Rig Veda
The Rig Veda is the earliest of the four VEDAS
central to the Brahminical tradition. According to
tradition it was compiled by VYA S A. It is usually
dated from 1500 to 1000 B.C.E., but since it is an
anthology, some of its more than 1,000 hymns
might well be older. The great majority of the
hymns are from five to 20 lines in length; very few
exceed 50 lines in length.
The Rig Veda contains hymns of praise to a
pantheon of divinities. It also includes some cos-
mogonic hymns—hymns that tell of the creation
of the universe—that are extremely important for
the development of later Hinduism. By far the
greatest number of the hymns of the Rig Veda
are devoted to INDRA, king of the gods, a deity
connected with the storms and rain who holds a
thunderbolt, and AGNI, the god of fire. The rest of
the hymns are devoted to an array of gods, most
prominently MITRA, VARUNA, SAVITRI, SOMA, and
the ASHVINS.
Less frequently mentioned in Rig Veda are
the gods who became most important in the
later Hindu pantheon, VISHNU and RUDRA (one of
whose epithets was SHIVA, the benign). A num-
ber of goddesses are mentioned, most frequently
USHAS, goddess of the dawn. ADITI (she without
limit) is a goddess who is said to be the mother
of the gods.
The Rig Veda, as are the other Vedas, is under-
stood to be “composed by no man” (apaurasheya).
It was considered to be an eternal text that is
rediscovered during each new cosmic era. Com-
monly, the Rig Veda is divided into eight cycles,
or mandalas, but in it is also traditionally learned
in 10 books.
The RISHIS, poet-sages, are said to be respon-
sible for “seeing” or hearing the verses in their
divine form and recording them. Each Rig Vedic
hymn has a rishi’s name attached and some full
books or partial books are said to have been
received by a single rishi. Prominent among
the rishis are Vishvamitra, Atri, Bharadvaja,
Vasishtha, Kashyapa, Jamadagni, and Gautama.
Many of the other rishis are descendants of these
major rishis.
Book III of the Rig Veda, for instance, is said
to be received by Vishvamitra and his descen-
dants. Nearly all the hymns of book VI are said
to be from Bharadvaja. All the hymns of book
VII are from Vasishtha. Most of book IV is said
to have been received by the rishi Vamadeva, the
son of the rishi Gotama. All of book II is said to
have been received by the rishi Gritsmada. There
were apparently some women who received Vedic
hymns, including Apala of the Atri family; Gho-
sha, grand-daughter of Dirghatamas; Romasha;
and Shashvati. The great majority of rishis were
Brahmins and Kshatriyas, the two highest castes,
but some verses were received by others.
Scholars believe books I and X were recorded
later than the others. Book X contains several
cosmogonic hymns such as the PURUSHA Sukta, the
Hymn of the Divine Man (Rig Veda X. 90), which
highlight the theme of cosmic unity. The hymns
were very influential in later Indian thought. Most
hymns of the Rig Veda, however, are not philo-
sophical; rather, they are directed toward various
divinities as part of a ritual cult, which is explic-
itly detailed in the BRAHMANAS. There are very few
hymns of the Rig Veda that do not involve refer-
ence to some ritual.
The Rig Veda, as the other Vedas, was passed
down from mouth to ear for millennia. It was for-
bidden to write them, as they were the exclusive
preserve of those authorized and qualified to use
them properly. Much as in a shamanistic tradition,
the Vedas were shared only among initiates who
learned from a Vedic GURU. The earliest written
texts appeared around the 15th century C.E.Further reading: S. N. Dasgupta, History of Indian Phi-
losophy, vol. I (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975); J. C.
Heesterman, The Broken World of Sacrifice: An Essay on
Ancient Indian Ritual (Chicago: University of California
Press, 1993); ———, The Inner Conflict of Tradition:
Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship and Society (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1985); Ralph T. H. Griffith,Rig Veda 365 J