Veda #1 of 4 · c. 1500–1200 BCE (oldest stratum); some hymns possibly older
ऋग्वेद
Rigveda
Ṛgveda — Veda of praise / hymn
Summary
The Rigveda is the oldest surviving sacred text of the Indo-European world and the foundation of all later Hindu thought. It is a collection of 1,028 hymns (suktas) totalling roughly 10,552 mantras, organized into ten mandalas. Mandalas 2–7 are the oldest "family books," each preserved by a single rishi-lineage (Gritsamada, Vishvamitra, Vamadeva, Atri, Bharadvaja, Vasishtha). Mandalas 1 and 10 are later compilations, and Mandala 9 is given entirely to the soma-pavamana hymns. The hymns are not theological treatises — they are liturgical, addressed directly to Indra, Agni, Soma, Varuna, and Ushas, asking for protection, wealth, sons, soma-rapture, and right-order (rita). It is here that the Purusha Sukta (10.90), the Nasadiya Sukta on the unknowability of creation (10.129), and the Gayatri mantra (3.62.10) first appear.
Principal deities
Role of the Hotr: The hotr is the priest who recites the Rigvedic invocations during the yajna, calling the devas by name to the sacrificial ground.
The four parts of the Rigveda
The collection of the 1,028 hymns themselves, arranged in 10 mandalas, totalling ~10,552 mantras.
Aitareya Brahmana and Kausitaki (Sankhayana) Brahmana — prose works explaining the meaning, occasion, and ritual application of every hymn.
Aitareya Aranyaka and Kausitaki Aranyaka — "forest texts," intended for ascetic recitation away from settled life.
Aitareya Upanishad and Kausitaki Upanishad — embedded within their aranyakas, teaching brahman as pure consciousness.
Famous hymns + mantras
- Gayatri MantraRV 3.62.10
The most recited mantra in living Hinduism, daily sandhya-vandana of every initiated brahmana for ~3000 years.
- Purusha SuktaRV 10.90
The cosmic self-sacrifice from which the world and the four varnas emerge — foundational for both Vedanta and later social theory.
- Nasadiya SuktaRV 10.129
"Then there was neither being nor non-being…" — the famous hymn of creation that refuses to assert what cannot be known.
- Hiranyagarbha SuktaRV 10.121
"The golden womb arose in the beginning…" — the cosmic embryo as first cause.
- Mandukya Sukta (Frogs)RV 7.103
A monsoon hymn comparing chanting brahmanas to croaking frogs — one of the earliest pieces of self-aware Vedic humour.
Oral preservation
The Rigveda has been preserved by oral transmission across roughly 3,000 years with essentially zero textual drift, thanks to the pada-patha and the eleven recitation patterns (samhita, pada, krama, jata, mala, sikha, rekha, dhvaja, danda, ratha, ghana). UNESCO inscribed Vedic chant on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.
Modern relevance
Every Hindu samskara — from upanayana to vivaha to antyeshti — still uses Rigvedic mantras. The Gayatri remains the single most-recited sacred utterance in the world. The Rigveda is also the primary Indo-European linguistic document, central to historical-comparative linguistics.