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Sanskrit
- Vedas
Rigveda
means the Veda of Adoration and mostly contains verses adoring or adulating
deities. But it also dealt with other subjects, like the procedure of
wedding, the folly of gambling. About two-thirds of Rigveda is about
the gods Agni (Fire) and Indra (Ruler of the gods). Other
Rigvedic gods include Rudra, the two Ashvins, Savitar
and Surya, Varuna, the Maruts and the Ribhus.
There are references to a divine creeper, the Soma, whose juice was
an energizer. Some animals like horses, some rivers, and even some implements
(like mortar and pestle) were deified. Rigveda contains a sense of intimate
communion between Nature and the Rishis or visionaries. According
to some, the concerns of Rigveda are those of simple, nomadic, pastoral
Aryans. According to others, the people in the times of the Rigveda
had a settled home, definite mode of life, developed social customs,
political organizations, and even arts and amusements. Rigveda is the
oldest, largest and most important of the Vedas, containing 10thousand
verses forming 1017 poems in 20 groups.
This greatest of texts is replete with hymns of joyous wonder at the
many manifestations of nature. Creation itself is proof that there is
a Creator, but there are veils and veils which need to be cast aside.
The inquiry of the Rig Vedic hymns sometimes has an answer within the
hymn itself - yam sma prchanti kuha seti ghoram, utem ahur naiso astiti
enam; so 'ryah pustir vija iva minati. Srad asmai dhatta: sa, janasa,
Indrah. (The terrible one of whom it is asked 'where is he', of whom
it is said 'he is not'; he diminishes the accumulations of the miserly
like the gambler's stake. Believe in him: he, o men, is Indra). Sometimes
there is no answer, only more speculation - iyam visrstir yata ababhuva;
yadi va dadhe yadi va na: yo asyadhyaksah parame vioman, so anga veda,
yadi va na veda. (From where has this creation arisen; whether he created
it or did not: he in the highest heaven is its controller, only he knows
or else he does not know). This is from the Hymn of Creation, and it
seems only fitting that this most relevant of hymns should allow for
doubt and simultaneously indicate the enormity of such a question. This
hymn expresses the concept of the one Creator who alone retains the
power to ceate without in any way diminishing Himself - this power of
actualization became the maya of the Vedanta. He is indescribably perfect,
and the Hiranya garbha (the golden egg) is the manifestation of this
creative impulse (hymn x.121.1). The Purusa Sukta hymn speaks of a primeval
being vast enough to extend beyond the created world by ten fingers,
and have the universe created out of a mere one-fourth of him. This
idea of an existence before there was any determinate reality, and the
subsequent evolution of that being into an empirical existence does
indeed echo the idea of an Absolute (Brahman) who existed (if He can
be said to exist) before anything came into existence. The four distinctions
- of Brahman, Isvara, Hiranya-garbha, and Viraj - are present in the
Rig Veda.
The deities worshipped are all manifestations of nature except in the
hymns that indicate a belief in one Creator. Agni (fire) is one of the
chief gods, and clearly represents an ancient Hindu trinity. He is said
to have three origins - from the kindling of two sticks, as the 'son
of the Waters (aerial waters, i.e. his lightning form), and as born
in heaven and brought down to Earth by Matarisvan. Agni is the household
fire, the sacrificial fire, and the fire of cremation. Two hundred hymns
are devoted to Agni, who nevertheless comes second to Indra who lays
claim to one-fourths of the Rig Vedic hymns. Indra is the consummate
warrior as Agni is the great priest. His vast size and strength are
often mentioned and he is the one who frees the light and fights the
demon of drought. The most beautiful hymns are those to Ushas, the dawn.
She is ever-young, ever-beautiful, and bountiful. Other hymns celebrate
Surya, Mitra-Varuna, Savitr, Soma, Ratri, Rudra, Aditi, Brhaspati, the
Ashvins, Dyava-Prithvi, Vata, Yama, Maruts, Apas, Parjanya and Pusan.
The most popular metres for the hymns are the Gayatri (3x8 syllables),
Tristubh (4x11) and the Jagati (4x12), of the total of fifteen metres.
The total number of hymns (suktas) in this Veda is 1017 in addition
to eleven apocryphal hymns called valakhilyas. These are divided into
ten mandalas (circles) of eighty five anuvakas (sections). Another division
is of eight ashtakas (octaves) or khandas (sections), each further divided
into eight adhyays (chapters). There is a total of two thousand and
six vargas (classes) and ten thousand, four hundred and seventeen riks
(verses) and 153, 826 padas (words). The priests of the Rig Veda are
known as Hotris or Bahvrichas.
All these hymns are sruti (revealed) - they were revealed to the rishis
(sages) and their names are present with that of the hymns. The greatest
of these rishis are Viswamitra, Vasishta, and Bhardwaj. Since they did
not write the hymns down, the latter continued to live through the oral
tradition. This, naturally, gave rise to many sakhas (schools) that
interpreted the hymns differently. Rishi Vyas, also known as Krishna
Dwaipayana, finally collected all the hymns and arranged them in the
order that they have been bequeathed to us.
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