Rigveda

The Rigveda (Sanskrit: ऋग्वेद ṛgveda, from ṛc "praise, shine" and veda "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is one of the four canonical sacred texts (śruti) of Hinduism known as the Vedas. The text is a collection of 1,028 hymns and 10,600 verses, organized into ten books (Mandalas).

The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic deities. For each deity series the hymns progress from longer to shorter ones; and the number of hymns per book increases In the earliest composed eight books the hymns predominantly discuss cosmology and praise deities. Books 1 and 10, that were added last, deal with philosophical or speculative questions about the origin of the universe and the nature of god, the virtue of Dāna (charity) in society, and other metaphysical issues in its hymns.

Rigveda is one of the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language.Philological and linguistic evidence indicate that the Rigveda was composed in the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, most likely between c. 1500–1200 BC, though a wider approximation of c. 1700–1100 BC has also been given.

Mandala 1

The first Mandala ("book") of the Rigveda has 191 hymns. Together with Mandala 10, it forms the latest part of the Rigveda, its composition likely dating to the Early Iron Age.

Hymn 1.1 is addressed to Agni, arranged so that the name of this god is the first word of the Rigveda. The remaining hymns are mainly addressed to Agni and Indra. Hymns 1.154 to 1.156 are addressed to (the later Hindu god) Vishnu. Verse 1.164.46, part of a hymn to the Vishvadevas, is often quoted as an example of emerging monism or monotheism:

The editio princeps of the book is due to Friedrich August Rosen, published posthumously in 1838. It was the earliest edition of a Rigvedic Mandala, predating Max Müller's edition of the entire Rigveda by more than 50 years.

List of hymns

External links

Works related to The Rig Veda/Mandala 1 at Wikisource