Rigveda: Difference between revisions

The text is layered consisting of the ''Samhita'', ''Brahmanas'', ''Aranyakas'' and ''Upanishads''.{{refn|group=note|The associated material has been preserved from two [[shakha|śākhā]]s or "schools", known as {{IPA|[[Shakala Shakha|Śākalya]]}}

and {{IPA|Bāṣkala}}. The school-specific commentaries are known as [[Brahmana]]s (''[[Aitareya-brahmana]]'' and ''[[Kaushitaki-brahmana]]'') [[Aranyaka]]s (''Aitareya-aranyaka'' and ''Kaushitaki-aranyaka''),  

Some of its verses continue to be recited during Hindu [[sanskara (rite of passage)|rites of passage]] celebrations (such as weddings) and prayers, making it probably the world's oldest [[religious text]] in continued use.<ref>{{cite book |author= Klaus Klostermaier |title= Mythologies and Philosophies of Salvation in the Theistic Traditions of India |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=J-1QJMu80UIC&pg=PA6 |year= 1984 |publisher= [[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]] |isbn= 978-0-88920-158-3 |page=6 |author-link= Klaus Klostermaier }}

The ''Rigveda'' is far more archaic than any other Indo-Aryan text. For this reason, it was in the center of attention of western scholarship from the times of [[Max Müller]] and [[Rudolf Roth]] onwards. The ''Rigveda'' records an early stage of [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic religion]]. There are strong linguistic and cultural similarities with the [[Early Iranian languages|early Iranian]] [[Avesta]],<ref>{{Harvcolnb|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."</ref><ref>{{Harvcolnb|Bryant|2001|pp=130{{ndash}}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."</ref> deriving from the [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language|Proto-Indo-Iranian]] times,<ref>{{Harvcolnb|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..."</ref> often associated with the early [[Andronovo culture]] (or rather, the [[Sintashta culture]] within the early Andronovo horizon) of c. 2000&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Mallory|1989}} "The identification of the Andronovo culture as Indo-Iranian is commonly accepted by scholars."</ref>

Some of the names of [[Rigvedic deities|gods and goddesses]] found in the ''Rigveda'' are found amongst other belief systems based on [[Proto-Indo-European religion]], while most of the words used share common [[Proto-Indo-European root|roots]] with words from other [[Indo-European languages]].{{sfn|Stephanie W. Jamison (tr.)|Joel P. Brereton (tr.)|2014|pp=50{{ndash}}57}} However, about 300 words in the ''Rigveda'' are neither Indo-Aryan nor Indo-European, states the Sanskrit and Vedic literature scholar [[Frits Staal]].<ref name="Staal2008p23"/> Of these 300, many{{snd}}such as ''kapardin'', ''kumara'', ''kumari'', ''kikata''{{snd}}come from [[Munda languages|Munda or proto-Munda languages]] found in the eastern and northeastern (Assamese) region of India, with roots in [[Austroasiatic languages]]. The others in the list of 300{{snd}}such as ''mleccha'' and ''nir''{{snd}}have Dravidian roots found in the southern region of India, or are of Tibeto-Burman origins. A few non-Indo-European words in the ''Rigveda''{{snd}}such as for camel, mustard and donkey{{snd}}belong to a possibly lost Central Asian language.<ref name="Staal2008p23">{{cite book|author=Frits Staal|title=Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HcE23SjLX8sC|year=2008|publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-309986-4|pages=23{{ndash}}24}}</ref><ref name="HockBashir2016">{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9783110423303-004|author=Franklin C Southworth|title=The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia |year=2016|isbn=978-3-11-042330-3 |editor1-last=Hock|editor1-first=Hans Henrich|editor1-link=Hans Henrich Hock|editor2-last=Bashir|editor2-first=Elena|editor2-link=Elena Bashir |pages=241–374 }}</ref>{{refn|group=note|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), [[Domestic buffalo|buffalo]] (Mahisa), [[wolf]], [[hyena]], [[lion]] (Simha), mountain goat (sarabha) and to the [[gaur]] in the ''Rigveda''.<ref>Among others, Macdonell and Keith, and Talageri 2000, Lal 2005</ref> The [[peafowl]] (mayura), the goose ([[hamsa (bird)|hamsa]]) and the [[chakravaka]] (''[[Tadorna ferruginea]]'') are some birds mentioned in the ''Rigveda''.}} The linguistic sharing provides clear indications, states Michael Witzel, that the people who spoke Rigvedic Sanskrit already knew and interacted with Munda and Dravidian speakers.<ref name="Erdosy2012p98">{{cite book|author=Michael Witzel|editor=George Erdosy|title=The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZ0gAAAAQBAJ |year=2012|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-081643-3|pages=98{{ndash}}110 with footnotes}}, 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."</ref>

''Rigveda'' manuscripts in paper, palm leaves and birch bark form, either in full or in portions, have been discovered in the following Indic scripts:

*[[Devanagari]] (Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Nepal)<ref>{{cite book|author=John Collinson Nesfield|title=A Catalogue of Sanscrit MSS.: Existing in Oudh Discovered Oct.-Dec. 1874, Jan.-Sept. 1875, 1876, 1877, 1879-1885, 1887-1890|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u4ooAAAAYAAJ |year=1893|pages=1{{ndash}}27}}</ref><ref>[http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/mow/nomination_forms/india_rigveda.pdf 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."</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Julius Eggeling| title=Vedic manuscripts (Catalogue of the Sanskrit manuscripts in the library of the India office: Part 1 of 7)| year= 1887|oclc= 492009385 | publisher = India Office, London|url = https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.344907/page/n13}}</ref>

*[[Malayalam script|Malayalam]] (Kerala)<ref>{{cite book|author=A B Keith|title=Rigveda Brahmanas, Harvard Oriental Series, Vol 25|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hzFIAQAAMAAJ |year=1920|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=103}}</ref>

*[[Nandinagari]] (South India)<ref name="MackenzieWilson1828">{{cite book|author1=Colin Mackenzie|author2=Horace Hayman Wilson|title=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|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hno-AAAAcAAJ |year=1828|publisher=Asiatic Press|pages=1{{ndash}}3}}</ref>

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|Rigveda Samhita

|1360

|Sanskrit

===Contemporary Hinduism===

The ''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 [[sanskara (rite of passage)|rites of passage]] ceremonies, but the literal acceptance of most of the textual essence is long gone.<ref name=pinkney>Andrea Pinkney (2014), Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia (Editors: Bryan Turner and Oscar Salemink), Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-63503-5}}, pp. 31{{ndash}}32</ref><ref>Jeffrey Haines (2008), Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-60029-3}}, p. 80</ref> 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 [[Hindu]]s for decades.<ref name=pinkney/>

====Hindu nationalism====

{{See also|10,000 years of Hinduism}}

==Translations==

The first published translation of any portion of the ''Rigveda'' in any European language was into Latin, by [[Friedrich August Rosen]], working from manuscripts brought back from India by [[Henry Thomas Colebrooke|Colebrooke]]. In 1849, [[Max Müller]] published his six-volume translation into German, the first printed edition and most studied.{{sfn|Stephanie W. Jamison (tr.)|Joel P. Brereton (tr.)|2014|pp=19{{ndash}}20}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Rig – Veda – Sanhita – Vol.1 |date=21 March 2006 |url=http://dspace.wbpublibnet.gov.in:8080/xmlui/handle/10689/6323?show=full |website=Dspace.wbpublibnet.gov.in:8080 |access-date=10 March 2017}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|The birch bark text from which Müller produced his translation is held at the [[Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute]] in Pune, India.<ref>{{cite web |title=Collection Items – Rig-veda-Sanhita |url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/rig-veda-sanhita |website=[[British Library]]}}</ref>}} [[H. H. Wilson]] was the first to make a translation of the Rig Veda into English, published from 1850{{ndash}}88.<ref>Wilson, H.&nbsp;H. ''{{IAST|Ṛig-Veda-Sanhitā}}: A Collection of Ancient Hindu Hymns''. 6 vols. (London, 1850{{ndash}}88); reprint: Cosmo Publications (1977)</ref> Wilson's version was based on a commentary of the complete text by [[Sayana|{{IAST|Sāyaṇa}}]], a 14th-century Sanskrit scholar, which he also translated.{{refn|group=note|See [https://archive.org/details/RgVedaWithSayanasCommentaryPart1 Rigveda Samhita].}}