Rigveda

Hindu texts

Śruti Vedas Rig Veda Sama Veda Yajurveda Atharva Veda Brahmanas Aranyakas Upanishads Smriti Itihasas Mahābhārata Bhagavad Gītā Ramayana Puranas (List) Tantras Sutras (List) Stotras Ashtavakra Gita Gherand Samhita Gita Govinda Hatha Yoga Pradipika

'Rigveda' is an ancient Indian religious book. It is counted as one of the four sacred Hindu writings, which are called Vedas. It is the world's oldest religious writings. It is also one of the oldest writings in Sanskrit language. Rigveda is very important to Hindus, especially Hindus in India and Nepal. Its words are said during prayers and religious gatherings. It is dated up to 4000 years ago but on the basis of astronomical calculations it is dated back to 8000 years and some calculations date back it to 10,000 years.

Rigveda (padapatha) manuscript in Devanagari, early 19th century. After a scribal benediction (śrīgaṇéśāyanamaḥ Au3m), the first line has the first pada, RV 1.1.1a (agniṃ iḷe puraḥ-hitaṃ yajñasya devaṃ ṛtvijaṃ). The Vedic accent is marked by underscores and vertical overscores in red.

Rig Veda mainly contains various hymns for praying to Vedic Gods such as Agni (Fire God), Indra (The lord of Heavens), Mitra, Varuna (Water God), Surya (Sun God) etc. These hymns are called Riks. Hence the Veda is called Rik-Veda or RigVeda. This writing consists of 10 writings. The Rigveda has 1,028 hymns and 10,600 verses.

Other websites

• A Simple Translation of Hymns from Rig Veda