
55. ^Avari 2007, p. 77.
56. ^ ^abcdeJames Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics at Google Books, Vol. 7, Harvard Divinity School, TT Clark, pp. 51–56
57. ^ ^abAntonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN978-0595269259, pp. 273–274
58. ^Edmund Gosse, Short histories of the literatures of the world, p. 181, at Google Books, New York: Appleton, p. 181
59. ^Robert Hume, Mundaka Upanishad, Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pp. 374–375
60. ^Max Muller, The Upanishads, Part 2, Mundaka Upanishad, Oxford University Press, pp. 38–40
61. ^ ^abcdefgStephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0199370184, pp. 57–59
62. ^ ^ab
    • Original Sanskrit: Rigveda 10.129 Wikisource;
    • Translation 1: Max Muller (1859). A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature. Williams and Norgate, London. pp. 559–565.
    • Translation 2: Kenneth Kramer (1986). World Scriptures: An Introduction to Comparative Religions. Paulist Press. p. 21. ISBN978-0-8091-2781-8.
    • Translation 3: David Christian (2011). Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. University of California Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN978-0-520-95067-2.
    • Translation 4: Robert N. Bellah (2011). Religion in Human Evolution. Harvard University Press. pp. 510–511. ISBN978-0-674-06309-9.
63. ^Edited, with an English translation, by M. Haug (2 vols., Bombay, 1863). An edition in Roman transliteration, with extracts from the commentary, has been published by Th. Aufrecht (Bonn, 1879).
64. ^Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120814684, pp. 7–14
65. ^Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120814684, pp. 21–23
66. ^ ^abc'Speak for itself'(PDF). Rigveda.co.uk. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
67. ^ ^abStephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0199370184, p. 5
68. ^('Veda and Vedanta', 7th lecture in India: What Can It Teach Us: A Course of Lectures Delivered Before the University of Cambridge, World Treasures of the Library of Congress Beginnings by Irene U. Chambers, Michael S. Roth.
69. ^Mallory 1989.
70. ^'As a possible date ad quem for the RV one usually adduces the Hittite-Mitanni agreement of the middle of the 14th cent. B.C. which mentions four of the major Rgvedic gods: mitra, varuNa, indra and the nAsatya azvin)' M. Witzel, Early Sanskritization – Origin and development of the Kuru stateArchived 5 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
71. ^The Vedic People: Their History and Geography, Rajesh Kochar, 2000, Orient Longman, ISBN81-250-1384-9
72. ^Rigveda and River Saraswati: class.uidaho.edu
73. ^Oldenberg 1894 (tr. Shrotri), p. 14 'The Vedic diction has a great number of favourite expressions which are common with the Avestic, though not with later Indian diction. In addition, there is a close resemblance between them in metrical form, in fact, in their overall poetic character. If it is noticed that whole Avesta verses can be easily translated into the Vedic alone by virtue of comparative phonetics, then this may often give, not only correct Vedic words and phrases, but also the verses, out of which the soul of Vedic poetry appears to speak.'
74. ^Bryant 2001:130–131 'The oldest part of the Avesta.. is linguistically and culturally very close to the material preserved in the Rigveda.. There seems to be economic and religious interaction and perhaps rivalry operating here, which justifies scholars in placing the Vedic and Avestan worlds in close chronological, geographical and cultural proximity to each other not far removed from a joint Indo-Iranian period.'
75. ^Mallory 1989 p. 36 'Probably the least-contested observation concerning the various Indo-European dialects is that those languages grouped together as Indic and Iranian show such remarkable similarities with one another that we can confidently posit a period of Indo-Iranian unity..'
76. ^Mallory 1989 'The identification of the Andronovo culture as Indo-Iranian is commonly accepted by scholars.'
77. ^ ^abStephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0199370184, pp. 6–7
78. ^Michael Witzel (1996), Little Dowry, No Sati: The Lot of Women in the Vedic Period, Journal of South Asia Women Studies, Vol 2, No 4
79. ^Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0199370184, pp. 40, 180, 1150, 1162
80. ^Chakrabarti, D.K. The Early Use of Iron in India (1992) Oxford University Press argues that it may refer to any metal. If ayas refers to iron, the Rigveda must date to the late second millennium at the earliest.
81. ^Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0199370184, p. 744
82. ^Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0199370184, pp. 50–57
83. ^among others, Macdonell and Keith, and Talageri 2000, Lal 2005
84. ^ ^abcdeFrits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN978-0143099864, pp. xv–xvi
85. ^D Sharma (2011), Classical Indian Philosophy: A Reader, Columbia University Press, ISBN978-0231133999, pp. 196–197
86. ^Jan Westerhoff (2009), Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka: A Philosophical Introduction, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195384963, p. 290
87. ^Frederick M. Smith, 'Purāņaveda,' in Laurie L. Patton (ed.), Authority, Anxiety, and Canon: Essays in Vedic Interpretation, SUNY Press 1994 p. 99.Arthur Llewellyn Basham, Kenneth G. Zysk, The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism , Oxford University Press, 1989 p. 7, Ram Gopal, The History and Principles of Vedic Interpretation, Concept Publishing Company, 1983 ch.2 pp. 7–20
88. ^Mystic Approach to the Veda and the Upanishad by Madhav Pundalik Pandit (1974), p. 4, ISBN9780940985483
89. ^Thomas McEvilley (2012), The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies, ISBN9781581159332, pp. 154–155
90. ^edited in 8 volumes by Vishva Bandhu, 1963–1966.
91. ^Salmond, Noel A. (2004). 'Dayananda Saraswati'. Hindu iconoclasts: Rammohun Roy, Dayananda Sarasvati and Nineteenth-Century Polemics Against Idolatry. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 114–115. ISBN978-0-88920-419-5.
92. ^ ^abcThe Political Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo by V. P. Varma (1960), Motilal Banarsidass, p. 139, ISBN9788120806863
93. ^N Singh (1992), The Vivaha (Marriage) Samskara as a Paradigm for Religio-cultural Integration in Hinduism, Journal for the Study of Religion, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 31–40
94. ^Swami Vivekananda (2005). Prabuddha Bharata: Or Awakened India. Prabuddha Bharata Press. pp. 362, 594.
95. ^ ^abcdAndrea Pinkney (2014), Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia (Editors: Bryan Turner and Oscar Salemink), Routledge, ISBN978-0415635035, pp. 31–32
96. ^Jeffrey Haines (2008), Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics, Routledge, ISBN978-0415600293, p. 80
97. ^N. Kazanas (2002), Indigenous Indo-Aryans and the Rigveda, Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 275–289;
    N. Kazanas (2000), ‘A new date for the Rgveda’, in G. C. Pande (Ed) Chronology and Indian Philosophy, special issue of the JICPR, Delhi;
    N. D. Kazanas (2001), Indo-European Deities and the Rgveda, Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 257–264,
    ND Kazanas (2003), Final Reply, Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 31, pp. 187–189
98. ^Edwin Bryant (2004), The Quest for the Origins of the Vedic Culture, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195169478
99. ^Agrawal, D. P. (2002). Comments on “Indigenous IndoAryans”. Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 129–135;
    A. Parpola (2002), ‘Comments on “Indigenous Indo-Aryans”’, Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 187–191
100. ^Michael Witzel, The Pleiades and the Bears viewed from inside the Vedic texts, EVJS Vol. 5 (1999), issue 2 (December);
     Elst, Koenraad (1999). Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate. Aditya Prakashan. ISBN978-81-86471-77-7.;
     Bryant, Edwin and Laurie L. Patton (2005) The Indo-Aryan Controversy, Routledge/Curzon, ISBN978-0700714636
101. ^ ^absee e.g. Jeaneane D. Fowler (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex University Press, ISBN978-1898723936, pp. 38–45
102. ^GJ Larson, RS Bhattacharya and K Potter (2014), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 4, Princeton University Press, ISBN978-0691604411, pp. 5–6, 109–110, 180
103. ^'The Rig Veda/Mandala 1/Hymn 164 - Wikisource, the free online library'. En.wikisource.org. 14 April 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
104. ^ ^abStephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, ISBN978-0231144858, p. 401
105. ^Garry Trompf (2005), In Search of Origins, 2nd Edition, Sterling, ISBN978-1932705515, pp. 60–61
106. ^Thomas Paul Urumpackal (1972), Organized Religion According to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Georgian University Press, ISBN978-8876521553, pp. 229–232 with footnote 133
107. ^Franklin Edgerton (1996), The Bhagavad Gita, Cambridge University Press, Reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120811492, pp. 11–12
108. ^Elizabeth Reed (2001), Hindu Literature: Or the Ancient Books of India, Simon Publishers, ISBN978-1931541039, pp. 16–19
109. ^a 'strong traditional streak that (by Western standards) would undoubtedly be thought atheistic'; hymn 10.130 can be read to be in 'an atheistic spirit'. Michael Ruse (2015), Atheism, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0199334582, p. 185.
110. ^Wilson, H. H. Ṛig-Veda-Sanhitā: A Collection of Ancient Hindu Hymns. 6 vols. (London, 1850–88); reprint: Cosmo Publications (1977)
111. ^'Rig - Veda - Sanhita - Vol.1'. Dspace.wbpublibnet.gov.in:8080. 21 March 2006. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
112. ^'The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute : The Manuscript Department'. Bori.ac.in. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
113. ^Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN978-0143099864, p. 107
114. ^John J. Lowe (2015). Participles in Rigvedic Sanskrit: The Syntax and Semantics of Adjectival Verb Forms. Oxford University Press. p. 329. ISBN978-0-19-870136-1.
115. ^Stephanie W. Jamison & Joel P. Brereton 2014, pp. 3, 76.
116. ^Stephanie W. Jamison & Joel P. Brereton 2014, p. 3.
117. ^A. A. MacDonnel (2000 print edition), India's Past: A Survey of Her Literatures, Religions, Languages and Antiquities, Asian Educational Services, ISBN978-8120605701, p. 15
118. ^Stephanie W. Jamison & Joel P. Brereton 2014, pp. 19–20.
119. ^neh.gov, retrieved 22 March 2007.

Bibliography

Editions

• Stephanie W. Jamison; Joel P. Brereton (2014). The Rigveda. Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-937018-4.
• editio princeps: Friedrich Max Müller, The Hymns of the Rigveda, with Sayana's commentary, London, 1849–75, 6 vols., 2nd ed. 4 vols., Oxford, 1890–92.
• Theodor Aufrecht, 2nd ed., Bonn, 1877.
• Sontakke, N. S. (1933). Rgveda-Samhitā: Śrimat-Sāyanāchārya virachita-bhāṣya-sametā. Sāyanachārya (commentary) (First ed.). Vaidika Samśodhana Maṇḍala.. The Editorial Board for the First Edition included N. S. Sontakke (Managing Editor), V. K. Rājvade, M. M. Vāsudevaśāstri, and T. S. Varadarājaśarmā.
• B. van Nooten und G. Holland, Rig Veda, a metrically restored text, Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England, 1994.
• Rgveda-Samhita, Text in Devanagari, English translation Notes and indices by H. H. Wilson, Ed. W. F. Webster, originally in 1888, Published Nag Publishers 1990, 11A/U.A. Jawaharnagar,Delhi-7.

Commentary

• Sayana (14th century)
  • ed. Müller 1849–75 (German translation);
  • ed. Müller (original commentary of Sāyana in Sanskrit based on 24 manuscripts).
  • ed. Sontakke et al., published by Vaidika Samsodhana Mandala, Pune (2nd ed. 1972) in 5 volumes.
• Rgveda-Samhitā Srimat-sāyanāchārya virachita-bhāṣya-sametā, ed. by Sontakke et al., published by Vaidika Samśodhana Mandala, Pune-9, 1972, in 5 volumes (It is original commentary of Sāyana in Sanskrit based on over 60 manuscripts).
• Sri Aurobindo, Hymns to the Mystic Fire (Commentary on the Rig Veda), Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN0-914955-22-5[1]
• Raimundo Pannikar (1972), The Vedic Experience, University of California Press

Philology

• Vashishtha Narayan Jha, A Linguistic Analysis of the Rgveda-Padapatha Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi (1992).
• Bjorn Merker, Rig Veda Riddles In Nomad Perspective, Mongolian Studies, Journal of the Mongolian Society XI, 1988.
• Thomas Oberlies, Die Religion des Rgveda, Wien 1998.
• Oldenberg, Hermann (1894). Hymnen des Rigveda. 1. Teil: Metrische und textgeschichtliche Prolegomena. Berlin 1888. (please add), Wiesbaden 1982.
• —Die Religion des Veda. Berlin 1894; Stuttgart 1917; Stuttgart 1927; Darmstadt 1977
• —Vedic Hymns, The Sacred Books of the East Vol l. 46 ed. Friedrich Max Müller, Oxford 1897
• Adolf Kaegi, The Rigveda: The Oldest Literature of the Indians (trans. R. Arrowsmith), Boston, Ginn and Co. (1886), 2004 reprint: ISBN978-1-4179-8205-9.
• Mallory, J. P.; et al. (1989). 'Indo-Iranian Languages in Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture'. Fitzroy Dearborn (published 1997).

Historical

• Anthony, David W. (2007), The Horse The Wheel And Language. How Bronze-Age Riders From the Eurasian Steppes Shaped The Modern World, Princeton University Press
• Avari, Burjor (2007), India: The Ancient Past, London: Routledge, ISBN978-0-415-35616-9
• Bryant, Edwin (2001). The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-513777-4.
• Flood, Gavin D. (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press
• George Erdosy (1995). The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN978-3-11-014447-5.
• Gregory Possehl; Michael Witzel (2002). 'Vedic'. In Peter N. Peregrine; Melvin Ember (eds.). Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Springer. ISBN978-1-4684-7135-9.
• Lal, B.B. 2005. The Homeland of the Aryans. Evidence of Rigvedic Flora and Fauna & Archaeology, New Delhi, Aryan Books International.
• Talageri, Shrikant: The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis, 2000. ISBN81-7742-010-0
• Witzel, Michael (1995), 'Early Sanskritization: Origin and Development of the Kuru state'(PDF), EJVS, 1 (4), archived from the original(PDF) on 20 February 2012
• Witzel, Michael (ed.) (1997), Inside the Texts, Beyond the Texts. New Approaches to the Study of the Vedas, Harvard Oriental Series, Opera Minora vol. 2, Cambridge: Harvard University PressCS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)

External links

Text

For links to translations, see Translations section above.

• Devanagari and transliteration experimental online text at: sacred-texts.com
• ITRANS, Devanagari, transliteration online text and PDF, several versions prepared by Detlef Eichler
• Transliteration, metrically restored online text, at: Linguistics Research Center, Univ. of Texas
• The Hymns of the Rigveda, Editio Princeps by Friedrich Max Müller (large PDF files of book scans). Two editions: London, 1877 (Samhita and Pada texts) and Oxford, 1890–92, with Sayana's commentary.
• Works by or about Rigveda at Internet Archive

Dictionary

• Rigvedic Dictionary by Hermann Grassmann (online database, uni-koeln.de)

The Vedas (/ˈveɪdəz, ˈviː-/;^[1]Sanskrit: वेदveda, 'knowledge') are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.^[2][3] Hindus consider the Vedas to be apauruṣeya, which means 'not of a man, superhuman'^[4] and 'impersonal, authorless'.^[5][6][7]

Vedas are also called śruti ('what is heard') literature,^[8] distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called smṛti ('what is remembered'). The Veda, for orthodox Indian theologians, are considered revelations seen by ancient sages after intense meditation, and texts that have been more carefully preserved since ancient times.^[9][10] In the Hindu Epic the Mahabharata, the creation of Vedas is credited to Brahma.^[11] The Vedic hymns themselves assert that they were skillfully created by Rishis (sages), after inspired creativity, just as a carpenter builds a chariot.^{[10][note 1]}

According to tradition, Vyasa is the compiler of the Vedas, who arranged the four kinds of mantras into four Samhitas (Collections).^[13][14] There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda.^[15][16] Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).^[15][17][18] Some scholars add a fifth category – the Upasanas (worship).^[19][20]

The various Indian philosophies and denominations have taken differing positions on the Vedas. Schools of Indian philosophy which cite the Vedas as their scriptural authority are classified as 'orthodox' (āstika).^{[note 2]} Other śramaṇa traditions, such as Lokayata, Carvaka, Ajivika, Buddhism and Jainism, which did not regard the Vedas as authorities, are referred to as 'heterodox' or 'non-orthodox' (nāstika) schools.^[22][23] Despite their differences, just like the texts of the śramaṇa traditions, the layers of texts in the Vedas discuss similar ideas and concepts.^[22]

• 2Chronology
• 3Categories of Vedic texts
• 5Four Vedas
  • 5.5Embedded Vedic texts
• 6Post-Vedic literature

Etymology and usage

The Sanskrit word véda 'knowledge, wisdom' is derived from the root vid- 'to know'. This is reconstructed as being derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *u̯eid-, meaning 'see' or 'know',^[24] cognate to Greek(ϝ)εἶδος 'aspect', 'form'. This is not to be confused is the homonymous 1st and 3rd person singular perfect tense véda, cognate to Greek (ϝ)οἶδα(w)oida 'I know'. Root cognates are Greek ἰδέα, Englishwit, etc., Latinvideō 'I see', etc.^[25]

The Sanskrit term veda as a common noun means 'knowledge'.^[26] The term in some contexts, such as hymn 10.93.11 of the Rigveda, means 'obtaining or finding wealth, property',^[27] while in some others it means 'a bunch of grass together' as in a broom or for ritual fire.^[28]

A related word Vedena appears in hymn 8.19.5 of the Rigveda.^[29] It was translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith as 'ritual lore',^[30] as 'studying the Veda' by the 14th-century Indian scholar Sayana, as 'bundle of grass' by Max Müller, and as 'with the Veda' by H.H. Wilson.^[31]

Vedas are called Maṛai or Vaymoli in parts of South India. Marai literally means 'hidden, a secret, mystery'. But Tamil Naanmarai mentioned in Tholkappiam isn't Sanskrit Vedas.^[32][33] In some south Indian communities such as Iyengars, the word Veda includes the Tamil writings of the Alvar saints, such as Divya Prabandham, for example Tiruvaymoli.^[34]

Chronology

The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts.^[35][36] The Samhitas date to roughly 1700–1100 BCE,^[37] and the 'circum-Vedic' texts, as well as the redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000–500 BCE, resulting in a Vedic period, spanning the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BCE, or the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age.^[38]The Vedic period reaches its peak only after the composition of the mantra texts, with the establishment of the various shakhas all over Northern India which annotated the mantra samhitas with Brahmana discussions of their meaning, and reaches its end in the age of Buddha and Panini and the rise of the Mahajanapadas (archaeologically, Northern Black Polished Ware). Michael Witzel gives a time span of c. 1500 to c. 500–400 BCE. Witzel makes special reference to the Near Eastern Mitanni material of the 14th century BCE, the only epigraphic record of Indo-Aryan contemporary to the Rigvedic period. He gives 150 BCE (Patañjali) as a terminus ante quem for all Vedic Sanskrit literature, and 1200 BCE (the early Iron Age) as terminus post quem for the Atharvaveda.^[39]

Transmission of texts in the Vedic period was by oral tradition, preserved with precision with the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques. A literary tradition is traceable in post-Vedic times, after the rise of Buddhism in the Maurya period,^{[note 3]} perhaps earliest in the Kanva recension of the Yajurveda about the 1st century BCE; however oral tradition of transmission remained active. Witzel suggests the possibility of written Vedic texts towards the end of 1st millennium BCE.^[41] Some scholars such as Jack Goody state that 'the Vedas are not the product of an oral society', basing this view by comparing inconsistencies in the transmitted versions of literature from various oral societies such as the Greek, Serbia and other cultures, then noting that the Vedic literature is too consistent and vast to have been composed and transmitted orally across generations, without being written down.^[42] However, adds Goody, the Vedic texts likely involved both a written and oral tradition, calling it a 'parallel products of a literate society'.^[40][42]

Due to the ephemeral nature of the manuscript material (birch bark or palm leaves), surviving manuscripts rarely surpass an age of a few hundred years.^[43] The Sampurnanand Sanskrit University has a Rigveda manuscript from the 14th century;^[44] however, there are a number of older Veda manuscripts in Nepal that are dated from the 11th century onwards.^[45]

Ancient universities

The Vedas, Vedic rituals and its ancillary sciences called the Vedangas, were part of the curriculum at ancient universities such as at Taxila, Nalanda and Vikramashila.^{[46][47][48][49]}

Categories of Vedic texts

The term 'Vedic texts' is used in two distinct meanings:

1. Texts composed in Vedic Sanskrit during the Vedic period (Iron Age India)
2. Any text considered as 'connected to the Vedas' or a 'corollary of the Vedas'^[50]

Vedic Sanskrit corpus

The corpus of Vedic Sanskrit texts includes:

• The Samhitas (Sanskrit saṃhitā, 'collection'), are collections of metric texts ('mantras'). There are four 'Vedic' Samhitas: the Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, and Atharva-Veda, most of which are available in several recensions (śākhā). In some contexts, the term Veda is used to refer to these Samhitas. This is the oldest layer of Vedic texts, apart from the Rigvedic hymns, which were probably essentially complete by 1200 BCE, dating to c. the 12th to 10th centuries BCE. The complete corpus of Vedic mantras as collected in Bloomfield's Vedic Concordance (1907) consists of some 89,000 padas (metrical feet), of which 72,000 occur in the four Samhitas.^[51]
• The Brahmanas are prose texts that comment and explain the solemn rituals as well as expound on their meaning and many connected themes. Each of the Brahmanas is associated with one of the Samhitas or its recensions.^[52][53] The Brahmanas may either form separate texts or can be partly integrated into the text of the Samhitas. They may also include the Aranyakas and Upanishads.
• The Aranyakas, 'wilderness texts' or 'forest treaties', were composed by people who meditated in the woods as recluses and are the third part of the Vedas. The texts contain discussions and interpretations of ceremonies, from ritualistic to symbolic meta-ritualistic points of view.^[54] It is frequently read in secondary literature.
• Older Mukhya Upanishads (Bṛhadāraṇyaka, Chandogya, Kaṭha, Kena, Aitareya, and others).^[55][56]

The Vedas (sruti) are different from Vedic era texts such as Shrauta Sutras and Gryha Sutras, which are smriti texts. Together, the Vedas and these Sutras form part of the Vedic Sanskrit corpus.^[56][57][58]

While production of Brahmanas and Aranyakas ceased with the end of the Vedic period, additional Upanishads were composed after the end of the Vedic period.^[59]

The Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads, among other things, interpret and discuss the Samhitas in philosophical and metaphorical ways to explore abstract concepts such as the Absolute (Brahman), and the soul or the self (Atman), introducing Vedanta philosophy, one of the major trends of later Hinduism. In other parts, they show evolution of ideas, such as from actual sacrifice to symbolic sacrifice, and of spirituality in the Upanishads. This has inspired later Hindu scholars such as Adi Shankara to classify each Veda into karma-kanda (कर्म खण्ड, action/ritual-related sections) and jnana-kanda (ज्ञान खण्ड, knowledge/spirituality-related sections).^[19][60]

Shruti literature

The texts considered 'Vedic' in the sense of 'corollaries of the Vedas' is less clearly defined, and may include numerous post-Vedic texts such as the later Upanishads and the Sutra literature. Texts not considered to be shruti are known as smriti (Sanskrit: smṛti; 'the remembered'), or texts of remembered traditions. This indigenous system of categorization was adopted by Max Müller and, while it is subject to some debate, it is still widely used. As Axel Michaels explains:^[55]

These classifications are often not tenable for linguistic and formal reasons: There is not only one collection at any one time, but rather several handed down in separate Vedic schools; Upanişads .. are sometimes not to be distinguished from Āraṇyakas..; Brāhmaṇas contain older strata of language attributed to the Saṃhitās; there are various dialects and locally prominent traditions of the Vedic schools. Nevertheless, it is advisable to stick to the division adopted by Max Müller because it follows the Indian tradition, conveys the historical sequence fairly accurately, and underlies the current editions, translations, and monographs on Vedic literature.'^[55]

Rig Veda English Pdf

The Upanishads are largely philosophical works, some in dialogue form. They are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions.^[61][62] Of the Vedic corpus, they alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishads are at the spiritual core of Hindus.^[61][63]

Vedic schools or recensions

The four Vedas were transmitted in various śākhās (branches, schools).^[64][65] Each school likely represented an ancient community of a particular area, or kingdom.^[65] Each school followed its own canon. Multiple recensions are known for each of the Vedas.^[64] Thus, states Witzel as well as Renou, in the 2nd millennium BCE, there was likely no canon of one broadly accepted Vedic texts, no Vedic “Scripture”, but only a canon of various texts accepted by each school. Some of these texts have survived, most lost or yet to be found. Rigveda that survives in modern times, for example, is in only one extremely well preserved school of Śåkalya, from a region called Videha, in modern north Bihar, south of Nepal.^[66] The Vedic canon in its entirety consists of texts from all the various Vedic schools taken together.^[65]

Each of the four Vedas were shared by the numerous schools, but revised, interpolated and adapted locally, in and after the Vedic period, giving rise to various recensions of the text. Some texts were revised into the modern era, raising significant debate on parts of the text which are believed to have been corrupted at a later date.^[67][68] The Vedas each have an Index or Anukramani, the principal work of this kind being the general Index or Sarvānukramaṇī.^[69][70]

Prodigious energy was expended by ancient Indian culture in ensuring that these texts were transmitted from generation to generation with inordinate fidelity.^[71] For example, memorization of the sacred Vedas included up to eleven forms of recitation of the same text. The texts were subsequently 'proof-read' by comparing the different recited versions. Forms of recitation included the jaṭā-pāṭha (literally 'mesh recitation') in which every two adjacent words in the text were first recited in their original order, then repeated in the reverse order, and finally repeated in the original order.^[72] That these methods have been effective, is attested to by the preservation of the most ancient Indian religious text, the Rigveda, as redacted into a single text during the Brahmana period, without any variant readings within that school.^[72]

The Vedas were likely written down for the first time around 500 BCE.^[73] However, all printed editions of the Vedas that survive in the modern times are likely the version existing in about the 16th century AD.^[74]

Four Vedas

The canonical division of the Vedas is fourfold (turīya) viz.,^[75]

1. Rigveda (RV)
2. Yajurveda (YV, with the main division TS vs. VS)
3. Samaveda (SV)
4. Atharvaveda (AV)

Of these, the first three were the principal original division, also called 'trayī vidyā'; that is, 'the triple science' of reciting hymns (Rigveda), performing sacrifices (Yajurveda), and chanting songs (Samaveda).^[76][77] The Rigveda is the oldest work, which Witzel states are probably from the period of 1900 to 1100 BCE. Witzel, also notes that it is the Vedic period itself, where incipient lists divide the Vedic texts into three (trayī) or four branches: Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva.^[65]

Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies such as newborn baby's rites of passage, coming of age, marriages, retirement and cremation, sacrifices and symbolic sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (text discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).^[15][17][18] The Upasanas (short ritual worship-related sections) are considered by some scholars^[19][20] as the fifth part. Witzel notes that the rituals, rites and ceremonies described in these ancient texts reconstruct to a large degree the Indo-European marriage rituals observed in a region spanning the Indian subcontinent, Persia and the European area, and some greater details are found in the Vedic era texts such as the Grhya Sūtras.^[78]

Only one version of the Rigveda is known to have survived into the modern era.^[66] Several different versions of the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda are known, and many different versions of the Yajur Veda have been found in different parts of South Asia.^[79]

Rigveda

Who really knows?
Who can here proclaim it?
Whence, whence this creation sprang?
Gods came later, after the creation of this universe.

Who then knows whence it has arisen?
Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute;
Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows,

—Rig Veda 10.129.6–7^[80]

The Rigveda Samhita is the oldest extant Indic text.^[81] It is a collection of 1,028 Vedic Sanskrithymns and 10,600 verses in all, organized into ten books (Sanskrit: mandalas).^[82] The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic deities.^[83]

The books were composed by poets from different priestly groups over a period of several centuries from roughly the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE (the early Vedic period), starting with the Punjab (Sapta Sindhu) region of the northwest Indian subcontinent.^[84] The Rigveda is structured based on clear principles – the Veda begins with a small book addressed to Agni, Indra, Soma and other gods, all arranged according to decreasing total number of hymns in each deity collection; for each deity series, the hymns progress from longer to shorter ones, but the number of hymns per book increases. Finally, the meter too is systematically arranged from jagati and tristubh to anustubh and gayatri as the text progresses.^[65] In terms of substance, the nature of hymns shift from praise of deities in early books to Nasadiya Sukta with questions such as, 'what is the origin of the universe?, do even gods know the answer?',^[80] the virtue of Dāna (charity) in society,^[85] and other metaphysical issues in its hymns.^[86]

There are similarities between the mythology, rituals and linguistics in Rigveda and those found in ancient central Asia, Iranian and Hindukush (Afghanistan) regions.^[87]

Samaveda

The Samaveda Samhita^[88] consists of 1549 stanzas, taken almost entirely (except for 75 mantras) from the Rigveda.^[55][89] The Samaveda samhita has two major parts. The first part includes four melody collections (gāna, गान) and the second part three verse “books” (ārcika, आर्चिक).^[89] A melody in the song books corresponds to a verse in the arcika books. Just as in the Rigveda, the early sections of Samaveda typically begin with hymns to Agni and Indra but shift to the abstract. Their meters shift also in a descending order. The songs in the later sections of the Samaveda have the least deviation from the hymns derived from the Rigveda.^[89]

In the Samaveda, some of the Rigvedic verses are repeated.^[90] Including repetitions, there are a total of 1875 verses numbered in the Samaveda recension translated by Griffith.^[91] Two major recensions have survived, the Kauthuma/Ranayaniya and the Jaiminiya. Its purpose was liturgical, and they were the repertoire of the udgātṛ or 'singer' priests.^[92]

Yajurveda

The Yajurveda Samhita consists of prose mantras.^[93] It is a compilation of ritual offering formulas that were said by a priest while an individual performed ritual actions such as those before the yajna fire.^[93]

The earliest and most ancient layer of Yajurveda samhita includes about 1,875 verses, that are distinct yet borrow and build upon the foundation of verses in Rigveda.^[94] Unlike the Samaveda which is almost entirely based on Rigveda mantras and structured as songs, the Yajurveda samhitas are in prose and linguistically, they are different from earlier Vedic texts.^[95] The Yajur Veda has been the primary source of information about sacrifices during Vedic times and associated rituals.^[96]

There are two major groups of texts in this Veda: the 'Black' (Krishna) and the 'White' (Shukla). The term 'black' implies 'the un-arranged, motley collection' of verses in Yajurveda, in contrast to the 'white' (well arranged) Yajurveda.^[97] The White Yajurveda separates the Samhita from its Brahmana (the Shatapatha Brahmana), the Black Yajurveda intersperses the Samhita with Brahmana commentary. Of the Black Yajurveda, texts from four major schools have survived (Maitrayani, Katha, Kapisthala-Katha, Taittiriya), while of the White Yajurveda, two (Kanva and Madhyandina).^[98][99] The youngest layer of Yajurveda text is not related to rituals nor sacrifice, it includes the largest collection of primary Upanishads, influential to various schools of Hindu philosophy.^[100][101]

Atharvaveda

The Artharvaveda Samhita is the text 'belonging to the Atharvan and Angirasa poets. It has about 760 hymns, and about 160 of the hymns are in common with the Rigveda.^[102] Most of the verses are metrical, but some sections are in prose.^[102] Two different versions of the text – the Paippalāda and the Śaunakīya – have survived into the modern times.^[102][103] The Atharvaveda was not considered as a Veda in the Vedic era, and was accepted as a Veda in late 1st millennium BCE.^[104][105] It was compiled last,^[106] probably around 900 BCE, although some of its material may go back to the time of the Rigveda,^[107] or earlier.^[102]

The Atharvaveda is sometimes called the 'Veda of magical formulas',^[108] an epithet declared to be incorrect by other scholars.^[109] The Samhita layer of the text likely represents a developing 2nd millennium BCE tradition of magico-religious rites to address superstitious anxiety, spells to remove maladies believed to be caused by demons, and herbs- and nature-derived potions as medicine.^[110][111] The text, states Kenneth Zysk, is one of oldest surviving record of the evolutionary practices in religious medicine and reveals the 'earliest forms of folk healing of Indo-European antiquity'.^[112] Many books of the Atharvaveda Samhita are dedicated to rituals without magic, such as to philosophical speculations and to theosophy.^[109]

The Atharva veda has been a primary source for information about Vedic culture, the customs and beliefs, the aspirations and frustrations of everyday Vedic life, as well as those associated with kings and governance. The text also includes hymns dealing with the two major rituals of passage – marriage and cremation. The Atharva Veda also dedicates significant portion of the text asking the meaning of a ritual.^[113]

Embedded Vedic texts

Brahmanas

The Brahmanas are commentaries, explanation of proper methods and meaning of Vedic Samhita rituals in the four Vedas.^[114] They also incorporate myths, legends and in some cases philosophy.^[114][53] Each regional Vedic shakha (school) has its own operating manual-like Brahmana text, most of which have been lost.^[115] A total of 19 Brahmana texts have survived into modern times: two associated with the Rigveda, six with the Yajurveda, ten with the Samaveda and one with the Atharvaveda. The oldest dated to about 900 BCE, while the youngest Brahmanas (such as the Shatapatha Brahmana), were complete by about 700 BCE.^[116][117] According to Jan Gonda, the final codification of the Brahmanas took place in pre-Buddhist times (ca. 600 BCE).^[118]

The substance of the Brahmana text varies with each Veda. For example, the first chapter of the Chandogya Brahmana, one of the oldest Brahmanas, includes eight ritual suktas (hymns) for the ceremony of marriage and rituals at the birth of a child.^[119][120] The first hymn is a recitation that accompanies offering a Yajna oblation to Agni (fire) on the occasion of a marriage, and the hymn prays for prosperity of the couple getting married.^[119][121] The second hymn wishes for their long life, kind relatives, and a numerous progeny.^[119] The third hymn is a mutual marriage pledge, between the bride and groom, by which the two bind themselves to each other. The sixth through last hymns of the first chapter in Chandogya Brahmana are ritual celebrations on the birth of a child and wishes for health, wealth, and prosperity with a profusion of cows and artha.^[119] However, these verses are incomplete expositions, and their complete context emerges only with the Samhita layer of text.^[122]

Aranyakas and Upanishads

The Aranyakas layer of the Vedas include rituals, discussion of symbolic meta-rituals, as well as philosophical speculations.^[20][54]

Aranyakas, however, neither are homogeneous in content nor in structure.^[54] They are a medley of instructions and ideas, and some include chapters of Upanishads within them. Two theories have been proposed on the origin of the word Aranyakas. One theory holds that these texts were meant to be studied in a forest, while the other holds that the name came from these being the manuals of allegorical interpretation of sacrifices, for those in Vanaprastha (retired, forest-dwelling) stage of their life, according to the historic age-based Ashrama system of human life.^[123]

The Upanishads reflect the last composed layer of texts in the Vedas. They are commonly referred to as Vedānta, variously interpreted to mean either the 'last chapters, parts of the Vedas' or 'the object, the highest purpose of the Veda'.^[124] The concepts of Brahman (Ultimate Reality) and Ātman (Soul, Self) are central ideas in all the Upanishads,^[125][126] and 'Know your Ātman' their thematic focus.^[126][127] The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions.^[61][128] Of the Vedic corpus, they alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishads have influenced the diverse traditions of Hinduism.^[61][129]

Aranyakas are sometimes identified as karma-kanda (ritualistic section), while the Upanishads are identified as jnana-kanda (spirituality section).^[19][130] In an alternate classification, the early part of Vedas are called Samhitas and the commentary are called the Brahmanas which together are identified as the ceremonial karma-kanda, while Aranyakas and Upanishads are referred to as the jnana-kanda.^[131]

Post-Vedic literature

Vedanga

The Vedangas developed towards the end of the vedic period, around or after the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. These auxiliary fields of Vedic studies emerged because the language of the Vedas, composed centuries earlier, became too archaic to the people of that time.^[132] The Vedangas were sciences that focused on helping understand and interpret the Vedas that had been composed many centuries earlier.^[132]

The six subjects of Vedanga are phonetics (Śikṣā), poetic meter (Chandas), grammar (Vyākaraṇa), etymology and linguistics (Nirukta), rituals and rites of passage (Kalpa), time keeping and astronomy (Jyotiṣa).^{[133][134][135]}

Vedangas developed as ancillary studies for the Vedas, but its insights into meters, structure of sound and language, grammar, linguistic analysis and other subjects influenced post-Vedic studies, arts, culture and various schools of Hindu philosophy.^{[136][137][138]} The Kalpa Vedanga studies, for example, gave rise to the Dharma-sutras, which later expanded into Dharma-shastras.^[132][139]

Parisista

Pariśiṣṭa 'supplement, appendix' is the term applied to various ancillary works of Vedic literature, dealing mainly with details of ritual and elaborations of the texts logically and chronologically prior to them: the Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Sutras. Naturally classified with the Veda to which each pertains, Parisista works exist for each of the four Vedas. However, only the literature associated with the Atharvaveda is extensive.

• The Āśvalāyana Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is a very late text associated with the Rigveda canon.
• The Gobhila Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is a short metrical text of two chapters, with 113 and 95 verses respectively.
• The Kātiya Pariśiṣṭas, ascribed to Kātyāyana, consist of 18 works enumerated self-referentially in the fifth of the series (the Caraṇavyūha) and the Kātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa.
• The KṛṣṇaYajurveda has 3 parisistas The Āpastamba Hautra Pariśiṣṭa, which is also found as the second praśna of the Satyasāḍha Śrauta Sūtra', the Vārāha Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa
• For the Atharvaveda, there are 79 works, collected as 72 distinctly named parisistas.^[140]

Upaveda

The term upaveda ('applied knowledge') is used in traditional literature to designate the subjects of certain technical works.^[141][142] Lists of what subjects are included in this class differ among sources.The Charanavyuha mentions four Upavedas:^[143]

• Archery (Dhanurveda), associated with the Yajurveda
• Architecture (Sthapatyaveda), associated with the Atharvaveda.
• Music and sacred dance (Gāndharvaveda), associated with the Samaveda
• Medicine (Āyurveda), associated with either the Rigveda or the Atharvaveda.^[144][145]

'Fifth' and other Vedas

Some post-Vedic texts, including the Mahabharata, the Natyasastra^[146] and certain Puranas, refer to themselves as the 'fifth Veda'.^[147] The earliest reference to such a 'fifth Veda' is found in the Chandogya Upanishad in hymn 7.1.2.^[148]

Let drama and dance (Nātya, नाट्य) be the fifth vedic scripture. Combined with an epic story, tending to virtue, wealth, joy and spiritual freedom, it must contain the significance of every scripture, and forward every art. Thus, from all the Vedas, Brahma framed the Nātya Veda. From the Rig Veda he drew forth the words, from the Sama Veda the melody, from the Yajur Veda gesture, and from the Atharva Veda the sentiment.

'Divya Prabandha', for example Tiruvaymoli, is a term for canonical Tamil texts considered as Vernacular Veda by some South Indian Hindus.^[33][34]

Other texts such as the Bhagavad Gita or the Vedanta Sutras are considered shruti or 'Vedic' by some Hindu denominations but not universally within Hinduism. The Bhakti movement, and Gaudiya Vaishnavism in particular extended the term veda to include the Sanskrit Epics and Vaishnavite devotional texts such as the Pancaratra.^[151]

Puranas

The Puranas is a vast genre of encyclopedic Indian literature about a wide range of topics particularly myths, legends and other traditional lore.^[152] Several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Shiva and Devi.^[153][154] There are 18 Maha Puranas (Great Puranas) and 18 Upa Puranas (Minor Puranas), with over 400,000 verses.^[152]

The Puranas have been influential in the Hindu culture.^[155][156] They are considered Vaidika (congruent with Vedic literature).^[157] The Bhagavata Purana has been among the most celebrated and popular text in the Puranic genre, and is of non-dualistic tenor.^[158][159] The Puranic literature wove with the Bhakti movement in India, and both Dvaita and Advaita scholars have commented on the underlying Vedanta themes in the Maha Puranas.^[160]

Western Indology

The study of Sanskrit in the West began in the 17th century. In the early 19th century, Arthur Schopenhauer drew attention to Vedic texts, specifically the Upanishads.The importance of Vedic Sanskrit for Indo-European studies was also recognized in the early 19th century.English translations of the Samhitas were published in the later 19th century, in the Sacred Books of the East series edited by Müller between 1879 and 1910.^[161]Ralph T. H. Griffith also presented English translations of the four Samhitas, published 1889 to 1899.

Voltaire regarded Vedas to be exceptional, he remarked that:

The Veda was the most precious gift for which the West had ever been indebted to the East.^[162][163]

Rigveda manuscripts were selected for inscription in UNESCO's Memory of the WorldRegister in 2007.^[164]

See also

Notes

1. ^'As a skilled craftsman makes a car, a singer I, Mighty One! this hymn for thee have fashioned. If thou, O Agni, God, accept it gladly, may we obtain thereby the heavenly Waters'. – Rigveda 5.2.11, Translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith^[12]
2. ^Elisa Freschi (2012): The Vedas are not deontic authorities in absolute sense and may be disobeyed, but are recognized as an deontological epistemic authority by a Hindu orthodox school;^[21] (Note: This differentiation between epistemic and deontic authority is true for all Indian religions)
3. ^The early Buddhist texts are also generally believed to be of oral tradition, with the first Pali Canon written many centuries after the death of the Buddha.^[40]

References

1. ^'Veda'. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
2. ^see e.g. Radhakrishnan & Moore 1957, p. 3; Witzel, Michael, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, p. 68; MacDonell 2004, pp. 29–39; Sanskrit literature (2003) in Philip's Encyclopedia. Accessed 2007-08-09
3. ^Sanujit Ghose (2011). 'Religious Developments in Ancient India' in Ancient History Encyclopedia.
4. ^Vaman Shivaram Apte, The Practical Sanskrit–English Dictionary, see apauruSeya
5. ^D Sharma, Classical Indian Philosophy: A Reader, Columbia University Press, pp. 196–197^{[ISBN missing]}
6. ^Jan Westerhoff (2009), Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka: A Philosophical Introduction, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195384963, p. 290
7. ^Warren Lee Todd (2013), The Ethics of Śaṅkara and Śāntideva: A Selfless Response to an Illusory World, ISBN978-1409466819, p. 128
8. ^Apte 1965, p. 887
9. ^Sheldon Pollock (2011), Boundaries, Dynamics and Construction of Traditions in South Asia (Editor: Federico Squarcini), Anthem, ISBN978-0857284303, pp. 41–58
10. ^ ^abHartmut Scharfe (2002), Handbook of Oriental Studies, Brill Academic, ISBN978-9004125568, pp. 13–14
11. ^Seer of the Fifth Veda: Kr̥ṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa in the Mahābhārata Bruce M. Sullivan, Motilal Banarsidass, pp. 85–86
12. ^'The Rig Veda/Mandala 5/Hymn 2'.
13. ^Holdrege, Barbara A. (2012). Veda and Torah: Transcending the Textuality of Scripture. SUNY Press. pp. 249, 250. ISBN9781438406954.
14. ^Dalal, Roshen (15 April 2014). The Vedas: An Introduction to Hinduism's Sacred Texts. Penguin UK. ISBN9788184757637.
15. ^ ^abcGavin Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN978-0521438780, pp. 35–39
16. ^Bloomfield, M. The Atharvaveda and the Gopatha-Brahmana, (Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde II.1.b.) Strassburg 1899; Gonda, J. A history of Indian literature: I.1 Vedic literature (Samhitas and Brahmanas); I.2 The Ritual Sutras. Wiesbaden 1975, 1977
17. ^ ^abA Bhattacharya (2006), Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology, ISBN978-0595384556, pp. 8–14; George M. Williams (2003), Handbook of Hindu Mythology, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195332612, p. 285
18. ^ ^abJan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: (Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas), Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032
19. ^ ^abcdA Bhattacharya (2006), Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology, ISBN978-0595384556, pp. 8–14
20. ^ ^abcBarbara A. Holdrege (1995), Veda and Torah: Transcending the Textuality of Scripture, State University of New York Press, ISBN978-0791416402, pp. 351–357
21. ^Elisa Freschi (2012), Duty, Language and Exegesis in Prabhakara Mimamsa, Brill, ISBN978-9004222601, p. 62
22. ^ ^abFlood 1996, p. 82
23. ^'astika' and 'nastika'. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 20 Apr. 2016
24. ^Monier-Williams 2006, p. 1015; Apte 1965, p. 856
25. ^see e.g. Pokorny's 1959 Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch s.v. u̯(e)id-²; Rix' Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, u̯ei̯d-.
26. ^Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). A Sanskrit-English dictionary : etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press., p. 1015
27. ^Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). A Sanskrit-English dictionary : etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press., p. 1017 (2nd Column)
28. ^Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). A Sanskrit-English dictionary : etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press., p. 1017 (3rd Column)
29. ^Sanskrit: यः समिधा य आहुती यो वेदेन ददाश मर्तो अग्नये । यो नमसा स्वध्वरः ॥५॥, ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं ८.१९, Wikisource
30. ^K.F. Geldner, Der Rig-Veda, Harvard Oriental Series 33–37, Cambridge 1951
31. ^HH Wilson, Rig-veda Sanhita Sixth Ashtaka, First Adhayaya, Sukta VII (8.19.5), p. 291, Trubner London
32. ^Vasudha Narayanan (1994), The Vernacular Veda: Revelation, Recitation, and Ritual, University of South Carolina Press, ISBN978-0872499652, p. 194
33. ^ ^abJohn Carman (1989), The Tamil Veda: Pillan's Interpretation of the Tiruvaymoli, University of Chicago Press, ISBN978-0226093055, pp. 259–261
34. ^ ^abVasudha Narayanan (1994), The Vernacular Veda: Revelation, Recitation, and Ritual, University of South Carolina Press, ISBN978-0872499652, pp. 43, 117–119
35. ^Sagarika Dutt (2006). India in a Globalized World. Manchester University Press. p. 36. ISBN978-1-84779-607-3.
36. ^Gabriel J. Gomes (2012). Discovering World Religions. iUniverse. p. 54. ISBN978-1-4697-1037-2.
37. ^Lucas F. Johnston, Whitney Bauman (2014). Science and Religion: One Planet, Many Possibilities. Routledge. p. 179.
38. ^Gavin Flood sums up mainstream estimates, according to which the Rigveda was compiled from as early as 1500 BCE over a period of several centuries. Flood 1996, p. 37
39. ^Witzel, Michael, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, p. 68
40. ^ ^abDonald S. Lopez Jr. (1995). 'Authority and Orality in the Mahāyāna'. Numen. 42 (1): 21–47. JSTOR3270278.
41. ^Witzel, Michael, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, p. 69; For oral composition and oral transmission for 'many hundreds of years' before being written down, see: Avari 2007, p. 76.
42. ^ ^abJack Goody (1987). The Interface Between the Written and the Oral. Cambridge University Press. pp. 110–121. ISBN978-0-521-33794-6.
43. ^Brodd, Jeffrey (2003), World Religions, Winona, MN: Saint Mary's Press, ISBN978-0-88489-725-5
44. ^Jamison, Stephanie W.; Brereton, Joel P. (2014). The Rigveda. vol. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 18. ISBN978-0-19-972078-1.
45. ^'Cultural Heritage of Nepal'. Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project. University of Hamburg. Archived from the original on 18 September 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
46. ^Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Jr., Donald S. (2013). The Princeton dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN9781400848058. Entry on 'Nālandā'.
47. ^Frazier, Jessica, ed. (2011). The Continuum companion to Hindu studies. London: Continuum. p. 34. ISBN978-0-8264-9966-0.
48. ^Walton, Linda (2015). 'Educational institutions' in The Cambridge World History Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 122. ISBN978-0-521-19074-9.
49. ^Sukumar Dutt (1988) [First published in 1962]. Buddhist Monks And Monasteries of India: Their History And Contribution To Indian Culture. George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London. ISBN81-208-0498-8. pp. 332–333
50. ^according to ISKCON, Hindu Sacred Texts, 'Hindus themselves often use the term to describe anything connected to the Vedas and their corollaries (e.g. Vedic culture)'.
51. ^37,575 are Rigvedic. Of the remaining, 34,857 appear in the other three Samhitas, and 16,405 are known only from Brahmanas, Upanishads or Sutras
52. ^Klaus Klostermaier (1994), A Survey of Hinduism, Second Edition, State University of New York Press, ISBN978-0791421093, pp. 67–69
53. ^ ^abBrahmana Encyclopædia Britannica (2013)
54. ^ ^abcJan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: (Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas), Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032, pp. 424–426
55. ^ ^abcdMichaels 2004, p. 51.
56. ^ ^abWitzel, Michael, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, p. 69.
57. ^For a table of all Vedic texts see Witzel, Michael, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, pp. 100–101.
58. ^The Vedic Sanskrit corpus is incorporated in A Vedic Word Concordance (Vaidika-Padānukrama-Koṣa) prepared from 1930 under Vishva Bandhu, and published in five volumes in 1935–1965. Its scope extends to about 400 texts, including the entire Vedic Sanskrit corpus besides some 'sub-Vedic' texts. Volume I: Samhitas, Volume II: Brahmanas and Aranyakas, Volume III: Upanishads, Volume IV: Vedangas; A revised edition, extending to about 1800 pages, was published in 1973–1976.
59. ^Flood 2003, pp. 100–101
60. ^Edward Roer (Translator), Shankara's Introduction at Google Books to Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad at pp. 1–5; Quote: 'The Vedas are divided in two parts, the first is the karma-kanda, the ceremonial part, also (called) purva-kanda, and treats on ceremonies; the second part is the jnana kanda, the part which contains knowledge, also named uttara-kanda or posterior part, and unfolds the knowledge of Brahma or the universal soul.'
61. ^ ^abcdWendy Doniger (1990), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, ISBN978-0226618470, pp. 2–3; Quote: 'The Upanishads supply the basis of later Hindu philosophy; they alone of the Vedic corpus are widely known and quoted by most well-educated Hindus, and their central ideas have also become a part of the spiritual arsenal of rank-and-file Hindus.'
62. ^Wiman Dissanayake (1993), Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice (Editors: Thomas P. Kasulis et al.), State University of New York Press, ISBN978-0791410806, p. 39; Quote: 'The Upanishads form the foundations of Hindu philosophical thought and the central theme of the Upanishads is the identity of Atman and Brahman, or the inner self and the cosmic self.';
    Michael McDowell and Nathan Brown (2009), World Religions, Penguin, ISBN978-1592578467, pp. 208–210
63. ^Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanisads, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195352429, p. 3; Quote: 'Even though theoretically the whole of vedic corpus is accepted as revealed truth [shruti], in reality it is the Upanishads that have continued to influence the life and thought of the various religious traditions that we have come to call Hindu. Upanishads are the scriptures par excellence of Hinduism'.
64. ^ ^abFlood 1996, p. 39.
65. ^ ^abcdeWitzel, M., 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu', Harvard University, in Witzel 1997, pp. 261–264
66. ^ ^abJamison and Witzel (1992), Vedic Hinduism, Harvard University, p. 6
67. ^J. Muir (1868), Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India – their religion and institutions at Google Books, 2nd Edition, p. 12
68. ^Albert Friedrich Weber, Indische Studien, herausg. von at Google Books, Vol. 10, pp. 1–9 with footnotes (in German); For a translation, Original Sanskrit Texts at Google Books, p. 14
69. ^For an example, see Sarvānukramaṇī Vivaraṇa Univ of Pennsylvania rare texts collection
70. ^R̥gveda-sarvānukramaṇī Śaunakakr̥tāʼnuvākānukramaṇī ca, Maharṣi-Kātyayāna-viracitā, OCLC11549595
71. ^(Staal 1986)
72. ^ ^ab(Filliozat 2004, p. 139)
73. ^Avari 2007, pp. 69–70
74. ^Michael Witzel, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, p. 69, Quote: '.. almost all printed editions depend on the late manuscripts that are hardly older than 500 years'
75. ^Radhakrishnan & Moore 1957, p. 3; Witzel, Michael, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, p. 68
76. ^Witzel, M., 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu' in Witzel 1997, pp. 257–348
77. ^MacDonell 2004, pp. 29–39
78. ^Jamison and Witzel (1992), Vedic Hinduism, Harvard University, p. 21
79. ^Witzel, M., 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu' in Witzel 1997, p. 286
80. ^ ^ab
    • Original Sanskrit: Rigveda 10.129 Wikisource;
    • Translation 1: Max Müller (1859). A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature. Williams and Norgate, London. pp. 559–565.
    • Translation 2: Kenneth Kramer (1986). World Scriptures: An Introduction to Comparative Religions. Paulist Press. p. 21. ISBN978-0-8091-2781-8.
    • Translation 3: David Christian (2011). Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. University of California Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN978-0-520-95067-2.
81. ^see e.g. Avari 2007, p. 77.
82. ^For 1,028 hymns and 10,600 verses and division into ten mandalas, see: Avari 2007, p. 77.
83. ^For characterization of content and mentions of deities including Agni, Indra, Varuna, Soma, Surya, etc. see: Avari 2007, p. 77.
84. ^see e.g. Avari 2007, p. 77 Max Müller gave 1700–1100 BCE, Michael Witzel gives 1450–1350 BCE as terminus ad quem.
85. ^Original text translated in English: The Rig Veda, Mandala 10, Hymn 117, Ralph T.H. Griffith (Translator);
    C Chatterjee (1995), Values in the Indian Ethos: An Overview, Journal of Human Values, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 3–12
86. '^For example,
    Hymn 1.164.34, 'What is the ultimate limit of the earth?', 'What is the center of the universe?', 'What is the semen of the cosmic horse?', 'What is the ultimate source of human speech?'
    Hymn 1.164.34, 'Who gave blood, soul, spirit to the earth?', 'How could the unstructured universe give origin to this structured world?'
    Hymn 1.164.5, 'Where does the sun hide in the night?', 'Where do gods live?'
    Hymn 1.164.6, 'What, where is the unborn support for the born universe?';
    Hymn 1.164.20 (a hymn that is widely cited in the Upanishads as the parable of the Body and the Soul): 'Two birds with fair wings, inseparable companions; Have found refuge in the same sheltering tree. One incessantly eats from the fig tree; the other, not eating, just looks on.';
    Sources: (a) Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN978-0595269259, pp. 64–69;
    Jan Gonda, A History of Indian Literature: Veda and Upanishads, Volume 1, Part 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032, pp. 134–135;
    Rigveda Book 1, Hymn 164 Wikisource
87. ^Michael Witzel, The Rigvedic religious system and its central Asian and Hindukush antecedents, in The Vedas – Texts, Language and Ritual, Editors: Griffiths and Houben (2004), Brill Academic, ISBN978-9069801490, pp. 581–627
88. ^(from sāman, the term for a melody applied to a metrical hymn or a song of praise, Apte 1965, p. 981.
89. ^ ^abcWitzel, M., 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu' in Witzel 1997, pp. 269–270
90. ^M Bloomfield, Rig-veda Repetitions, p. 402, at Google Books, pp. 402–464
91. ^For 1875 total verses, see the numbering given in Ralph T. H. Griffith. Griffith's introduction mentions the recension history for his text. Repetitions may be found by consulting the cross-index in Griffith pp. 491–499.
92. ^Annette Wilke and Oliver Moebus (2011), Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism, Walter de Gruyter, ISBN978-3110181593, p. 381
93. ^ ^abMichael Witzel (2003), 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism (Editor: Gavin Flood), Blackwell, ISBN0-631215352, pp. 76–77
94. ^Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN978-0595269259, pp. 273–274
95. ^Witzel, M., 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu' in Witzel 1997, pp. 270–271
96. ^Witzel, M., 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu' in Witzel 1997, pp. 272–274
97. ^Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120814684, pp. 217–219
98. ^Michaels 2004, p. 52 Table 3
99. ^CL Prabhakar (1972), The Recensions of the Sukla Yajurveda, Archív Orientální, Volume 40, Issue 1, pp. 347–353
100. ^Paul Deussen, The Philosophy of the Upanishads, Motilal Banarsidass (2011 Edition), ISBN978-8120816206, p. 23
101. ^Patrick Olivelle (1998), Upaniṣhads, Oxford University Press, ISBN0-19-282292-6, pp. 1–17
102. ^ ^abcdMichaels 2004, p. 56.
103. ^Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN978-0143099864, pp. 136–137
104. ^Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN978-0143099864, p. 135
105. ^Alex Wayman (1997), Untying the Knots in Buddhism, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120813212, pp. 52–53
106. ^'The latest of the four Vedas, the Atharva-Veda, is, as we have seen, largely composed of magical texts and charms, but here and there we find cosmological hymns which anticipate the Upanishads, – hymns to Skambha, the 'Support', who is seen as the first principle which is both the material and efficient cause of the universe, to Prāna, the 'Breath of Life', to Vāc, the 'Word', and so on.' Zaehner 1966, p. vii.
107. ^Flood 1996, p. 37.
108. ^Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in The Hindu World (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, ISBN0-415215277, p. 38
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110. ^Kenneth Zysk (2012), Understanding Mantras (Editor: Harvey Alper), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120807464, pp. 123–129
111. ^On magic spells and charms, such as those to gain better health: Atharva Veda 2.32 Bhaishagykni, Charm to secure perfect health Maurice Bloomfield (Translator), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 42, Oxford University Press; see also chapters 3.11, 3.31, 4.10, 5.30, 19.26;
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119. ^ ^abcdMax Müller, Chandogya Upanishad, The Upanishads, Part I, Oxford University Press, p. lxxxvii with footnote 2
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121. ^The Development of the Female Mind in India, p. 27, at Google Books, The Calcutta Review, Volume 60, p. 27
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128. ^Wiman Dissanayake (1993), Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice (Editors: Thomas P. Kasulis et al), State University of New York Press, ISBN978-0791410806, p. 39; Quote: 'The Upanishads form the foundations of Hindu philosophical thought and the central theme of the Upanishads is the identity of Atman and Brahman, or the inner self and the cosmic self.';
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Further reading

Overviews

• J. Gonda, Vedic Literature: Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, A History of Indian literature. Vol. 1, Veda and Upanishads, Wiesnaden: Harrasssowitz (1975), ISBN978-3-447-01603-2.
• J.A. Santucci, An Outline of Vedic Literature, Scholars Press for the American Academy of Religion, (1976).
• S. Shrava, A Comprehensive History of Vedic Literature – Brahmana and Aranyaka Works, Pranava Prakashan (1977).

Concordances

• M. Bloomfield, A Vedic Concordance (1907)
• Vishva Bandhu, Bhim Dev, S. Bhaskaran Nair (eds.), Vaidika-Padānukrama-Koṣa: A Vedic Word-Concordance, Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute, Hoshiarpur, 1963–1965, revised edition 1973–1976.

Conference proceedings

• Griffiths, Arlo and Houben, Jan E.M. (eds.), The Vedas : texts, language & ritual: proceedings of the Third International Vedic Workshop, Leiden 2002, Groningen Oriental Studies 20, Groningen : Forsten, (2004), ISBN90-6980-149-3.

External links

Rig Veda English Translation

Rig Veda English Meaning

• Sketch of the Historical Grammar of the Rig and Atharva Vedas, Edward Vernon Arnold, Journal of the American Oriental Society
• On the History and the Present State of Vedic Tradition in Nepal, Michael Witzel
• A Vedic Concordance, Maurice Bloomfield, Harvard University (an alphabetic index to every line, every stanza of the Vedas published before 1906)
• An Enlarged Electronic Version of Bloomfield's A Vedic Concordance, Harvard University