Rig Veda Rig Veda (also written as Rik Veda in English) is the oldest of all Vedas. Some scholars date the Rig Veda as early as 12000 BC - 4000 B.C. But Hindus believe that Vedas are eternal knowledge and beyond space-time. The Rig-Vedic ‘samhita’ or collection of mantras consists of 1,028 hymns or ‘suktas’, The 10,589 verses of the Rigveda are divided into ten mandalas or books. First mandala consists of 191 suktas and 2006 mantras Second mandala consists of 43 suktas and 429 mantras Third mandala consists of 62 suktas and 617 mantras Fourth mandala consists of 58 suktas and 589 mantras Fifth mandala consists of 87 suktas and 727 mantras Sixth mandala consists of 75 suktas and 765 mantras Seventh mandala consists of 104 suktas and 841 mantras Eighth mandala consists of 103 suktas and 1716 mantras Ninth mandala consists of 114 suktas and 1108 mantras Tenth mandala consists of 191 suktas and 1754 mantras According to the Shatapatha Brahmana, the number of syllables in the Rigveda is 432,000, equalling the number of muhurtas (1 day = 30 muhurtas) in forty years.The Rig-Vedic hymns were compiled by Paila under the guidance of Vyasa, and went to form the Rig mantra Samhita. Rgveda intones that let there be goodness in the hearts and thoughts. Since all are embodiments of the Divinity, all human beings are one. Rig Veda is important not only from religious and philosophical point of view but as some recent research has shown it also contains immense information on cosmology, astrology and mathematics. |
