Part 2 of 2
Contemporary Hinduism[x]
The hymn 10.85 of the Rigveda includes the Vivaha-sukta (above). Its recitation continues to be a part of Hindu wedding rituals.[132][133]Rigveda, 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 major rites of passage ceremonies, but the literal acceptance of most of the textual essence is long gone.[134][135] Musicians and dance groups celebrate the text as a mark of Hindu heritage, through incorporating Rigvedic hymns in their compositions, such as in Hamsadhvani and Subhapantuvarali of Carnatic music, and these have remained popular among the Hindus for decades.[134]
According to Axel Michaels, "most Indians today pay lip service to the Veda and have no regard for the contents of the text."[136] According to Louis 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".[134] 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.[134]
Hindu nationalismSee 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.Hinduism is itself a modern term, not used before the latter half of the 18th century, and with no obvious equivalents in Indic languages before that time. Applying the term Hinduism to the past, then, is frequently problematic, though in general modern scholarship is in agreement that there are important continuities between the present-day phenomenon of Hinduism and codes of ritual practice, narrative traditions and religious customs that emerged in South Asia in the second half of the first millennium before the Common Era (BCE).-- A religion of the book? On sacred texts in Hinduism, by Robert Leach
The Rigveda has been referred to in the "Indigenous Aryans" and Out of India theory. Dating the Rig Veda as contemporaneous, or even preceding the Indus Valley Civilisation, an argument is made that the IVC was Aryan, and the bearer of the Rig Veda.[137][138] Indian nationalist Bal Gangadhar Tilak, in his Orion: Or Researches Into The Antiquity Of The Vedas (1893) has concluded that the date of composition of Rigveda dates at least as far back as 6000–4000 BCE based on his astronomical research into the position of the constellation Orion.[139] These theories are controversial, and not accepted or propagated in mainstream scholarship.[140][141]
TranslationsLike all archaic texts,
the Rigveda is difficult to translate into a modern language.[142][143] According to Staal, "The Rigveda is the earliest, the most venerable, obscure, distant and difficult for moderns to understand – hence is often misinterpreted or worse: used as a peg on which to hang an idea or a theory."[144] According to Jamison and Brereton, "There are no closely contemporary extant texts, which makes it difficult to interpret."[145] and early translations contained straightforward errors.[122] Another issue is the choice of translation for technical terms such as mandala, conventionally translated "book", but more literally rendered "cycle".[122][146]
The first published translation of any portion of the Rigveda in any European language was into Latin, by Friedrich August Rosen (Rigvedae specimen, London 1830). Predating Müller's first printed edition (editio princeps) of the text by 19 years, Rosen was working from manuscripts brought back from India by Colebrooke. H. H. Wilson was the first to make a translation of the Rig Veda into English, published in six volumes during the period 1850–88.[147]
Wilson's version was based on the commentary of Sāyaṇa, a Sanskrit scholar of 14th century, who provided a commentary on the complete text of Rigveda in his book Rigveda Samhita;[note 11] and Wilson also translated Sāyaṇa's commentary into English as Rigveda Sanhita in the year 1856.
Müller published the most studied edition of the Rig Veda Samhita and Padapatha in 6 volumes Muller, Max, ed. (W. H. Allen and Co., London, 1849).[148] It has an English preface[149] The birch bark from which Müller produced his translation is held at The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, India.[150] Müller also translated Sāyaṇa's commentary translated from Sanskrit to English.
Karl Friedrick Geldner completed the earliest scholarly translation of Rigveda in 1920s, in German. This was published in 1951.[148] Louis Renou completed the first French translation between 1955 and 1969, while Elizarenkova completed a Russian translation between 1989 and 1999.[148] Griffith's English translation came earlier, in 1892. However, Griffith's philology was outdated even in the 19th-century and questioned by scholars.[148] H.D. Velankar's translations published over the 1950s and 1960s were significant improvements over Griffith's translation.[148] Translations of shorter cherrypicked anthologies have been published by Wendy Doniger in 1981, and by Walter Maurer in 1986. According to Jamison and Brereton, these anthologies "tend to create a distorted view of the Rigveda".[148]
In 1994, Barend A. van Nooten and Gary B. Holland published the first attempt to restore Rigveda in its entirety in the poetic form. They identified elements that appeared to them as inappropriate combinations and obscuring the meaning of the text. They restructured the text into a poetic form.[151]
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 as Rigveda Sanhita, Liber Primus, Sanskrite Et Latine (ISBN 978-1275453234). Based on manuscripts brought back from India by Henry Thomas Colebrooke.
Rig-Veda, oder die heiligen Lieder der Brahmanen Max Müller 1856 German Partial translation published by F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig. In 1873, Müller published an editio princeps titled The 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 (ISBN 2-7200-1029-4).
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 into English by Dharma Deva Vidya Martanda (1974).
The Hymns of the Rig Veda Ralph T.H. Griffith 1889–92 English Revised as The Rig Veda in 1896. Revised by J. L. Shastri in 1973.
Der Rigveda in Auswahl Karl Friedrich Geldner 1907 German Published by Kohlhammer 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.[152] This translation was titled Der Rig-Veda: aus dem Sanskrit ins Deutsche Übersetzt. Harvard Oriental Studies, vols. 33–37 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: 1951–7). Reprinted by Harvard University Press (2003) ISBN 0-674-01226-7.
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 Fire Sri Aurobindo 1946 English Partial translation published by N. K. Gupta, Pondicherry. Later republished several times (ISBN 9780914955221)
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 Rigveda, 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 (ISBN 978-8170812173).
Rig Veda 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 (ISBN 963-85349-1-5)
The Rig Veda Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty 1981 English Partial translation (108 hymns), along with critical apparatus. Published by Penguin (ISBN 0-14-044989-2). A bibliography of translations of the Rig Veda appears as an Appendix.
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 (ISBN 9780836427783). The work is in verse form, without reference to the original hymns or mandalas. Part of Great Epics of India: Veda series, also published as The 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 (ISBN 978-81-7110-138-2). Revised edition of Wilson's translation. Replaces obsolete English forms with more modern equivalents (e.g. "thou" with "you"). Includes the original Sanskrit text in Devanagari script, 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 (ISBN 978-3-458-70001-2).
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. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton 2014 English 3-volume set published by Oxford University Press (ISBN 978-0-19-937018-4). Funded by the United States' National Endowment for the Humanities in 2004.[153]
See also• Keśin
• Mayabheda
Notes1. It is certain that the hymns of the Rig Veda post-date Indo-Iranian separation of ca. 2000 BCE and probably that of the relevant Mitanni documents of c. 1400 BCE. Philological estimates tend to date the bulk of the text to the second half of the second millennium:
Max Müller: "the hymns of the Rig-Veda are said to date from 1500 B.C."[154]
The EIEC (s.v. Indo-Iranian languages, p. 306) gives 1500–1000 BCE.
Flood and Witzel both mention c. 1500–1200 BCE.[11][12]
Anthony mentions c. 1500–1300 BCE.[13]
Thomas Oberlies (Die Religion des Rgveda, 1998, p. 158) based on 'cumulative evidence' sets a wide range of 1700–1100 BCE.[155] Oberlies 1998, p. 155 gives an estimate of 1100 BCE for the youngest hymns in book 10.[156]
Witzel 1995, p. 4 mentions c. 1500–1200 BCE. According to Witzel 1997, p. 263, the whole Rig Vedic period may have lasted from c. 1900 BCE to c. 1200 BCE: "the bulk of the RV represents only 5 or 6 generations of kings (and of the contemporary poets)24 of the Pūru and Bharata tribes. It contains little else before and after this “snapshot” view of contemporary Rgvedic history, as reported by these contemporary “tape recordings.” On the other hand, the whole Rgvedic period may have lasted even up to 700 years, from the infiltration of the Indo-Aryans into the subcontinent, c. 1900 B.C. (at the utmost, the time of collapse of the Indus civilization), up to c. 1200 B.C., the time of the introduction of iron which is first mentioned in the clearly post-gvedic hymns of the Atharvaveda."
2. According to Edgar Polome, the Hittite language Anitta text from the 17th century BCE is older. This text is about the conquest of Kanesh city of Anatolia, and mentions the same Indo-European gods as in the Rigveda.[7]
3. The associated material has been preserved from two shakhas or "schools", known as Śākalya and Bāṣkala. The school-specific commentaries are known as Brahmanas (Aitareya-brahmana and Kaushitaki-brahmana) Aranyakas (Aitareya-aranyaka and Kaushitaki-aranyaka), and Upanishads (partly excerpted from the Aranyakas: Bahvrca-brahmana-upanishad, Aitareya-upanishad, Samhita-upanishad, Kaushitaki-upanishad).
4. The horse (ashva), cattle, sheep and goat play an important role in the Rigveda. There are also references to the elephant (Hastin, Varana), camel (Ustra, especially in Mandala 8), ass (khara, rasabha), buffalo (Mahisa), wolf, hyena, lion (Simha), mountain goat (sarabha) and to the gaur in the Rigveda.[46] The peafowl (mayura), the goose (hamsa) and the chakravaka (Tadorna ferruginea) are some birds mentioned in the Rigveda.
5. Witzel: "The original collection must have been the result of a strong political effort aiming at the re-alignment of the various factions in the tribes and poets' clans under a post-Sudås Bharata hegemony which included (at least sections of) their former Pūru enemies and some other tribes.[52]
6. Witzel: "To sum up: as has been discussed in detail elsewhere [Early Sanskritization], the new Kuru dynasty of Parik it, living in the Holy Land of Kuruk etra, unified most of the Rigvedic tribes, brought the poets and priests together in the common enterprise of collecting their texts and of “reforming” the ritual."[54]
7. The total number of verses and meter counts show minor variations with the manuscript.[67]
8. See Rig Bhashyam.
9. See Rigveda Samhita.
10. See [1]
11. See Rigveda Samhita.
References1.
https://sites.google.com/a/vedicgranth. ... obile=true2. Derived from the root ṛc "to praise", cf. Dhātupātha 28.19. Monier-Williamstranslates Rigveda as "a Veda of Praise or Hymn-Veda".
3. Michael Witzel (1997), The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu, Harvard University, in Witzel 1997, pp. 259–264
4. Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN 978-0595269259, p. 273
5. Stephanie W. Jamison; Joel Brereton (2014). The Rigveda: 3-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-19-972078-1.
6. Edwin F. Bryant (2015). The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali: A New Edition, Translation, and Commentary. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp. 565–566. ISBN 978-1-4299-9598-6.
7. Edgar Polome (2010). Per Sture Ureland (ed.). Entstehung von Sprachen und Völkern: glotto- und ethnogenetische Aspekte europäischer Sprachen. Walter de Gruyter. p. 51. ISBN 978-3-11-163373-2.
8. Wood 2007.
9. Hexam 2011, p. chapter 8.
10. Dwyer 2013.
11. Flood 1996, p. 37.
12. Witzel 1995, p. 4.
13. Anthony 2007, p. 454.
14. Oberlies 1998 p. 158
15. Lucas F. Johnston, Whitney Bauman (2014). Science and Religion: One Planet, Many Possibilities. Routledge. p. 179.
16. Werner, Karel (1994). A Popular Dictionary of Hinduism. Curzon Press. ISBN 0-7007-1049-3.
17. Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199370184, pp. 4, 7–9
18. C Chatterjee (1995), Values in the Indian Ethos: An Overview, Journal of Human Values, Vol 1, No 1, pp. 3–12;
Original text translated in English: The Rig Veda, Mandala 10, Hymn 117, Ralph T. H. Griffith (Translator);
19.
Original Sanskrit: Rigveda 10.129 Wikisource;
Translation 1: Max Muller (1859). A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature. Williams and Norgate, London. pp. 559–565.
Translation 2: Kenneth Kramer (1986). World Scriptures: An Introduction to Comparative Religions. Paulist Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-8091-2781-8.
Translation 3: David Christian (2011). Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. University of California Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-0-520-95067-2.
Translation 4: Robert N. Bellah (2011). Religion in Human Evolution. Harvard University Press. pp. 510–511. ISBN 978-0-674-06309-9.
20. Examples:
Verse 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?"
Verse 1.164.34, "Who gave blood, soul, spirit to the earth?", "How could the unstructured universe give origin to this structured world?"
Verse 1.164.5, "Where does the sun hide in the night?", "Where do gods live?"
Verse 1.164.6, "What, where is the unborn support for the born universe?";
Verse 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.";
Rigveda Book 1, Hymn 164 Wikisource;
See translations of these verses: Stephanie W. Jamison; Joel Brereton (2014). The Rigveda: 3-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-972078-1.
21. Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN 978-0595269259, pp. 64–69;
Jan Gonda, A History of Indian Literature: Veda and Upanishads, Volume 1, Part 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3447016032, pp. 134–135;
22. Klaus Klostermaier (1984). Mythologies and Philosophies of Salvation in the Theistic Traditions of India. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-88920-158-3.
23. Lester Kurtz (2015), Gods in the Global Village, SAGE Publications, ISBN 978-1483374123, p. 64, Quote: "The 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda are recited at initiations, weddings and funerals...."
24. Stephanie W. Jamison; Joel Brereton (2014). The Rigveda: 3-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-0-19-972078-1.
25. Mallory 1989.
26. Witzel, Michael (2003). "Vedas and Upanisads". In Flood, Gavin (ed.). The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-0631215356. The Vedic texts were orally composed and transmitted, without the use of script, in an unbroken line of transmission from teacher to student that was formalized early on. This ensured an impeccable textual transmission superior to the classical texts of other cultures; it is, in fact, something like a tape-recording of ca. 1500–500 BCE. Not just the actual words, but even the long-lost musical (tonal) accent (as in old Greek or in Japanese) has been preserved up to the present. On the other hand, the Vedas have been written down only during the early second millennium CE, while some sections such as a collection of the Upanishads were perhaps written down at the middle of the first millennium, while some early, unsuccessful attempts (indicated by certain Smriti rules forbidding to write down the Vedas) may have been made around the end of the first millennium BCE
27. "As a possible date ad quem for the RV one usually adduces the Hittite-Mitanni agreement of the middle of the 14th cent. B.C. which mentions four of the major Rgvedic gods: mitra, varuNa, indra and the nAsatya azvin)" M. Witzel, Early Sanskritization – Origin and development of the Kuru state Archived 5 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine
28. The Vedic People: Their History and Geography, Rajesh Kochar, 2000, Orient Longman, ISBN 81-250-1384-9
29. Rigveda and River Saraswati: class.uidaho.edu
30. Witzel 1997, p. 261.
31. Asko Parpola (2015). The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization. Oxford University Press. p. 149. ISBN 9780190226930.
32. Oldenberg 1894 (tr. Shrotri), p. 14 "The Vedic diction has a great number of favourite expressions which are common with the Avestic, though not with later Indian diction. In addition, there is a close resemblance between them in metrical form, in fact, in their overall poetic character. If it is noticed that whole Avesta verses can be easily translated into the Vedic alone by virtue of comparative phonetics, then this may often give, not only correct Vedic words and phrases, but also the verses, out of which the soul of Vedic poetry appears to speak."
33. Bryant 2001:130–131 "The oldest part of the Avesta... is linguistically and culturally very close to the material preserved in the Rigveda... There seems to be economic and religious interaction and perhaps rivalry operating here, which justifies scholars in placing the Vedic and Avestan worlds in close chronological, geographical and cultural proximity to each other not far removed from a joint Indo-Iranian period."
34. Mallory 1989 p. 36 "Probably the least-contested observation concerning the various Indo-European dialects is that those languages grouped together as Indic and Iranian show such remarkable similarities with one another that we can confidently posit a period of Indo-Iranian unity..."
35. Mallory 1989 "The identification of the Andronovo culture as Indo-Iranian is commonly accepted by scholars."
36. Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199370184, pp. 57–59
37. Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199370184, pp. 6–7
38. Michael Witzel (1996), Little Dowry, No Sati: The Lot of Women in the Vedic Period, Journal of South Asia Women Studies, Vol 2, No 4
39. Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199370184, pp. 40, 180, 1150, 1162
40. Chakrabarti, D.K. The Early Use of Iron in India (1992) Oxford University Pressargues that it may refer to any metal. If ayas refers to iron, the Rigveda must date to the late second millennium at the earliest.
41. Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199370184, p. 5
42. Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199370184, p. 744
43. Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199370184, pp. 50–57
44. Frits Staal (2008). Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights. Penguin. pp. 23–24. ISBN 978-0-14-309986-4.
45. Franklin C Southworth (2016). Hans Henrich Hock and Elena Bashir (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia: A Comprehensive Guide. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 252–255. ISBN 978-3-11-042330-3.
46. among others, Macdonell and Keith, and Talageri 2000, Lal 2005
47. Michael Witzel (2012). George Erdosy (ed.). The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 98–110 with footnotes. ISBN 978-3-11-081643-3., Quote (p. 99): "Although the Middle/Late Vedic periods are the earliest for which we can reconstruct a linguistic map, the situation even at the time of the Indua Civilisation and certainly during the time of the earliest texts of the Rigveda, cannot have been very different. There are clear indications that the speakers of Rigvedic Sanskrit knew, and interacted with, Dravidian and Munda speakers."
48. Witzel 1997, p. 262.
49. In a few cases, more than one rishi is given, signifying lack of certainty.
50. Talageri (2000), p. 33
51. Witzel 1991, p. 6.
52. Witzel 1997, p. 263.
53. Witzel 1997, p. 263-264.
54. Witzel 1997, p. 265.
55. Keith, Arthur Berriedale (1920). Rigveda Brahmanas: the Aitareya and Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. p. 44.
56. H. Oldenberg, Prolegomena,1888, Engl. transl. New Delhi: Motilal 2004
57. George Erdosy 1995, pp. 68–69.
58. Pincott, Frederic (1887). "The First Maṇḍala of the Ṛig-Veda". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Cambridge University Press. 19 (4): 598–624. doi:10.1017/s0035869x00019717.
59. Stephanie W. Jamison; Joel P. Brereton (2014). The Rigveda. Oxford University Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-0-19-937018-4.
60. Barbara A. Holdrege (2012). Veda and Torah: Transcending the Textuality of Scripture. State University of New York Press. pp. 229–230. ISBN 978-1-4384-0695-4.
61. George Erdosy 1995, pp. 68-69, 180-189.
62. Gregory Possehl & Michael Witzel 2002, pp. 391-393.
63. Bryant 2001, pp. 66–67.
64. Kireet Joshi (1991). The Veda and Indian Culture: An Introductory Essay. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 101–102. ISBN 978-81-208-0889-8.
65. A history of Sanskrit Literature, Arthur MacDonell, Oxford University Press/Appleton & Co, p. 56
66. Stephanie W. Jamison; Joel P. Brereton (2014). The Rigveda. Oxford University Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-19-937018-4.
67. Friedrich Max Müller (1891). Physical Religion. Longmans & Green. pp. 373–379.
68. K. Meenakshi (2002). "Making of Pāṇini". In George Cardona; Madhav Deshpande; Peter Edwin Hook (eds.). Indian Linguistic Studies: Festschrift in Honor of George Cardona. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 235. ISBN 978-81-208-1885-9.
69. The oldest manuscript in the Pune collection dates to the 15th century. The Benares Sanskrit University has a Rigveda manuscript of the 14th century. Older palm leaf manuscripts are rare.
70. Michael Witzel (1997), The Vedic Canon and Its Political Milieu, p. 259, footnote 7
71. Wilhelm Rau (1955), Zur Textkritik der Brhadaranyakopanisad, ZDMG, 105(2), p. 58
72. Stephanie W. Jamison; Joel Brereton (2014). The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Oxford University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-19-937018-4.
73. Michael Witzel says that "The RV has been transmitted in one recension (the śākhāof Śākalya) while others (such as the Bāṣkala text) have been lost or are only rumored about so far." Michael Witzel, p. 69, "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in: The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, Gavin Flood (ed.), Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2005.
74. Maurice Winternitz (History of Sanskrit Literature, Revised English Translation Edition, 1926, vol. 1, p. 57) says that "Of the different recensions of this Saṃhitā, which once existed, only a single one has come down to us." He adds in a note (p. 57, note 1) that this refers to the "recension of the Śākalaka-School."
75. Sures Chandra Banerji (A Companion To Sanskrit Literature, Second Edition, 1989, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, pp. 300–301) says that "Of the 21 recensions of this Veda, that were known at one time, we have got only two, viz. Śākala and Vāṣkala."
76. Maurice Winternitz (History of Sanskrit Literature, Revised English Translation Edition, 1926, vol. 1, p. 283.
77. Mantras of "khila" hymns were called khailika and not ṛcas (Khila meant distinct "part" of Rgveda separate from regular hymns; all regular hymns make up the akhilaor "the whole" recognised in a śākhā, although khila hymns have sanctified roles in rituals from ancient times).
78. Hermann Grassmann had numbered the hymns 1 through to 1028, putting the vālakhilya at the end. Griffith's translation has these 11 at the end of the eighth mandala, after 8.92 in the regular series.
79. cf. Preface to Khila section by C.G.Kāshikar in Volume-5 of Pune Edition of RV (in references).
80. These Khilani hymns have also been found in a manuscript of the Śākala recension of the Kashmir Rigveda (and are included in the Poone edition).
81. equalling 40 times 10,800, the number of bricks used for the uttaravedi: the number is motivated numerologically rather than based on an actual syllable count.
82. Stephanie W. Jamison & Joel P. Brereton 2014, p. 16.
83. Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda : the earliest religious poetry of India, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199370184, pp. 13–14
84. Barbara A. West (2010). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. Infobase. p. 282. ISBN 978-1-4381-1913-7.
85. Michael McDowell; Nathan Robert Brown (2009). World Religions at Your Fingertips. Penguin. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-101-01469-1.
86. "Rigveda". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014.
87. cf. Editorial notes in various volumes of Pune Edition, see references.
88. John Collinson Nesfield (1893). A Catalogue of Sanscrit MSS.: Existing in Oudh Discovered Oct.-Dec. 1874, Jan.-Sept. 1875, 1876, 1877, 1879-1885, 1887-1890. pp. 1–27.
89. Rigvedasamhita, Rigvedasamhita-Padapatha and Rigvedasamhitabhashya, Memory of the World Register, UNESCO (2006), page 2, Quote: "One manuscript written on birch bark is in the ancient Sharada script and the remaining 29 manuscripts are written in the Devanagari script. All the manuscripts are in Sanskrit language."
90. Julius Eggeling (1887). Vedic manuscripts (Catalogue of the Sanskrit manuscripts in the library of the India office: Part 1 of 7). India Office, London. OCLC 492009385.
91. Arthur Coke Burnell (1869). Catalogue of a Collection of Sanskrit Manuscripts. Trübner. pp. 5–8.
92. A copy of the Rigveda samhita Books 1 to 3 in Tamil Grantha script is preserved at the Cambridge University Sanskrit Manuscript Library (MS Or.2366). This talapatrapalm leaf manuscript was likely copied sometime between mid-18th and late-19th-century. Ṛgveda Saṃhitā (MS Or.2366), University of Cambridge, UK
93. A B Keith (1920). Rigveda Brahmanas, Harvard Oriental Series, Vol 25. Harvard University Press. p. 103.
94. Colin Mackenzie; Horace Hayman Wilson (1828). Mackenzie Collection: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Oriental Manuscripts and Other Articles Illustrative of the Literature, History, Statistics and Antiquities of the South of India. Asiatic Press. pp. 1–3.
95. Michael Witzel (1997), The Vedic Canon and Its Political Milieu, Harvard University, p. 284
96. Rigvedasamhita, Rigvedasamhita-Padapatha and Rigvedasamhitabhashya, Memory of the World Register, UNESCO (2006), page 3, Quote: "A particularly important manuscript in this collection is the one from Kashmir, written on birch bark, in the Sharada script (No. 5/1875-76)."
97. Avari 2007, p. 77.
98. James Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics at Google Books, Vol. 7, Harvard Divinity School, TT Clark, pp. 51–56
99. Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN 978-0595269259, pp. 273–274
100. Edmund Gosse, Short histories of the literatures of the world, p. 181, at Google Books, New York: Appleton, p. 181
101. Robert Hume, Mundaka Upanishad, Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pp. 374–375
102. Max Muller, The Upanishads, Part 2, Mundaka Upanishad, Oxford University Press, pp. 38–40
103. Edited, with an English translation, by M. Haug (2 vols., Bombay, 1863). An edition in Roman transliteration, with extracts from the commentary, has been published by Th. Aufrecht (Bonn, 1879).
104. Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pp. 7–14
105. Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pp. 21–23
106. Witzel, Michael (2003). "Vedas and Upanisads". In Flood, Gavin (ed.). The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. pp. 69–70. ISBN 978-0631215356.
107. Witzel, Michael (2003). "Vedas and Upanisads". In Flood, Gavin (ed.). The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. p. 71. ISBN 978-0631215356.
108. M.V. Nadkarni (2011). Ethics for our Times: Essays in Gandhian Perspective: Second Edition. Oxford University Press. pp. 205–206. ISBN 978-0-19-908935-2.
109. Nadkarni, M.V. (2011). "Ethics in Hinduism". Ethics For Our Times. Oxford University Press. pp. 211–239. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198073864.003.0010. ISBN 978-0-19-807386-4.
110. Stephanie W. Jamison (2014). The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Oxford University Press. pp. 1586–1587. ISBN 978-0-19-937018-4.
111. Stephanie W. Jamison (2014). The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Oxford University Press. pp. 1363–1366. ISBN 978-0-19-937018-4.
112. Stephanie Jamison; Joel Brereton (2014). The Rigveda: 3-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. pp. 1363–1365. ISBN 978-0-19-972078-1.
113. see e.g. Jeaneane D. Fowler (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex University Press, ISBN 978-1898723936, pp. 38–45
114. GJ Larson, RS Bhattacharya and K Potter (2014), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 4, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691604411, pp. 5–6, 109–110, 180
115. "The Rig Veda/Mandala 1/Hymn 164 – Wikisource, the free online library". En.wikisource.org. 14 April 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
116. Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0231144858, p. 401
117. Garry Trompf (2005), In Search of Origins, 2nd Edition, Sterling, ISBN 978-1932705515, pp. 60–61
118. Thomas Paul Urumpackal (1972), Organized Religion According to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Georgian University Press, ISBN 978-8876521553, pp. 229–232 with footnote 133
119. Franklin Edgerton (1996), The Bhagavad Gita, Cambridge University Press, Reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120811492, pp. 11–12
120. Elizabeth Reed (2001), Hindu Literature: Or the Ancient Books of India, Simon Publishers, ISBN 978-1931541039, pp. 16–19
121. a "strong traditional streak that (by Western standards) would undoubtedly be thought atheistic"; hymn 10.130 can be read to be in "an atheistic spirit". Michael Ruse (2015), Atheism, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199334582, p. 185.
122. Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN 978-0143099864, pp. xv–xvi
123. D Sharma (2011), Classical Indian Philosophy: A Reader, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0231133999, pp. 196–197
124. Jan Westerhoff (2009), Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka: A Philosophical Introduction, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195384963, p. 290
125. Harold G. Coward 1990, p. 106.
126. Frederick M. Smith, 'Purāņaveda,' in Laurie L. Patton (ed.), Authority, Anxiety, and Canon: Essays in Vedic Interpretation, SUNY Press 1994 p. 99. Arthur Llewellyn Basham, Kenneth G. Zysk, The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism ,Oxford University Press, 1989 p. 7, Ram Gopal, The History and Principles of Vedic Interpretation, Concept Publishing Company, 1983 ch.2 pp. 7–20
127. Roshen Dalal (2014). The Vedas: An Introduction to Hinduism's Sacred Texts. Penguin Books. pp. 16–17, See also the glossary on Vyasa. ISBN 978-81-8475-763-7.
128. edited in 8 volumes by Vishva Bandhu, 1963–1966.
129. Salmond, Noel A. (2004). "Dayananda Saraswati". Hindu iconoclasts: Rammohun Roy, Dayananda Sarasvati and Nineteenth-Century Polemics Against Idolatry. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-0-88920-419-5.
130. The Political Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo by V. P. Varma (1960), Motilal Banarsidass, p. 139, ISBN 9788120806863
131. Sri Aurobindo 1998, p. 20-21.
132. N Singh (1992), The Vivaha (Marriage) Samskara as a Paradigm for Religio-cultural Integration in Hinduism, Journal for the Study of Religion, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 31–40
133. Swami Vivekananda (2005). Prabuddha Bharata: Or Awakened India. Prabuddha Bharata Press. pp. 362, 594.
134. Andrea Pinkney (2014), Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia (Editors: Bryan Turner and Oscar Salemink), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415635035, pp. 31–32
135. Jeffrey Haines (2008), Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415600293, p. 80
136. Axel Michaels (2004), Hinduism: Past and Present, Princeton University Press, p.18; see also Julius Lipner (2012), Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, Routledge, p.77; and Brian K. Smith (2008), Hinduism, p.101, in Jacob Neusner (ed.), Sacred Texts and Authority, Wipf and Stock Publishers.
137. N. Kazanas (2002), Indigenous Indo-Aryans and the Rigveda, Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 275–289;
N. Kazanas (2000), 'A new date for the Rgveda', in G. C. Pande (Ed) Chronology and Indian Philosophy, special issue of the JICPR, Delhi;
N. D. Kazanas (2001), Indo-European Deities and the Rgveda, Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 257–264,
ND Kazanas (2003), Final Reply, Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 31, pp. 187–189
138. Edwin Bryant (2004), The Quest for the Origins of the Vedic Culture, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195169478
139. Tilak, Bal Gangadhar (2 June 2008). Orion: Or Researches Into The Antiquity Of The Vedas. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1436556910.
140. Agrawal, D. P. (2002). Comments on "Indigenous IndoAryans". Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 129–135;
A. Parpola (2002), 'Comments on "Indigenous Indo-Aryans"', Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 187–191
141. Michael Witzel, The Pleiades and the Bears viewed from inside the Vedic texts, EVJS Vol. 5 (1999), issue 2 (December);
Elst, Koenraad (1999). Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate. Aditya Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-86471-77-7.;
Bryant, Edwin and Laurie L. Patton (2005) The Indo-Aryan Controversy, Routledge/Curzon, ISBN 978-0700714636
142. John J. Lowe (2015). Participles in Rigvedic Sanskrit: The Syntax and Semantics of Adjectival Verb Forms. Oxford University Press. p. 329. ISBN 978-0-19-870136-1.
143. Stephanie W. Jamison & Joel P. Brereton 2014, pp. 3, 76.
144. Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN 978-0143099864, p. 107
145. Stephanie W. Jamison & Joel P. Brereton 2014, p. 3.
146. A. A. MacDonnel (2000 print edition), India's Past: A Survey of Her Literatures, Religions, Languages and Antiquities, Asian Educational Services, ISBN 978-8120605701, p. 15
147. Wilson, H. H. Ṛig-Veda-Sanhitā: A Collection of Ancient Hindu Hymns. 6 vols. (London, 1850–88); reprint: Cosmo Publications (1977)
148. Stephanie W. Jamison; Joel Brereton (2014). The Rigveda: 3-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. pp. 19–20. ISBN 978-0-19-972078-1.
149. "Rig – Veda – Sanhita – Vol.1". Dspace.wbpublibnet.gov.in:8080. 21 March 2006. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
150. "The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute : The Manuscript Department". Bori.ac.in. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
151. B. van Nooten and G. Holland, Rig Veda. A metrically restored text. Cambridge: Harvard Oriental Series 1994, Review, Thomson and Slocum
152. Stephanie W. Jamison & Joel P. Brereton 2014, pp. 19–20.
153. neh.gov, retrieved 22 March 2007.
154. Müller 1892.
155. Oberlies 1998, p. 158.
156. Oberlies 1998, p. 155.
Bibliography
Editions• Stephanie W. Jamison; Joel P. Brereton (2014). The Rigveda. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-937018-4.
• editio princeps: Friedrich Max Müller, The Hymns of the Rigveda, with Sayana'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)
o ed. Müller 1849–75 (German translation);
o ed. Müller (original commentary of Sāyana in Sanskrit based on 24 manuscripts).
o 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
• Sri Aurobindo, Hymns to the Mystic Fire (Commentary on the Rig Veda), Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-22-5 Rig Veda - Hymns to the Mystic Fire - Sri Aurobindo - INDEX
• 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. ISBN 978-81-208-0426-5.
• Vashishtha Narayan Jha, A Linguistic Analysis of the Rgveda-Padapatha Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi (1992).
• Bjorn Merker, Rig Veda Riddles In Nomad Perspective, Mongolian Studies, Journal of the Mongolian Society XI, 1988.
• Thomas Oberlies, Die Religion des Rgveda, Wien 1998.
• 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, The Sacred Books of the East Vol 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: ISBN 978-1-4179-8205-9.
• 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, ISBN 978-0-415-35616-9
• Bryant, Edwin (2001). The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513777-4.
• Dwyer, Rachel (2013), What Do Hindus Believe?, Granta Books, ISBN 9781847089403
• 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. ISBN 978-3-11-014447-5.
• Hexam, Irving (2011), Understanding World Religions: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, ISBN 9780310314486
• Gregory Possehl; Michael Witzel (2002). "Vedic". In Peter N. Peregrine; Melvin Ember (eds.). Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Springer. ISBN 978-1-4684-7135-9.
• 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. ISBN 81-7742-010-0
• Witzel, Michael (1995), "Early Sanskritization: Origin and Development of the Kuru state" (PDF), EJVS, 1 (4), archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2012
• Witzel, Michael (1997), "The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools: The Social and Political Milieu", 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
• Wood, Michael (2007), The Story of India Hardcover, BBC Worldwide, ISBN 9780563539155
External links• Media related to Rig Veda at Wikimedia Commons
TextFor links to translations, see Translations section above.
• Devanagari and transliteration experimental online text at: sacred-texts.com
• ITRANS, Devanagari, transliteration online text and PDF, several versions prepared by Detlef Eichler
• Transliteration, metrically restored online text, at: Linguistics Research Center, Univ. of Texas
• The Hymns of the Rigveda, Editio Princeps by Friedrich 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 Rigveda at Internet Archive
Dictionary• Rigvedic Dictionary by Hermann Grassmann (online database, uni-koeln.de)