Rigveda

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.
Information
Religion	Historical Vedic religion Hinduism
Language	Vedic Sanskrit
Period	c.1500–1000 BCE(Vedic period)
Chapters	10 mandalas
Verses	10,552 mantras

TheRigvedaorRig Veda(Sanskrit:ऋग्वेद,IAST:ṛgveda,fromऋच्,"praise"andवेद,"knowledge" ) is anancient IndiancollectionofVedic Sanskrithymns(sūktas). It is one of the four sacred canonicalHindu texts(śruti) known as theVedas.Only oneShakhaof the many survive today, namely theŚakalyaShakha. Much of the contents contained in the remaining Shakhas are now lost or are not available in the public forum.

TheRigvedais the oldest knownVedic Sanskrittext.Its early layers are among the oldest extant texts in anyIndo-European language.The sounds and texts of theRigvedahave been orally transmitted since the 2nd millennium BCE.Philologicalandlinguisticevidence indicates that the bulk of theRigvedaSamhita was composed in the northwestern region of theIndian subcontinent(seeRigvedic rivers), most likely betweenc.1500 and 1000 BCE,although a wider approximation ofc.1900–1200 BCE has also been given.

The text is layered, consisting of theSamhita,Brahmanas,AranyakasandUpanishads.TheRigveda Samhitais 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,as well as praise them.The more recent books (Books 1 and 10) in part also deal with philosophical or speculative questions,virtues such asdāna(charity) in society,questions about the origin of the universe and the nature of the divine,and other metaphysical issues in their hymns.

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 textin continued use.

Dating and historical context

Further information:Historical Vedic religion,Vedic period,andProto-Indo-Aryan

A map of tribes andriversmentioned 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.Philological estimates tend to date the bulk of the text to the second half of the second millennium BCE.Being composed in an earlyIndo-Aryanlanguage, the hymns must post-date theIndo-Iranianseparation, dated to roughly 2000 BCE.A reasonable date close to that of the composition of the core of theRigvedais that of theMitannidocuments of northern Syria and Iraq (c. 1450–1350 BCE), which also mention the Vedic gods such as Varuna, Mitra and Indra.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 theHelmandorArghandab).Other evidence also points to a composition date close to 1400 BCE.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.

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. 1500and 1000 BCE.According toMichael Witzel,the codification of theRigvedatook place at the end of the Rigvedic period betweenc. 1200and 1000 BCE, in the earlyKurukingdom.Asko Parpolaargues that theRigvedawas systematized around 1000 BCE, at the time of the Kuru kingdom.

Historical and societal context

TheRigvedais far more archaic than any other Indo-Aryan text. For this reason, it was in the center of attention ofWesternscholarship from the times ofMax MüllerandRudolf Rothonwards. TheRigvedarecords an early stage ofVedic religion.There are strong linguistic and cultural similarities with theearly IranianAvesta,deriving from theProto-Indo-Iraniantimes,often associated with the earlyAndronovo cultureofc. 2000 BCE.

TheRigvedaoffers no direct evidence of social or political systems in the Vedic era, whether ordinary or elite.Only hints such ascattleraising andhorse racingare 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.Social stratification seems embryonic, then and later a social ideal rather than a social reality.The society was semi-nomadic and pastoral with evidence of agriculture since hymns mention plow and celebrate agricultural divinities.There was division of labor and a complementary relationship between kings and poet-priests but no discussion of a relative status of social classes.Women in theRigvedaappear 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 theRigvedaare quite outspoken and appear more sexually confident than men, in the text.Elaborate and aesthetic hymns on wedding suggest rites of passage had developed during the Rigvedic period.There is little evidence ofdowryand no evidence ofsatiin it or related Vedic texts.

The Rigvedic hymns mentionriceand porridge, in hymns such as 8.83, 8.70, 8.77 and 1.61 in some versions of the text;however, there is no discussion of rice cultivation.The termáyas(metal) occurs in theRigveda,but it is unclear which metal it was.Iron is not mentioned inRigveda,something scholars have used to help dateRigvedato have been composed before 1000 BCE.Hymn 5.63 mentions "metal cloaked in gold", suggesting that metalworking had progressed in the Vedic culture.

Some of the names ofgods and goddessesfound in theRigvedaare found amongst other belief systems based onProto-Indo-European religion,while most of the words used share commonrootswith words from otherIndo-European languages.However, about 300 words in theRigvedaare neither Indo-Aryan nor Indo-European, states the Sanskrit and Vedic literature scholarFrits Staal.Of these 300, many – such askapardin,kumara,kumari,kikata– come fromMunda or proto-Munda languagesfound in the eastern and northeastern (Assamese) region of India, with roots inAustroasiatic languages.The others in the list of 300 – such asmlecchaandnir– 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.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.

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 prominentBharataand Pūru kings.

Tradition associates arishi(the composer) with eachṛc(verse) of theRigveda.Most sūktas are attributed to single composers;for each of them theRigvedaincludes a lineage-specificāprīhymn (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.

Book	Clan	Region
Mandala 2	Gṛtsamāda	NW, Punjab
Mandala 3	Viśvāmitra	Punjab, Sarasvatī
Mandala 4	Vāmadeva	NW, Punjab
Mandala 5	Atri	NW → Punjab → Yamunā
Mandala 6	Bharadvāja	NW, Punjab, Sarasvati; → Gaṅgā
Mandala 7	Vasiṣṭha	Punjab, Sarasvati; → Yamunā
Mandala 8	Kaṇvaand Āṅgirasa	NW, Punjab

Collection and organisation

The codification of theRigvedatook place late in the Rigvedic or rather in the early post-Rigvedic period atc. 1200 BCE,by members of the earlyKurutribe, when the center of Vedic culture moved east from the Punjab into what is nowUttar Pradesh.TheRigvedawas codified by compiling the hymns, including the arrangement of the individual hymns in ten books, coeval with the composition of the younger Veda Samhitas.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.This collection was re-arranged and expanded in theKuru Kingdom,reflecting the establishment of a new Bharata-Puru lineage and new srauta rituals.

The fi xing 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.

The surviving form of theRigvedais based on an earlyIron Agecollection that established the core 'family books' (mandalas2–7,ordered by author, deity and meter) 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) andorthoepicchanges to theVedic Sanskritsuch as theregularizationofsandhi(termedorthoepische Diaskeuaseby Oldenberg, 1888).

Organisation

Mandalas

The text is organized in ten "books", ormaṇḍalas( "circles" ), of varying age and length.The "family books", mandalas 2–7, are the oldest part of theRigvedaand the shortest books; they are arranged by length (decreasing length of hymns per book) and account for 38% of the text.

The hymns are arranged in collections each dealing with a particular deity:Agnicomes first,Indracomes second, and so on. They are attributed and dedicated to arishi(sage) and his family of students.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.The second to seventh mandalas have a uniform format.

Theeighthandninthmandalas, comprising hymns of mixed age, account for 15% and 9%, respectively. The ninth mandala is entirely dedicated toSomaand theSoma ritual. The hymns in the ninth mandala are arranged by both their prosody structure (chanda) and by their length.

Thefirstand thetenthmandalas 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.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.

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 theRigvedaare in different poetic metres in Vedic Sanskrit. Themetersmost used in theṛcasare 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.

Meter	Rigvedic verses
Gayatri	2451
Ushnih	341
Anushtubh	855
Brihati	181
Pankti	312
Trishtubh	4253
Jagati	1348
Atigagati	17
Sakvari	19
Atisakvari	9
Ashti	6
Atyashti	84
Dhriti	2
Atidhriti	1
Ekapada	6
Dvipada	17
Pragatha Barhata	388
Pragatha Kakubha	110
Mahabarhata	2
Total	10402

Transmission

As with the other Vedas, the redacted text has been handed down in several versions, including thePadapatha,in which each word is isolated inpausaform 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.

ThePadapathaand thePratisakhyaanchor the text's true meaning,and the fixed text was preserved with unparalleled fidelity for more than a millennium byoral traditionalone.In order to achieve this the oral tradition prescribed very structured enunciation, involving breaking down the Sanskritcompoundsintostemsand inflections, as well as certain permutations. This interplay with sounds gave rise to ascholarly traditionofmorphologyandphonetics.

It is unclear as to when theRigvedawas first written down. The oldest surviving manuscripts have been discovered inNepaland date toc. 1040 CE.According to Witzel, the Paippalada Samhita tradition points to written manuscriptsc. 800–1000 CE.The Upanishads were likely in the written form earlier, about mid-1st millennium CE (Gupta Empireperiod).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 theSmritirules that forbade the writing down the Vedas, states Witzel.The oral tradition continued as a means of transmission until modern times.

Recensions

Geographical distribution of the Late Vedic Period. Each major region had its own recension of Rig Veda (Śākhās), and the versions varied.

Severalshakhas(from skt.śākhāf. "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.

The surviving padapāṭha version of theRigvedatext is ascribed to Śākalya.TheŚākalarecension has 1,017 regular hymns, and an appendix of 11vālakhilyahymnswhich are now customarily included in the 8th mandala (as 8.49–8.59), for a total of 1028 hymns.TheBāṣkalarecension includes eight of thesevālakhilyahymns among its regular hymns, making a total of 1025 regular hymns for this śākhā.In addition, theBāṣkalarecension has its own appendix of 98 hymns, theKhilani.

In the 1877 edition of Aufrecht, the 1028 hymns of theRigvedacontain a total of 10,552ṛcs, or 39,831 padas. TheShatapatha Brahmanagives the number of syllables to be 432,000,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 thanŚākalaand Bāṣkala:

• 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 theRigvedaPratisakhya.Very similar to Śākala, with a few additional verses; might have derived from or merged with it.

Shakha	Samhita	Brahmana	Aranyaka	Upanishad
Shaakala	Shaakala Samhita	Aitareya Brahmana	Aitareya Aranyaka	Aitareya Upanishad
Baashkala	Kaushitaki Samhita	Kaushitaki Brahmana	Manuscript exists	Kaushitaki Upanishad
Shankhayana	Sankhayana Samhita	Shankhayana Brahmana	Shankhyana Aranyaka	edited as a part of the Aranyaka

Manuscripts

Rigvedamanuscript page, Mandala 1, Hymn 1 (Sukta 1), lines 1.1.1 to 1.1.9 (Sanskrit, Devanagari script)

TheRigvedahymns were composed and preserved byoral tradition.They were memorized and verbally transmitted with "unparalleled fidelity" across generations for many centuries.According to Barbara West, it was probably first written down about the 3rd-century BCE.The manuscripts were made frombirch barkorpalm leaves,which decompose and therefore were routinely copied over the generations to help preserve the text.

Versions

There are, for example, 30 manuscripts ofRigvedaat theBhandarkar Oriental Research Institute,collected in the 19th century byGeorg Bühler,Franz Kielhorn and others, originating from different parts of India, includingKashmir,Gujarat,the thenRajaputana,Central Provincesetc. They were transferred toDeccan College,Pune,in the late 19th century. They are in theSharadaandDevanagariscripts, written on birch bark and paper. The oldest of the Pune collection is dated to 1464. The 30 manuscripts ofRigvedapreserved at theBhandarkar Oriental Research Institute,Punewere added toUNESCO'sMemory of the World Registerin 2007.

Of these thirty manuscripts, nine contain the samhita text, five have thepadapathain 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 Müllerfor his edition of theRigvedawith 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.

Scripts

Rigvedamanuscripts in paper, palm leaves and birch bark form, either in full or in portions, have been discovered in the following Indic scripts:

• Devanagari(Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Nepal)
• Grantha(Tamil Nadu)
• Malayalam(Kerala)
• Nandinagari(South India)
• Sharada(Kashmir)

Comparison

The variousRigvedamanuscripts discovered so far show some differences. Broadly, the most studied Śākala recension has 1017 hymns, includes an appendix of elevenvalakhīlyahymns which are often counted with the eighth mandala, for a total of 1028 metrical hymns. The Bāṣakala version ofRigvedaincludes eight of thesevālakhilyahymns 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 theRigvedahave about 10,600 verses, organized into ten Books (Mandalas).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.

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.The content of the 10th Book also suggest that the authors knew and relied on the contents of the first nine books.

TheRigvedais the largest of the four Vedas, and many of its verses appear in the other Vedas.Almost all of the 1875 verses found inSamavedaare taken from different parts of theRigveda,either once or as repetition, and rewritten in a chant song form. Books 8 and 9 of theRigvedaare by far the largest source of verses for Sama Veda. Book 10 contributes the largest number of the 1350 verses ofRigvedafound inAtharvaveda,or about one fifth of the 5987 verses in the Atharvaveda text.A bulk of 1875 ritual-focussed verses ofYajurveda,in its numerous versions, also borrow and build upon the foundation of verses inRigveda.

Contents

Altogether the Rigveda consists of:

• theSamhita(hymns to the deities, the oldest part of theRigveda)
• theBrahmanas, commentaries on the hymns
• theAranyakas or "forest books"
• theUpanishads

In western usage, "Rigveda" usually refers to theRigvedaSamhita, 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 differentshakhasor "schools". Only a small portion of these texts has been preserved: The texts of only two out of five shakhas mentioned by theRigveda Pratishakhyahave survived. The late (15th or 16th century)Shri Guru Charitraeven claims the existence of twelve Rigvedic shakhas. The two surviving Rigvedic corpora are those of theŚākalaand theBāṣkalashakhas.

Hymns

See also:AnukramaniandRigvedic deities

The Rigvedic hymns are dedicated to various deities, chief of whom areIndra,a heroic god praised for having slain his enemyVrtra;Agni,the sacrificial fire; andSoma,the sacred potion or the plant it is made from. Equally prominent gods are theAdityasor Asura godsMitra–VarunaandUshas(the dawn). Also invoked areSavitr,Vishnu,Rudra,Pushan,BrihaspatiorBrahmanaspati,as well as deified natural phenomena such asDyaus Pita(the shining sky, Father Heaven),Prithivi(the earth, Mother Earth),Surya(the sun god),Vayuor Vata (the wind),Apas(the waters),Parjanya(the thunder and rain),Vac(the word), manyrivers(notably theSapta Sindhu,and theSarasvati River). TheAdityas,Vasus, Rudras, Sadhyas,Ashvins,Maruts,Rbhus,and theVishvadevas( "all-gods" ) as well as the "thirty-three gods" are the groups of deities mentioned.

• Mandala 1comprises 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 theRigvedaafter Mandala 2 through 9, and includes the philosophical Riddle Hymn 1.164, which inspires chapters in later Upanishads such as theMundaka.
• Mandala 2comprises 43 hymns, mainly toAgniandIndra.It is chiefly attributed to the Rishigṛtsamada śaunahotra.
• Mandala 3comprises 62 hymns, mainly toAgniandIndraand the Vishvedevas. The verse 3.62.10 has great importance inHinduismas theGayatri Mantra.Most hymns in this book are attributed toviśvāmitra gāthinaḥ.
• Mandala 4comprises 58 hymns, mainly toAgniandIndraas well as the Rbhus, Ashvins, Brhaspati, Vayu, Usas, etc. Most hymns in this book are attributed tovāmadeva gautama.
• Mandala 5comprises 87 hymns, mainly toAgniandIndra,theVisvedevas( "all the gods'), theMaruts,the twin-deityMitra-Varunaand theAsvins.Two hymns each are dedicated toUshas(the dawn) and toSavitr.Most hymns in this book are attributed to theatriclan.
• Mandala 6comprises 75 hymns, mainly toAgniandIndra,all the gods, Pusan, Ashvin, Usas, etc. Most hymns in this book are attributed to thebārhaspatyafamily ofAngirasas.
• Mandala 7comprises 104 hymns, toAgni,Indra,theVisvadevas,theMaruts,Mitra-Varuna,theAsvins,Ushas,Indra-Varuna,Varuna,Vayu(the wind), two each toSarasvati(ancient river/goddess of learning) andVishnu,and to others. Most hymns in this book are attributed tovasiṣṭha maitravaruṇi.
• Mandala 8comprises 103 hymns to various gods. Hymns 8.49 to 8.59 are the apocryphalvālakhilya.Hymns 1–48 and 60–66 are attributed to thekāṇvaclan, the rest to other (Angirasa) poets.
• Mandala 9comprises 114 hymns, entirely devoted toSomaPavamana,the cleansing of the sacred potion of the Vedic religion.
• Mandala 10comprises additional 191 hymns, frequently in later language, addressed toAgni,Indraand various other deities. It contains theNadistuti suktawhich is in praise of rivers and is important for the reconstruction of the geography of the Vedic civilization and thePurusha suktawhich has been important in studies of Vedic sociology.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.The marriage hymns (10.85) and the death hymns (10.10–18) still are of great importance in the performance of the correspondingGrhyarituals.

Rigveda Brahmanas

See also:Brahmana

Of the Brahmanas that were handed down in the schools of theBahvṛcas(i.e. "possessed of many verses" ), as the followers of theRigvedaare called, two have come down to us, namely those of the Aitareyins and the Kaushitakins. TheAitareya-brahmanaand theKaushitaki-(orSankhayana-)brahmanaevidently 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.

Devi sukta, which highlights the goddess tradition of Hinduism is found inRigvedahymns 10.125. It is cited inDevi Mahatmyaand is recited every year during theDurga Pujafestival.

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.

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.

Rigveda Aranyakas and Upanishads

See also:AranyakaandUpanishads

Each of these two Brahmanas is supplemented by a "forest book", orAranyaka.TheAitareyaranyakais 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,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,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.The text also includes some nonritual poetry,fragments of mythology, archaic formulas, and a number of hymns with early philosophical speculations.Composed by the poets of different clans, including famed Vedicrishis(sages) such asVishvamitraandVasishtha,these signify the power of prestige therewith tovac(speech, sound), a tradition set in place.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 thisRtaas effected byBrahman,a significant and non-self-evident truth.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.

According to Nadkarni, several hymns of theRigvedaembed 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.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.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.

Monism debate

While the older hymns of theRigvedareflectsacrificialritual typical ofpolytheism, its younger parts, specifically mandalas 1 and 10, have been noted as containingmonisticorhenotheisticspeculations.

Nasadiya Sukta(10.129):

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.

—Rigveda10.129 (Abridged, Tr: Kramer / Christian)This hymn is one of the roots ofHindu philosophy.

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

Max Müllernotably introduced the term "henotheism"for the philosophy expressed here, avoiding the connotations of" monotheism "in Judeo-Christian tradition. Other widely cited examples ofmonistictendencies include hymns 1.164, 8.36 and 10.31,Other scholars state that theRigvedaincludes an emerging diversity of thought, including monotheism, polytheism, henotheism and pantheism, the choice left to the preference of the worshipper.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 "atheisticstreak "in hymns such as10.130.

Examples fromMandala 1adduced 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.".

Reception in Hinduism

Shruti

The Vedas as a whole are classed as "shruti"in Hindu tradition. This has been compared to the concept ofdivine revelationin Western religious tradition, but Staal argues that "it is nowhere stated that the Veda was revealed", and thatshrutisimply means "that what is heard, in the sense that it is transmitted from father to son or from teacher to pupil".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 theMimamsaschool of Hindu philosophy.The text of theRigvedasuggests it was "composed by poets, human individuals whose names were household words" in the Vedic age, states Staal.

The authors of theBrāhmanaliterature discussed and interpreted the Vedic ritual.

Sanskrit grammarians

Main article:Vyākaraṇa

Yaska(4th c. BCE), alexicographer,was an early commentator of theRigvedaby discussing the meanings of difficult words. In his book titledNiruktaYaska asserts that theRigvedain 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).The fourth way to interpret theRigvedaalso emerged in the ancient times, wherein the gods mentioned were viewed as symbolism for legendary individuals or narratives.It was generally accepted that creative poets often embed and express double meanings, ellipses and novel ideas to inspire the reader.

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 onmysticalideas andsound symbolism.

According to the Puranic tradition, Ved Vyasa compiled all the four Vedas, along with the Mahabharata and the Puranas. Vyasa then taught theRigvedasamhita to Paila, who started the oral tradition.An alternate version states that Shakala compiled theRigvedafrom the teachings of Vedic rishis, and one of the manuscript recensions mentions Shakala.

Madhvacharya,a Hindu philosopher of the 13th century, provided a commentary of the first 40 hymns of theRigvedain his bookRig Bhashyam.In the 14th century,Sāyanawrote an exhaustive commentary on the complete text of theRigvedain his bookRigveda Samhita.This book was translated from Sanskrit to English byMax Müllerin the year 1856.H.H. Wilsonalso translated this book into English asRigveda Sanhitain the year 1856. Sayanacharya studied at theSringerimonastery.

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. 10thto 12th centuries) andMudgala(after Sayana, an abbreviated version of Sayana's commentary).

Some notable commentaries from Medieval period include:

Title	Commentary	Year	Language	Notes
Rig Bhashyam	Madhvacharya	1285	Sanskrit	Commentary on the first 40 hymns of theRigveda.The original book has been translated into English by Prof.K.T. Pandurangi accessiblehere
Rigveda Samhita	Sāyaṇācārya	1360	Sanskrit	Sāyaṇācārya, a Sanskrit scholar, wrote a treatise on the Vedas in the bookVedartha Prakasha(meaning "of Vedas made as a manifest" ). TheRigvedaSamhita 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 Sanhitain 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 ".

According to Dayananda and Aurobindo the Vedic scholars had a monotheistic conception.Sri Aurobindogave commentaries, general interpretation guidelines, and a partial translation inThe secret of Veda(1946).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.Aurobindo attempted to interpret hymns to Agni in theRigvedaas mystical.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.

Contemporary Hinduism

The hymn 10.85 of theRigvedaincludes the Vivaha-sukta (above). Its recitation continues to be a part of Hindu wedding rituals.

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 passageceremonies, but the literal acceptance of most of the textual essence is long gone.Musicians and dance groups celebrate the text as a mark of Hindu heritage, through incorporating Rigvedic hymns in their compositions, such as inHamsadhvaniandSubhapantuvaraliofCarnatic music,and these have remained popular among theHindusfor decades.

According to Axel Michaels, "most Indians today pay lip service to the Veda and have no regard for the contents of the text."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".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.

Hindu nationalism

See also:10,000 years of Hinduism

The Rig Veda plays a role in the modern construction of a Hindu identity, portraying Hindus as the original inhabitants of India. TheRigvedahas 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.Indian nationalistBal Gangadhar Tilak,in hisOrion: Or Researches Into The Antiquity Of The Vedas(1893) has concluded that the date of composition of theRigvedadates at least as far back as 6000–4000 BCE based on his astronomical research into the position of the constellationOrion.These theories are controversial, and not accepted or propagated in mainstream scholarship.

Translations

TheRigvedais considered particularly difficult to translate, owing to its length, poetic nature, the language itself, and the absence of any close contemporary texts for comparison.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."Another issue is technical terms such asmandala,conventionally translated "book", but more literally rendered "cycle".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,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.

The first published translation of any portion of theRigvedain any European language was into Latin, byFriedrich August Rosen,working from manuscripts brought back from India byColebrooke.In 1849,Max Müllerpublished his six-volume translation into German, the first printed edition and most studied.H. H. Wilsonwas the first to make a translation of the Rig Veda into English, published from 1850–88.Wilson's version was based on a commentary of the complete text bySāyaṇa,a 14th-century Sanskrit scholar, which he also translated.

Translations have since been made in several languages, including French and Russian.Karl Friedrich Geldnercompleted the first scholarly translation into German in the 1920s, which was published after his death.Translations of shorter cherrypicked anthologies have also been published, such as those byWendy Donigerin 1981 and Walter Maurer in 1986, although Jamison and Brereton say they "tend to create a distorted view" of the text.In 1994, Barend A. van Nooten and Gary B. Holland published the first attempt to restore the entirety of theRigvedato its poetic form, systematically identifying and correcting sound changes andsandhicombinations which had distorted the originalmetreand meaning.

Some notable translations of the Rig Veda include:

Title	Commentary/Translation	Year	Language	Notes
Rigvedae specimen	Friedrich August Rosen	1830	Latin	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.
Rig-Veda, oder die heiligen Lieder der Brahmanen	Max Müller	1849	German	Partial translation published by W. H. Allen and Co., London, and laterF. A. Brockhaus,Leipzig. In 1873, Müller published aneditio princepstitledThe Hymns of the Rig-Veda in the Samhita Text.He also translated a few hymns in English (Nasadiya Sukta).
Ṛig-Veda-Sanhitā: A Collection of Ancient Hindu Hymns	H. H. Wilson	1850–88	English	Published as 6 volumes, by N. Trübner & Co., London.
Rig-véda, ou livre des hymnes	A. Langlois	1870	French	Partial translation. Re-printed in Paris, 1948–51 (ISBN2-7200-1029-4).
Der Rigveda	Alfred Ludwig	1876	German	Published by Verlag von F. Tempsky, Prague.
Rig-Veda	Hermann Grassmann	1876	German	Published by F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig
Rigved Bhashyam	Dayananda Saraswati	1877–9	Hindi	Incomplete translation. Later translated intoEnglishby Dharma Deva Vidya Martanda (1974).
The Hymns of the Rig Veda	Ralph T.H. Griffith	1889–92	English	Revised asThe Rig Vedain 1896. Revised by J. L. Shastri in 1973. Griffith's philology was outdated even in the 19th-century and questioned by scholars.
Der Rigveda in Auswahl	Karl Friedrich Geldner	1907	German	Published byKohlhammer Verlag,Stuttgart. Geldner's 1907 work was a partial translation; he completed a full translation in the 1920s, which was published after his death, in 1951.This translation was titledDer Rig-Veda: aus dem Sanskrit ins Deutsche Übersetzt.Harvard Oriental Studies, vols. 33–37 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: 1951–7). Reprinted byHarvard University Press(2003)ISBN0-674-01226-7.
Hymns from the Rigveda	A. A. Macdonell	1917	English	Partial translation (30 hymns). Published by Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Series of articles in Journal of the University of Bombay	Hari Damodar Velankar	1940s–1960s	English	Partial translation (Mandala 2, 5, 7 and 8). Later published as independent volumes.
Rig Veda – Hymns to the Mystic FireArchived8 September 2014 at theWayback Machine	Sri Aurobindo	1946	English	Partial translation published by N. K. Gupta, Pondicherry. Later republished several times (ISBN978-0-914955-22-1)
RigVeda Samhita	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.
Rig Veda	Ramgovind Trivedi	1954	Hindi
Études védiques et pāṇinéennes	Louis Renou	1955–69	French	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.
ऋग्वेद संहिता	Shriram Sharma	1950s	Hindi
Hymns from the Rig-Veda	Naoshiro Tsuji	1970	Japanese	Partial translation
Rigveda: Izbrannye Gimny	Tatyana Elizarenkova	1972	Russian	Partial translation, extended to a full translation published during 1989–1999.
Rigveda Parichaya	Nag Sharan Singh	1977	English / Hindi	Extension of Wilson's translation. Republished by Nag, Delhi in 1990 (ISBN978-81-7081-217-3).
Rig VedaArchived8 September 2014 at theWayback Machine	M. R. Jambunathan	1978–80	Tamil	Two volumes, both released posthumously.
Rigvéda – Teremtéshimnuszok(Creation Hymns of the Rig-Veda)	Laszlo Forizs (hu)	1995	Hungarian	Partial translation published in Budapest (ISBN963-85349-1-5)
The Rig Veda	Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty	1981	English	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.
Rigved Subodh Bhasya	Pandit Shripad Damodar Satwalekar	1985	Hindi, Marathi	Given meaning of each word/words, then gave the bhava-arth. Published by Swadhyay Mandal.
Pinnacles of India's Past: Selections from the Rgveda	Walter H. Maurer	1986	English	Partial translation published by John Benjamins.
The Rig Veda	Bibek Debroy,Dipavali Debroy	1992	English	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: Vedaseries, 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 inDevanagariscript, along with a critical apparatus.
Ṛgveda for the Layman	Shyam Ghosh	2002	English	Partial translation (100 hymns).Munshiram Manoharlal,New Delhi.
Rig-Veda	Michael Witzel,Toshifumi Goto	2007	German	Partial translation (Mandala 1 and 2). The authors are working on a second volume. Published by Verlag der Weltreligionen (ISBN978-3-458-70001-2).
ऋग्वेद	Govind Chandra Pande	2008	Hindi	Partial translation (Mandala 3 and 5). Published by Lokbharti, Allahabad
The Hymns of Rig Veda	Tulsi Ram	2013	English	Published by Vijaykumar Govindram Hasanand, Delhi
The Rigveda	Stephanie W. Jamisonand Joel P. Brereton	2014	English	3-volume set published by Oxford University Press (ISBN978-0-19-937018-4). Funded by the United States'National Endowment for the Humanitiesin 2004.
Rigveda Samhita	Prasanna Chandra Gautam	2014, 2016	English, Hindi	Sanskrit Text with Word To Word Meaning and English Translation and Hindi Translation (with Mahesh Chandra Gautam). Also contains Essence of a verse.

See also

• Atri's Eclipse
• Keśin– Ascetic wanderer with mystical powers described in the Vedic Sanskrit hymns
• Mayabheda– Sanskrit word meaning the breaching or removal of Avidya (ignorance)

Bibliography

Editions

• The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India.Vol. 1–3. Translated by Stephanie W. Jamison; Joel P. Brereton. New York: Oxford University Press. 2014.ISBN978-0-19-937018-4.
  • Stephanie W. Jamison (tr.); Joel P. Brereton (tr.) (2014).The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India.3-volume set. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-937018-4.Archivedfrom the original on 7 September 2023.Retrieved6 October2019.
  • Stephanie W. Jamison (tr.); Joel P. Brereton (tr.) (2014a).The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India.Vol. 1. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-972078-1.
• editio princeps:Friedrich Max Müller,The Hymns of the Rigveda, withSayana'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 (1998),The Secret of veda(PDF),Sri Aurobindo Ashram press,archived(PDF)from the original on 22 September 2020,retrieved27 July2020
• Sri Aurobindo,Hymns to the Mystic Fire(Commentary on the Rig Veda), Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WisconsinISBN0-914955-22-5Rig Veda – Hymns to the Mystic Fire – Sri Aurobindo – INDEXArchived6 April 2016 at theWayback Machine
• Raimundo Pannikar (1972),The Vedic Experience,University of California Press

Philology

• Harold G. Coward (1990).The Philosophy of the Grammarians, in Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 5 (Editor: Karl Potter).Princeton University Press.ISBN978-81-208-0426-5.
• Vashishtha Narayan Jha,A Linguistic Analysis of the Rgveda-PadapathaSri Satguru Publications, Delhi (1992).
• Bjorn Merker,Rig Veda Riddles In Nomad Perspective,Mongolian Studies, Journal of the Mongolian Society XI, 1988.
• Oberlies, Thomas (1998).Die Religion des Rgveda.Wien.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• 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,TheSacred Books of the EastVol 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.
• Dwyer, Rachel (2013),What Do Hindus Believe?,Granta Books,ISBN978-1-84708-940-3
• 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.
• Hexam, Irving (2011),Understanding World Religions: An Interdisciplinary Approach,Wilfrid Laurier University Press,ISBN978-0-310-31448-6
• 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,vol. 1, no. 4, archived fromthe original(PDF)on 20 February 2012
• Witzel, Michael(1997),"The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools: The Social and Political Milieu"(PDF),in Michael Witzel (ed.),Inside the Texts, Beyond the Texts: New Approaches to the Study of the Vedas,Harvard Oriental Series, Opera Minora, vol. 2, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp. 257–348,archived(PDF)from the original on 4 August 2020,retrieved22 September2015
• Witzel, Michael(2003). "Vedas and Upanisads". In Flood, Gavin (ed.).The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism.Blackwell Publishing.ISBN978-0-631-21535-6.
• Witzel, Michael(2019). "Beyond the Flight of the Falcon". InThapar, Romila(ed.).Which of Us are Aryans?: Rethinking the Concept of Our Origins.Aleph.ISBN978-93-88292-38-2.
• Wood, Michael (2007),The Story of India Hardcover,BBC Worldwide,ISBN978-0-563-53915-5

External links

Text

For links to translations, see§ Translations.

• The Rig VedaThe complete Rig Veda in English translation at holybooks
• Devanagari and transliterationexperimental online text at: sacred-texts
• ITRANS, Devanagari, transliterationonline text and PDF, several versions prepared by Detlef Eichler
• Transliteration, metrically restoredArchived4 March 2016 at theWayback Machineonline text, at: Linguistics Research Center, Univ. of Texas
• 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.
• Works by or about Rigvedaat theInternet Archive

Dictionary

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