This article is about the collection of Vedic hymns. For the manga series, seeRG Veda.
Rigveda
Rigveda (padapāṭha) manuscript inDevanāgarī, early 19th century. After a scribal benediction (śrīgaṇéśāyanamaḥ oṁ), the first line has the first pada, RV 1.1.1a (agniṃ iḷe puraḥ-hitaṃ yajñasya devaṃ ṛtvijaṃ). The pitch-accent is marked by underscores and vertical overscores in red.
The text is layered, consisting of theSamhita,Brahmanas,Aranyakas andUpanishads.[note 3] TheRigveda Samhita is the core text and is a collection of 10 books (maṇḍalas) with 1,028 hymns (sūktas) in about 10,600 verses (calledṛc, eponymous of the nameRigveda). In the eight books – Books 2 through 9 – that were composed the earliest, the hymns predominantly discusscosmology, rites required to earn the favour of thegods,[21] as well as praise them.[22][23] The more recent books (Books 1 and 10) in part also deal with philosophical or speculative questions,[23] virtues such asdāna (charity) in society,[24] questions about the origin of the universe and the nature of the divine,[25][26] and other metaphysical issues in their hymns.[27]
The hymns of the Rigveda are notably similar to the most archaic poems of theIranian andGreek language families, theGathas of oldAvestan andIliad ofHomer.[28] The Rigveda's preserved archaic syntax and morphology are of vital importance in the reconstruction of the common ancestor languageProto-Indo-European.[28] Some of its verses continue to be recited during Hindu prayer and celebration ofrites of passage (such asweddings), making it probably the world's oldestreligious text in continued use.[29][30]
A map of tribes andrivers mentioned in theRigveda.
Dating
According to Jamison and Brereton, in their 2014 translation of theRigveda, the dating of this text "has been and is likely to remain a matter of contention and reconsideration". The dating proposals so far are all inferred from the style and the content within the hymns themselves.[31] Philological estimates tend to date the bulk of the text to the second half of the second millennium BCE.[note 1] Being composed in an earlyIndo-Aryan language, the hymns must post-date theIndo-Iranian separation, dated to roughly 2000 BCE.[32] A reasonable date close to that of the composition of the core of theRigveda is that of theMitanni documents of northern Syria and Iraq (c. 1450–1350 BCE), which also mention the Vedic gods such as Varuna, Mitra and Indra.[33][34] Some scholars have suggested that the Rig Veda was composed on the banks of a river in Haraxvaiti province in southernAfghanistan (Persian: Harahvati;Sanskrit: Sarasvati; possibly theHelmand orArghandab).[35][36] Other evidence also points to a composition date close to 1400 BCE.[37][38] The earliest texts were composed in the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent, and the more philosophical later texts were most likely composed in or around the region that is the modern era state ofHaryana.[39]
TheRigveda's core is accepted to date to the lateBronze Age, making it one of the few examples with an unbroken tradition. Its composition is usually dated to roughly betweenc. 1500 and 1000 BCE.[note 1] According toMichael Witzel, the codification of theRigveda took place at the end of the Rigvedic period betweenc. 1200 and 1000 BCE, in the earlyKuru kingdom.[18]Asko Parpola argues that theRigveda was systematized around 1000 BCE, at the time of the Kuru kingdom.[40]
No written records from such an early period survive, if any ever existed, but scholars are generally confident that the oral transmission of the texts is reliable: they are ceremonial literature, where the exact phonetic expression and its preservation were a part of the historic tradition.[41][42][43]
TheRigveda offers no direct evidence of social or political systems in the Vedic era, whether ordinary or elite.[48] Only hints such ascattle raising andhorse 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 structuredcaste system.[48] Social stratification seems embryonic, then and later a social ideal rather than a social reality.[48] The society was semi-nomadic and pastoral with evidence of agriculture since hymns mention plow and celebrate agricultural divinities.[49] There was division of labor and a complementary relationship between kings and poet-priests but no discussion of a relative status of social classes.[48] Women in theRigveda appear disproportionately as speakers in dialogue hymns, both as mythical ordivineIndrani,ApsarasUrvasi, orYami, 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 theRigveda are quite outspoken and appear more sexually confident than men, in the text.[48] Elaborate and aesthetic hymns on wedding suggest rites of passage had developed during the Rigvedic period.[48] There is little evidence ofdowry and no evidence ofsati in it or related Vedic texts.[50]
The Rigvedic hymns mentionrice and porridge, in hymns such as 8.83, 8.70, 8.77 and 1.61 in some versions of the text;[51] however, there is no discussion of rice cultivation.[49] The termáyas (metal) occurs in theRigveda, but it is unclear which metal it was.[52] Iron is not mentioned inRigveda, something scholars have used to help dateRigveda to have been composed before 1000 BCE.[39] Hymn 5.63 mentions "metal cloaked in gold", suggesting that metalworking had progressed in the Vedic culture.[53]
Some of the names ofgods and goddesses found in theRigveda are found amongst other belief systems based onProto-Indo-European religion, while most of the words used share commonroots with words from otherIndo-European languages.[54] However, about 300 words in theRigveda are neither Indo-Aryan nor Indo-European, states the Sanskrit and Vedic literature scholarFrits Staal.[55] Of these 300, many – such askapardin,kumara,kumari,kikata – come fromMunda or proto-Munda languages found in the eastern and northeastern (Assamese) region of India, with roots inAustroasiatic languages. The others in the list of 300 – such asmleccha andnir – have Dravidian roots found in the southern region of India, or are of Tibeto-Burman origins. A few non-Indo-European words in theRigveda – such as for camel, mustard and donkey – belong to a possibly lost Central Asian language.[55][56][note 4] The linguistic sharing provides clear indications, states Michael Witzel, that the people who spoke Rigvedic Sanskrit already knew and interacted with Munda and Dravidian speakers.[58]
Text
Composition
The "family books" (2–7) are associated with various clans and chieftains, containing hymns by members of the same clan in each book; but other clans are also represented in theRigveda. The family books are associated with specific regions, and mention prominentBharata and Pūru kings.[59]
Tradition associates arishi (the composer) with eachṛc (verse) of theRigveda. Most sūktas are attributed to single composers;[note 5] for each of them theRigveda includes a lineage-specificāprī hymn (a special sūkta of rigidly formulaic structure, used for rituals). In all, 10 families of rishis account for more than 95 per cent of theṛcs.
The codification of theRigveda took place late in the Rigvedic or rather in the early post-Rigvedic period atc. 1200 BCE, by members of the earlyKuru tribe, when the center of Vedic culture moved east from the Punjab into what is nowUttar Pradesh.[60] TheRigveda was codified by compiling the hymns, including the arrangement of the individual hymns in ten books, coeval with the composition of the younger Veda Samhitas.[61] According to Witzel, the initial collection took place after the Bharata victory in theBattle of the Ten Kings, under kingSudās, over other Puru kings. This collection was an effort to reconcile various factions in the clans which were united in the Kuru kingdom under a Bharata king.[62][note 6] This collection was re-arranged and expanded in theKuru Kingdom, reflecting the establishment of a new Bharata-Puru lineage and new srauta rituals.[63][note 7]
The fixing of theVedic chant (by enforcing regular application ofsandhi) and of the padapatha (by dissolving Sandhi out of the earlier metrical text), occurred during the later Brahmana period, in roughly the 6th century BCE.[65]
The surviving form of theRigveda is based on an earlyIron Age collection that established the core 'family books' (mandalas2–7, ordered by author, deity and meter[5]) and a later redaction, coeval with the redaction of the otherVedas, dating several centuries after the hymns were composed. This redaction also included some additions (contradicting the strict ordering scheme) andorthoepic changes to theVedic Sanskrit such as theregularization ofsandhi (termedorthoepische Diaskeuase by Oldenberg, 1888).
Organisation
Mandalas
The text is organized in ten "books", ormaṇḍalas ("circles"), of varying age and length.[66] The "family books", mandalas 2–7, are the oldest part of theRigveda and the shortest books; they are arranged by length (decreasing length of hymns per book) and account for 38% of the text.[67][68]
The hymns are arranged in collections each dealing with a particular deity:Agni comes first,Indra comes second, and so on. They are attributed and dedicated to arishi (sage) and his family of students.[69] Within each 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.[70][71] The second to seventh mandalas have a uniform format.[67]
Theeighth andninth mandalas, comprising hymns of mixed age, account for 15% and 9%, respectively. The ninth mandala is entirely dedicated toSoma and theSoma ritual.The hymns in the ninth mandala are arranged by both their prosody structure (chanda) and by their length.[67]
Thefirst and thetenth 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.[72] 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 from the remaining hymns in it.[67]
Hymns and prosody
Each mandala consists of hymns orsūktas (su- +ukta, literally, "well recited,eulogy") intended for variousrituals.Thesūktas in turn consist of individual stanzas calledṛc ("praise",pl.ṛcas), which are further analysed into units of verse calledpada ("foot" or step).
The hymns of theRigveda are in different poetic metres in Vedic Sanskrit. Themeters most used in theṛcas are thegayatri (3 verses of 8 syllables),anushtubh (4×8),trishtubh (4×11) andjagati (4×12). The trishtubh meter (40%) and gayatri meter (25%) dominate in theRigveda.[73][74][75]
As with the other Vedas, the redacted text has been handed down in several versions, including thePadapatha, in which each word is isolated inpausa form and is used for just one way of memorization; and theSamhitapatha, which combines words according to the rules of sandhi (the process being described in thePratisakhya) and is the memorized text used for recitation.
ThePadapatha and thePratisakhya anchor the text's true meaning,[77] and the fixed text was preserved with unparalleled fidelity for more than a millennium byoral tradition alone.[33] In order to achieve this the oral tradition prescribed very structured enunciation, involving breaking down the Sanskritcompounds intostems and inflections, as well as certain permutations. This interplay with sounds gave rise to ascholarly tradition ofmorphology andphonetics.
It is unclear as to when theRigveda was first written down. The oldest surviving manuscripts have been discovered inNepal and date toc. 1040 CE.[3][78] According to Witzel, the Paippalada Samhita tradition points to written manuscriptsc. 800–1000 CE.[79] The Upanishads were likely in the written form earlier, about mid-1st millennium CE (Gupta Empire period).[33][80] Attempts to write the Vedas may have been made "towards the end of the 1st millennium BCE". The early attempts may have been unsuccessful given theSmriti rules that forbade the writing down the Vedas, states Witzel.[33] The oral tradition continued as a means of transmission until modern times.[81]
Recensions
Geographical distribution of the Late Vedic Period. Each major region had its own recension of Rig Veda (Śākhās), and the versions varied.[3]
Severalshakhas (from skt.śākhā f. "branch", i. e. "recension") of the Rig Veda are known to have existed in the past. Of these,Śākala Śākhā (named after the scholarŚākalya) is the only one to have survived in its entirety. Another śākhā that may have survived is the Bāṣkala, although this is uncertain.[82][83][84]
The surviving padapāṭha version of theRigveda text is ascribed to Śākalya.[85] TheŚākala recension has 1,017 regular hymns, and an appendix of 11vālakhilya hymns[86] which are now customarily included in the 8th mandala (as 8.49–8.59), for a total of 1028 hymns.[87] TheBāṣkala recension includes eight of thesevālakhilya hymns among its regular hymns, making a total of 1025 regular hymns for this śākhā.[88] In addition, theBāṣkala recension has its own appendix of 98 hymns, theKhilani.[89]
In the 1877 edition of Aufrecht, the 1028 hymns of theRigveda contain a total of 10,552ṛcs, or 39,831 padas. TheShatapatha Brahmana gives the number of syllables to be 432,000,[90] 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 inCaraṇavyuha, apariśiṣṭa (supplement) of Yajurveda: Māṇḍukāyana, Aśvalāyana andŚaṅkhāyana. 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 thanŚākala and Bāṣkala:[91]
Māṇḍukāyana: Perhaps the oldest of the Rigvedic shakhas.
Aśvalāyana: Includes 212 verses, all of which are newer than the other Rigvedic hymns.
TheRigveda hymns were composed and preserved byoral tradition. They were memorized and verbally transmitted with "unparalleled fidelity" across generations for many centuries.[33][92] According to Barbara West, it was probably first written down about the 3rd-century BCE.[93][94] The manuscripts were made frombirch bark orpalm leaves, which decompose and therefore were routinely copied over the generations to help preserve the text.
Of these thirty manuscripts, nine contain the samhita text, five have thepadapatha in addition. Thirteen 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 theRigveda. MS no. 5/1875-76, written on birch bark in bold Sharada, was only in part used byMax Müller for his edition of theRigveda 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.[97][full citation needed]
Scripts
Rigveda manuscripts in paper, palm leaves and birch bark form, either in full or in portions, have been discovered in the following Indic scripts:
The variousRigveda manuscripts discovered so far show some differences. Broadly, the most studied Śākala recension has 1017 hymns, includes an appendix of elevenvalakhīlya hymns which are often counted with the eighth mandala, for a total of 1028 metrical hymns. The Bāṣakala version ofRigveda includes eight of thesevālakhilya 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 theKhilani, bringing the total to 1,123 hymns. The manuscripts of Śākala recension of theRigveda have about 10,600 verses, organized into ten Books (Mandalas).[107][108] 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.[108]
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.[108] The content of the 10th Book also suggest that the authors knew and relied on the contents of the first nine books.[108]
TheRigveda is the largest of the four Vedas, and many of its verses appear in the other Vedas.[109] Almost all of the 1875 verses found inSamaveda are taken from different parts of theRigveda, either once or as repetition, and rewritten in a chant song form. Books 8 and 9 of theRigveda are by far the largest source of verses for Sama Veda. Book 10 contributes the largest number of the 1350 verses ofRigveda found inAtharvaveda, or about one fifth of the 5987 verses in the Atharvaveda text.[108] A bulk of 1875 ritual-focussed verses ofYajurveda, in its numerous versions, also borrow and build upon the foundation of verses inRigveda.[109][110]
Contents
Altogether the Rigveda consists of:
theSamhita (hymns to the deities, the oldest part of theRigveda)
In western usage, "Rigveda" usually refers to theRigveda 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 differentshakhas or "schools".Only a small portion of these texts has been preserved: The texts of only two out of five shakhas mentioned by theRigveda 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.
Mandala 1 comprises 191 hymns. Hymn 1.1 is addressed toAgni, and his name is the first word of theRigveda. The remaining hymns are mainly addressed to Agni andIndra, 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 theRigveda after Mandala 2 through 9, and includes the philosophical Riddle Hymn 1.164, which inspires chapters in later Upanishads such as theMundaka.[23][111][112]
Mandala 3 comprises 62 hymns, mainly toAgni andIndra and the Vishvedevas. The verse 3.62.10 has great importance inHinduism as theGayatri Mantra. Most hymns in this book are attributed toviśvāmitra gāthinaḥ.[citation needed]
Mandala 4 comprises 58 hymns, mainly toAgni andIndra as well as the Rbhus, Ashvins, Brhaspati, Vayu, Usas, etc. Most hymns in this book are attributed tovāmadeva gautama.[citation needed]
Mandala 6 comprises 75 hymns, mainly toAgni andIndra, all the gods, Pusan, Ashvin, Usas, etc. Most hymns in this book are attributed to thebārhaspatya family ofAngirasas.[citation needed]
Mandala 8 comprises 103 hymns to various gods. Hymns 8.49 to 8.59 are the apocryphalvālakhilya. Hymns 1–48 and 60–66 are attributed to thekāṇva clan, the rest to other (Angirasa) poets.[citation needed]
Mandala 9 comprises 114 hymns, entirely devoted toSoma Pavamana, the cleansing of the sacred potion of the Vedic religion.[citation needed]
Mandala 10 comprises additional 191 hymns, frequently in later language, addressed toAgni,Indra and various other deities. It contains theNadistuti sukta which is in praise of rivers and is important for the reconstruction of the geography of the Vedic civilization and thePurusha sukta which has been important in studies of Vedic sociology.[48] It also contains theNasadiya sukta (10.129) which deals with multiple speculations about the creation of universe, and whether anyone can know the right answer.[25] The marriage hymns (10.85) and the death hymns (10.10–18) still are of great importance in the performance of the correspondingGrhya rituals.
Of the Brahmanas that were handed down in the schools of theBahvṛcas (i.e. "possessed of many verses"), as the followers of theRigveda are called, two have come down to us, namely those of the Aitareyins and the Kaushitakins. TheAitareya-brahmana[113] and theKaushitaki- (orSankhayana-)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]
Devi sukta, which highlights the goddess tradition of Hinduism is found inRigveda hymns 10.125. It is cited inDevi Mahatmya and is recited every year during theDurga Puja festival.
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 ofPāṇini (c. 5th century BCE), 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) ofShunahshepa, 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 ofhaviryajna, 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]
Each of these two Brahmanas is supplemented by a "forest book", orAranyaka. TheAitareyaranyaka 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 calledmahavrata, 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 theBahvrca-brahmana-upanishad. Again, the last four chapters of the second book are usually singled out as theAitareya Upanishad,[114] ascribed, like its Brahmana (and the first book), to Mahidasa Aitareya; and the third book is also referred to as theSamhita-upanishad. As regards theKaushitaki-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 interestingKaushitaki (Brahmana-) Upanishad,[115] 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 thevamsha, or succession of teachers.
Significance
The text is a highly stylized poetical Vedic Sanskrit with praise addressed to the Vedic gods and chieftains. Most hymns, according to Witzel, were intended to be recited at the annual New Year Soma ritual.[116] The text also includes some nonritual poetry,[116] fragments of mythology, archaic formulas, and a number of hymns with early philosophical speculations.[117] Composed by the poets of different clans, including famed Vedicrishis (sages) such asVishvamitra andVasishtha, these signify the power of prestige therewith tovac (speech, sound), a tradition set in place.[116] The text introduced the prized concepts such asRta (active realization of truth, cosmic harmony) which inspired the later Hindu concept ofDharma. The Rigvedic verses formulate thisRta as effected byBrahman, a significant and non-self-evident truth.[116] The text also contains hymns of "highly poetical value" – some in dialogue form, along with love stories that likely inspired later Epic and classical poets of Hinduism, states Witzel.[117]
According to Nadkarni, several hymns of theRigveda embed cherished virtues and ethical statements. For example, verses 5.82.7, 6.44.8, 9.113.4, 10.133.6 and 10.190.1 mention truthful speech, truthful action, self-discipline and righteousness.[118][119] Hymn 10.117 presents the significance of charity and of generosity between human beings, how helping someone in need is ultimately in the self-interest of the helper, its importance to an individual and the society.[24][120] According to Jamison and Brereton, hymns 9.112 and 9.113 poetically state, "what everyone [humans and all living beings] really want is gain or an easy life", even a water drop has a goal – namely, "simply to seek Indra". These hymns present the imagery of being in heaven as "freedom, joy and satisfaction", a theme that appears in the Hindu Upanishads to characterize their teachings of self-realization.[121]
Monism debate
While the older hymns of theRigveda reflectsacrificial ritual typical ofpolytheism,[122]its younger parts, specifically mandalas 1 and 10, have been noted as containingmonistic orhenotheistic speculations.[122]
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, Only He knows, or perhaps He does not know.
—Rigveda 10.129 (Abridged, Tr: Kramer / Christian)[25] This hymn is one of the roots ofHindu philosophy.[123]
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.
— Rigveda 1.164.46, Translated by Ralph Griffith[124][125]
Max Müller notably introduced the term "henotheism" for the philosophy expressed here, avoiding the connotations of "monotheism" in Judeo-Christian tradition.[125][126]Other widely cited examples ofmonistic tendencies include hymns 1.164, 8.36 and 10.31,[127][128] Other scholars state that theRigveda includes an emerging diversity of thought, including monotheism, polytheism, henotheism and pantheism, the choice left to the preference of the worshipper.[129] and theNasadiya 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 as10.130.[130]
Examples fromMandala 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.".[27]
Reception in Hinduism
Shruti
The Vedas as a whole are classed as "shruti" in Hindu tradition. This has been compared to the concept ofdivine revelation in Western religious tradition, but Staal argues that "it is nowhere stated that the Veda was revealed", and thatshruti simply means "that what is heard, in the sense that it is transmitted from father to son or from teacher to pupil".[131] TheRigveda, or other Vedas, do not anywhere assert that they areapauruṣeyā, and this reverential term appears only centuries after the end of the Vedic period in the texts of theMimamsa school of Hindu philosophy.[131][132][133] The text of theRigveda suggests it was "composed by poets, human individuals whose names were household words" in the Vedic age, states Staal.[131]
The authors of theBrāhmana literature discussed and interpreted the Vedic ritual.
Yaska (4th c. BCE), alexicographer, was an early commentator of theRigveda by discussing the meanings of difficult words. In his book titledNirukta Yaska asserts that theRigveda in the ancient tradition can be interpreted in three ways – from the perspective of religious rites (adhiyajna), from the perspective of the deities (adhidevata), and from the perspective of the soul (adhyatman).[134] The fourth way to interpret theRigveda also emerged in the ancient times, wherein the gods mentioned were viewed as symbolism for legendary individuals or narratives.[134] It was generally accepted that creative poets often embed and express double meanings, ellipses and novel ideas to inspire the reader.[134]
Medieval Hindu scholarship
By the period ofPuranic Hinduism, in the medieval period, the language of the hymns had become "almost entirely unintelligible", and their interpretation mostly hinged onmystical ideas andsound symbolism.[135][136][137]
According to the Puranic tradition, Ved Vyasa compiled all the four Vedas, along with the Mahabharata and the Puranas. Vyasa then taught theRigveda samhita to Paila, who started the oral tradition.[138] An alternate version states that Shakala compiled theRigveda from the teachings of Vedic rishis, and one of the manuscript recensions mentions Shakala.[138]
Madhvacharya, a Hindu philosopher of the 13th century, provided a commentary of the first 40 hymns of theRigveda in his bookRig Bhashyam.[note 9] In the 14th century,Sāyana wrote an exhaustive commentary on the complete text of theRigveda in his bookRigveda Samhita.[note 10] This book was translated from Sanskrit to English byMax Müller in the year 1856.H.H. Wilson also translated this book into English asRigveda Sanhita in the year 1856. Sayanacharya studied at theSringeri monastery.
A number of other commentaries (bhāṣyas) were written during the medieval period, including the commentaries by Skandasvamin (pre-Sayana, roughly of theGupta period),Udgitha (pre-Sayana), Venkata-Madhava (pre-Sayana,c. 10th to 12th centuries) andMudgala (after Sayana, an abbreviated version of Sayana's commentary).[139][full citation needed]
Some notable commentaries from Medieval period include:
Sāyaṇācārya, a Sanskrit scholar, wrote a treatise on the Vedas in the bookVedartha Prakasha (meaning "of Vedas made as a manifest"). TheRigveda Samhita is available here. This book was translated from Sanskrit to English by Max Müller in the year 1856. H. H. Wilson also translated this book into English asRigveda Sanhita in the year 1856.
Arya Samaj and Aurobindo movements
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, reformers likeSwami Dayananda Saraswati (founder of theArya Samaj) andSri Aurobindo (founder ofSri Aurobindo Ashram) discussed the philosophies of the Vedas. According to Robson, Dayananda believed "there were no errors in the Vedas (including theRigveda), and if anyone showed him an error, he would maintain that it was a corruption added later".[140]
According to Dayananda and Aurobindo the Vedic scholars had a monotheistic conception.[141]Sri Aurobindo gave commentaries, general interpretation guidelines, and a partial translation inThe secret of Veda (1946).[note 11] Sri Aurobindo finds Sayana's interpretation to be ritualistic in nature, and too often having inconsistent interpretations of Vedic terms, trying to fit the meaning to a narrow mold. According to Aurobindo, if Sayana's interpretation were to be accepted, it would seem as if the Rig Veda belongs to an unquestioning tradition of faith, starting from an original error.[142] Aurobindo attempted to interpret hymns to Agni in theRigveda as mystical.[141] Aurobindo states that the Vedic hymns were a quest after a higher truth, define theRta (basis ofDharma), conceive life in terms of a struggle between the forces of light and darkness, and sought the ultimate reality.[141]
Contemporary Hinduism
The hymn 10.85 of theRigveda includes the Vivaha-sukta (above). Its recitation continues to be a part of Hindu wedding rituals.[143][144]
TheRigveda, 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 majorrites of passage ceremonies, but the literal acceptance of most of the textual essence is long gone.[145][146] Musicians and dance groups celebrate the text as a mark of Hindu heritage, through incorporating Rigvedic hymns in their compositions, such as inHamsadhvani andSubhapantuvarali ofCarnatic music, and these have remained popular among theHindus for decades.[145]
According to Axel Michaels, "most Indians today pay lip service to the Veda and have no regard for the contents of the text."[147] According toLouis Renou, the Vedic texts are 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".[145] According to Andrea Pinkney, "the social history and context of the Vedic texts are extremely distant from contemporary Hindu religious beliefs and practice", and the reverence for the Vedas in contemporary Hinduism illustrates the respect among the Hindus for their heritage.[145]
The Rig Veda plays a role in the modern construction of a Hindu identity, portraying Hindus as the original inhabitants of India. TheRigveda has been referred to in the "Indigenous Aryans" andOut of India theory. Dating the Rig Veda as contemporaneous with (or even preceding) theIndus Valley civilisation, an argument is made that the IVC was Aryan, and the bearer of the Rig Veda.[148][149] Indian nationalistBal Gangadhar Tilak, in hisOrion: Or Researches Into The Antiquity Of The Vedas (1893) has concluded that the date of composition of theRigveda dates at least as far back as 6000–4000 BCE based on his astronomical research into the position of the constellationOrion.[150] These theories are controversial, and not accepted or propagated in mainstream scholarship.[151][152]
Translations
TheRigveda is considered particularly difficult to translate, owing to its length, poetic nature, the language itself, and the absence of any close contemporary texts for comparison.[153][154] Staal describes it as the most "obscure, distant and difficult for moderns to understand". As a result, he says, it "is often misinterpreted" – with many early translations containing straightforward errors – "or worse: used as a peg on which to hang an idea or a theory."[155][131] Another issue is technical terms such asmandala, conventionally translated "book", but more literally rendered "cycle".[131][156] Karen Thomson, author of a series of revisionary word studies and editor of the Metrically Restored Text Online at the University of Texas at Austin,[157] argues, as linguists in the nineteenth century had done (Friedrich Max Müller,Rudolf von Roth,William Dwight Whitney,Theodor Benfey,John Muir,Edward Vernon Arnold), that the apparent obscurity derives from the failure to discard a mass of assumptions about ritual meaning inherited from Vedic tradition.[158][159]
The first published translation of any portion of theRigveda in any European language was into Latin, byFriedrich August Rosen, working from manuscripts brought back from India byColebrooke. In 1849,Max Müller published his six-volume translation into German, the first printed edition and most studied.[160][161][note 12]H. H. Wilson was the first to make a translation of the Rig Veda into English, published from 1850–88.[163] Wilson's version was based on a commentary of the complete text bySāyaṇa, a 14th-century Sanskrit scholar, which he also translated.[note 13]
Translations have since been made in several languages, including French and Russian.[160]Karl Friedrich Geldner completed the first scholarly translation into German in the 1920s, which was published after his death.[160] Translations of shorter cherrypicked anthologies have also been published, such as those byWendy Doniger in 1981 and Walter Maurer in 1986, although Jamison and Brereton say they "tend to create a distorted view" of the text.[160] In 1994, Barend A. van Nooten and Gary B. Holland published the first attempt to restore the entirety of theRigveda to its poetic form, systematically identifying and correcting sound changes andsandhi combinations which had distorted the originalmetre and meaning.[164][165]
Some notable translations of the Rig Veda include:
Partial translation with 121 hymns (London, 1830). Also known asRigveda Sanhita, Liber Primus, Sanskrite Et Latine (ISBN978-1-275-45323-4). Based on manuscripts brought back from India byHenry Thomas Colebrooke.
Revised asThe Rig Veda in 1896. Revised by J. L. Shastri in 1973. Griffith's philology was outdated even in the 19th-century and questioned by scholars.[160]
Pandit H.P. Venkat Rao, LaxmanAcharya and a couple of other Pandits
1947
Kannada
Sources from Saayana Bhashya, SkandaSvami Bhashya, Taittareya Samhita, Maitrayini Samhita and other Samhitas. The Kannada translation work was commissioned by Maharaja of Mysore Jayachama Rajendra Wodeyar. The translations were compiled into 11 volumes.
Appears in a series of publications, organized by the deities. Covers most of theRigveda, but leaves out significant hymns, including the ones dedicated to Indra and the Asvins.
Partial translation (108 hymns), along with critical apparatus. Published by Penguin (ISBN0-14-044989-2). A bibliography of translations of the Rig Veda appears as an Appendix.
Partial translation published by B. R. Publishing (ISBN978-0-8364-2778-3). The work is in verse form, without reference to the original hymns or mandalas. Part ofGreat Epics of India: Veda series, also published asThe Holy Vedas.
The Holy Vedas: A Golden Treasury
Pandit Satyakam Vidyalankar
1983
English
Ṛgveda Saṃhitā
H. H. Wilson, Ravi Prakash Arya and K. L. Joshi
2001
English
4-volume set published by Parimal (ISBN978-81-7110-138-2). Revised edition of Wilson's translation. Replaces obsolete English forms with more modern equivalents (e.g. "thou" with "you"). Includes the original Sanskrit text inDevanagari script, along with a critical apparatus.
Thomas Oberlies (Die Religion des Rgveda, 1998, p. 158) based on 'cumulative evidence' sets a wide range of 1700–1100 BCE.[19]Oberlies 1998, p. 155 gives an estimate of 1100 BCE for the youngest hymns in book 10.[169]
Witzel 1995, p. 4 mentionsc. 1500–1200 BCE. According toWitzel 1997, p. 263, the whole Rig Vedic period may have lasted from c. 1900 BCE to c. 1200 BCE: "the bulk of the RV represents only 5 or 6 generations of kings (and of the contemporary poets) of the Pūru and Bharata tribes. It contains little else before and after this 'snapshot' view of contemporary Rgvedic history, as reported by these contemporary 'tape recordings.' On the other hand, the whole Rgvedic period may have lasted even up to 700 years, from the infiltration of the Indo-Aryans into the subcontinent, c. 1900 B.C. (at the utmost, the time of collapse of the Indus civilization), up to c. 1200 B.C., the time of the introduction of iron which is first mentioned in the clearly post-gvedic hymns of the Atharvaveda."
^According to Edgar Polomé, the Hittite languageAnitta text from the 17th century BCE is older. This text is about the conquest of Kanesh city of Anatolia. Other Hittite texts mention gods which Polomé identifies as being analogous to those mentioned in theRigveda, such asTarḫunna being similar to the VedicIndra.[8]
^Witzel: "The original collection must have been the result of a strong political effort aiming at the re-alignment of the various factions in the tribes and poets' clans under a post-Sudås Bharata hegemony which included (at least sections of) their former Pūru enemies and some other tribes.[62]
^Witzel: "To sum up: as has been discussed in detail elsewhere [Early Sanskritization], the new Kuru dynasty of Parik it, living in the Holy Land of Kuruk etra, unified most of the Rigvedic tribes, brought the poets and priests together in the common enterprise of collecting their texts and of "reforming" the ritual."[64]
^The total number of verses and meter counts show minor variations with the manuscript.[76]
^Witzel, Michael (2005). "Vedas and Upaniṣads". In Gavin Flood (ed.).The Blackwell companion to Hinduism (1st paperback ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 68–71.ISBN1-4051-3251-5.: "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 atape-recording of ca. 1500–500 BCE. 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"
^Staal, Frits (1986).The Fidelity of Oral Tradition and the Origins of Science. Mededelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie von Wetenschappen, Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company.
^Filliozat, Pierre-Sylvain (2004). "Ancient Sanskrit Mathematics: An Oral Tradition and a Written Literature". InChemla, Karine; Cohen, Robert S.; Renn, Jürgen; et al. (eds.).History of Science, History of Text (Boston Series in the Philosophy of Science). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. pp. 360–375.doi:10.1007/1-4020-2321-9_7.ISBN978-1-4020-2320-0.
^abWitzel 2019, p. 11: "Incidentally, the Indo-Aryan loanwords in Mitanni confirm the date of theRig Veda for ca. 1200–1000 BCE. TheRig Veda is a late Bronze age text, thus from before 1000 BCE. However, the Mitanni words have a form of Indo-Aryan that is slightly older than that ... Clearly theRig Veda cannot be older than ca. 1400, and taking into account a period needed for linguistic change, it may not be much older than ca. 1200 BCE."
^abC 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);
^Examples: Verse 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?" Verse 1.164.34, "Who gave blood, soul, spirit to the earth?", "How could the unstructured universe give origin to this structured world?" Verse 1.164.5, "Where does the sun hide in the night?", "Where do gods live?" Verse 1.164.6, "What, where is the unborn support for the born universe?"; Verse 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."; Rigveda Book 1, Hymn 164 Wikisource; See translations of these verses:Stephanie W. Jamison (tr.) & Joel P. Brereton (tr.) (2014)
^abAntonio de Nicholas (2003),Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, New York: Authors Choice Press,ISBN978-0-595-26925-9, pp. 64–69; Jan Gonda (1975),A History of Indian Literature: Veda and Upanishads, Volume 1, Part 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag,ISBN978-3-447-01603-2, pp. 134–135.
^abLowe, John J. (2015).Participles in Rigvedic Sanskrit: The Syntax and Semantics of Adjectival Verb Forms. Oxford University Press. pp. 2–.ISBN978-0-19-100505-3.The importance of the Rigveda for the study of early Indo-Aryan historical linguistics cannot be underestimated. ... its language is ... notably similar in many respects to the most archaic poetic texts of related language families, the Old Avestan Gathas and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, respectively the earliest poetic representatives of the Iranian and Greek language families. Moreover, its manner of preservation, by a system of oral transmission which has preserved the hymns almost without change for 3,000 years, makes it a very trustworthy witness to the Indo-Aryan language of North India in the second millennium BC. Its importance for the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European, particularly in respect of the archaic morphology and syntax it preserves, ... is considerable. Any linguistic investigation into Old Indo-Aryan, Indo-Iranian, or Proto-Indo-European cannot avoid treating the evidence of the Rigveda as of vital importance.
^Lester Kurtz (2015),Gods in the Global Village, SAGE Publications,ISBN978-1-4833-7412-3, p. 64, Quote: "The 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda are recited at initiations, weddings and funerals...."
^abcdeWitzel 2003, pp. 68–69. "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 BCE. 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, while some sections such as a collection of the Upanishads were perhaps written down at the middle of the first millennium, while some early, unsuccessful attempts (indicated by certain Smriti rules forbidding to write down the Vedas) may have been made around the end of the first millennium BCE".
^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."
^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."
^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..."
^Mallory 1989 "The identification of the Andronovo culture as Indo-Iranian is commonly accepted by scholars."
^Chakrabarti, D.K.,The Early Use of Iron in India (1992,Oxford University Press) argues that it may refer to any metal. Ifayas refers to iron, theRigveda must date to the late second millennium at the earliest.
^Among others, Macdonell and Keith, and Talageri 2000, Lal 2005
^Michael Witzel (2012). George Erdosy (ed.).The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 98–110 with footnotes.ISBN978-3-11-081643-3., Quote (p. 99): "Although the Middle/Late Vedic periods are the earliest for which we can reconstruct a linguistic map, the situation even at the time of the Indua Civilisation and certainly during the time of theearliest texts of the Rigveda, cannot have been very different. There are clear indications that the speakers of Rigvedic Sanskrit knew, and interacted with, Dravidian and Munda speakers."
^abF. Max Müller (1891).Physical Religion. Longmans & Green. pp. 373–379.Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved6 October 2019.
^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.
^The oldest manuscript in thePune collection dates to the 15th century. TheBenares Sanskrit University has aRigveda manuscript of the 14th century. Older palm leaf manuscripts are rare.
^Witzel 2003, p. 69. "The RV has been transmitted in one recension (theśākhā of Śākalya) while others (such as the Bāṣkala text) have been lost or are only rumored about so far."
^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."
^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 andVāṣkala."
^Maurice Winternitz (History of Sanskrit Literature, Revised English Translation Edition, 1926, vol. 1, p. 283.
^Mantras of "khila" hymns were calledkhailika and notṛcas (Khila meant distinct "part" of Rgveda separate from regular hymns; all regular hymns make up theakhila or "the whole" recognised in a śākhā, although khila hymns have sanctified roles in rituals from ancient times).
^Hermann Grassmann had numbered the hymns 1 through to 1028, putting thevālakhilya at the end. Griffith's translation has these 11 at the end of the eighth mandala, after 8.92 in the regular series.
^cf. Preface to Khila section by C.G.Kāshikar in Volume-5 of Pune Edition of RV (in references).
^These Khilani hymns have also been found in a manuscript of theŚākala recension of the KashmirRigveda (and are included in the Poone edition).
^equalling 40 times 10,800, the number of bricks used for theuttaravedi: the number is motivated numerologically rather than based on an actual syllable count.
^Rigvedasamhita, Rigvedasamhita-Padapatha and RigvedasamhitabhashyaArchived 13 November 2020 at theWayback Machine, Memory of the World Register, UNESCO (2006), page 2, Quote: "One manuscript written on birch bark is in the ancient Sharada script and the remaining 29 manuscripts are written in the Devanagari script. All the manuscripts are in Sanskrit language."
^A copy of theRigveda samhita Books 1 to 3 inTamil-Grantha script is preserved at the Cambridge University Sanskrit Manuscript Library (MS Or.2366). Thistalapatra palm leaf manuscript was likely copied sometime between mid-18th and late-19th-century.Ṛgveda Saṃhitā (MS Or.2366)Archived 7 October 2019 at theWayback Machine, University of Cambridge, UK
^abAntonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, New York: Authors Choice Press,ISBN978-0-595-26925-9, pp. 273–274
^Robert Hume,Mundaka Upanishad, Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pp. 374–375
^F. Max Müller (1884), The Upanishads, Part 2,Mundaka Upanishad, Oxford University Press, pp. 38–40
^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).
^Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass,ISBN978-81-208-1468-4, pp. 7–14
^Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass,ISBN978-81-208-1468-4, pp. 21–23
^absee e.g. Jeaneane D. Fowler (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex University Press,ISBN978-1-898723-93-6, pp. 38–45
^abStephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press,ISBN978-0-231-14485-8, p. 401
^Garry Trompf (2005), In Search of Origins, 2nd Edition, Sterling,ISBN978-1-932705-51-5, pp. 60–61
^Thomas Paul Urumpackal (1972), Organized Religion According to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Georgian University Press,ISBN978-88-7652-155-3, pp. 229–232 with footnote 133
^Franklin Edgerton (1996), The Bhagavad Gita, Cambridge University Press, Reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass,ISBN978-81-208-1149-2, pp. 11–12
^Elizabeth Reed (2001), Hindu Literature: Or the Ancient Books of India, Simon Publishers,ISBN978-1-931541-03-9, pp. 16–19
^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,ISBN978-0-19-933458-2, p. 185.
^abcdeFrits Staal (2009),Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin,ISBN978-0-14-309986-4, pp. xv–xvi
^D Sharma (2011), Classical Indian Philosophy: A Reader, Columbia University Press,ISBN978-0-231-13399-9, pp. 196–197
^Jan Westerhoff (2009), Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka: A Philosophical Introduction, Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0-19-538496-3, p. 290
^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.
^abcThe Political Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo by V. P. Varma (1960), Motilal Banarsidass, p. 139,ISBN978-81-208-0686-3
^abcdAndrea Pinkney (2014), Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia (Editors: Bryan Turner and Oscar Salemink), Routledge,ISBN978-0-415-63503-5, pp. 31–32
^Jeffrey Haines (2008), Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics, Routledge,ISBN978-0-415-60029-3, p. 80
^Axel Michaels (2004),Hinduism: Past and Present, Princeton University Press,p.18Archived 4 May 2023 at theWayback Machine; see also Julius Lipner (2012),Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, Routledge,p.77Archived 4 May 2023 at theWayback Machine; and Brian K. Smith (2008),Hinduism,p.101Archived 13 May 2023 at theWayback Machine, in Jacob Neusner (ed.),Sacred Texts and Authority, Wipf and Stock Publishers.
^Kazanas, N. (2002), "Indigenous Indo-Aryans and the Rigveda",Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 275–289; Kazanas, N. (2000), "A new date for the Rgveda", in Pande, G. C. (ed.),Chronology and Indian Philosophy, special issue of theJICPR, Delhi; Kazanas, N. D. (2001), "Indo-European Deities and the Rgveda",Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 257–264, Kazanas, ND (2003), "Final Reply",Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 31, pp. 187–189
^Bryant, Edwin (2004),The Quest for the Origins of the Vedic Culture, Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0-19-516947-8
^Tilak, Bal Gangadhar (2 June 2008).Orion: Or Researches Into The Antiquity Of The Vedas. Kessinger Publishing, LLC.ISBN978-1-4365-5691-0.
^Agrawal, D. P. (2002), "Comments on 'Indigenous IndoAryans'",Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 129–135; Parpola, A. (2002), "Comments on 'Indigenous Indo-Aryans'",Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 187–191
^Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin,ISBN978-0-14-309986-4, p. 107
^A. A. MacDonnel (2000 print edition),India's Past: A Survey of Her Literatures, Religions, Languages and Antiquities, Asian Educational Services,ISBN978-81-206-0570-1, p. 15
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.
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 (1998),The Secret of veda(PDF), Sri Aurobindo Ashram press,archived(PDF) from the original on 22 September 2020, retrieved27 July 2020
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.
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.
The Hymns of the Rigveda, Editio Princeps byFriedrich Max Müller (large PDF files of book scans). Two editions: London, 1877 (Samhita and Pada texts) and Oxford, 1890–92, with Sayana's commentary.
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