(Brown 1940, 1968, Lüders 1917, 1944) which has counterparts in other Indo-
European (Watkins 1979) and Eurasian cultures (Witzel forthc.). Such formu-
lated speech must be recited correctly, otherwise there is danger of losing one’s
head (as in the indras ́atrulegend TS 2.4.12.1, S ́B 1.6.3.8). The original author,
always a Vedic R.s.i, is a brahmán- “possessor ofbráhman-” whose name is remem-
bered and must be uttered to this day.
Contents of the R.gveda
Apart from the predominantly ritual contents of the R.gveda there are a few
hymns of highly poetical value and of early philosophical speculation. Some of
these hymns, such as the famous love story of Puru ̄ ravas and Urvas ́ı ̄ (RV 10.95),
have been used by the later Epic and classical poets. All of R.gvedic poetry is very
complicated and enigmatic: it is based on the poetical norms of the preceding
Indo-Iranian and Indo-European periods, it refers to many fragmentarily known
myths, uses many archaic formulas and set phrases, and a vocabulary that was
already archaic then, and its expression in general is very elliptical.
There also are stanzas that praise the local chieftains, who where sponsors of
R.gvedic ritual. The area of the Greater Panjab was inhabited by some 30 to 50
tribes and clans in whose service the transient RV poets composed ever “new
hymns” in praise of the gods and chieftains.
A number of hymns are in dialogue form; these have hardly been used in later
ritual; however, they belong to the most beautiful and poetical pieces of the RV.
The hymns dealing with early philosophical speculation have usually been
understood as presenting contemporary developments, but many of the topics,
such as that of the primordial giant (Purus.a), go back to Indo-European (i.e. the
Old Norse Ymir) and even to a preceding Eurasian period (i.e. the Chinese/Miao
Pangu). After the end of the R.gveda, this kind of speculative poetry was contin-
ued in the AV (S ́aunaka AV books 8–12) which still were composed by the
brahmán, now turned priests, and later, in the Yajurvedic Ga ̄tha ̄s and S ́lokas,
down to the Upanis.ad period.
R.gvedic Mythology
Underlying the praise of the gods is a complicated system of mythology that is
not stated as such by the text, but must be extracted laboriously, just like all other
information about this period. Much of it goes back to the common Indo-Iranian
and Indo-European periods.
Many of the deities are transparently “natural” though they have acquired a
certain amount of “personality,” while others, developed during the Indo-
Iranian period, are deified abstractions that belong to the ethical (Varun.a, Mitra,
Aryaman, Bhaga, etc.) and conceptual sphere (R.ta) as well as to ritual practice
vedas and upanis.ads 71