Rigveda

Born in the Indian subcontinent, Rigveda is said to be one of the oldest early layers of Vedic Sanskrit text. But due to the lack of knowledge of writing and writing equipment, these texts have been a part of the oral tradition since the 2nd Millennium BCE. Consisting of four layers of amazing texts including Samhita

, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads, the Rigveda is composed of 10 Mandalas, 1,028 Suktas, and 10,600 verses. Rigveda could be given the name of an instruction manual that consists of all the verses and mantras that ought to be recited on various Hindu occasions such as weddings and yajnas.

Though there is a lot of confusion regarding the actual date of the formation of Rigveda, there have been some speculations made by Jamison Brereton who said that this was formed during 2000 BCE when the Indo-Iranian separation took place. Yet others say that the composition of Rigveda

dates around 1450-1350 BCE when the Mitanni documents of northern Syria and Iraq were written and they also mentioned Indian deities like Varuna, Mitra, and Indra. Some people also believe that Rigveda was composed during the rule of the famous Kuru Kingdom from the ancient text of Mahabharata.

Originating from the world of Indo-Aryan, it is believed that Rigveda is one of the oldest texts and that’s what made the western scholars like Max Muller and Rudolf Roth interested in it. There are rumors about the Rigveda being a law book that lays down the rules for various classes and castes. But when Jamison and Brereton studied these texts and translated them, they found that there were subtle mentions about cattle raising and horse raising as discernible jobs and there were no such elaborate mentions about the caste system.

Interestingly, the women portrayed in the Rigveda such as Indrani, Urvasi, Yami, and other apsaras, showed a lot of confidence, were outspoken, and had phlegmatic sexual appeal. Also, there’s no mention of the dowry and sati system.

The texts of Rigveda are written in the form of ten books and are arranged in the form of mandalas (circles). Every Mandala has different kinds of hymns arranged according to the r..ituals during those times. As far as the transmission of these texts is concerned, it is believed that these texts were never written. These were orally transmitted with every generation. Often the historians claim that Rigveda was first discovered in Nepal around 1040 CE.

Vedas were most probably written towards the end of the First Millennium BCE since the Smriti rules forbade the writing of such texts anytime earlier. Therefore, oral traditions remained constant until people finally found a method to record these narrations in a written form.

Georg Buhler, Franz Kielhorn, and other scholars of ancient Indian languages and law came together to collect the manuscripts of Rigveda that were present in various parts of India like Kashmir, Gujarat, Rajputana, and the central provinces. Their phenomenal achievement of discovering these manuscripts was not only appreciated by the Indians, but they also transferred these manuscripts to the Deccan College in Pune in the late 19th century. Written in Sharada and Devanagari scripts on birch bark and paper, these collections date back to 1464.

All the 30 manuscripts of Rigveda that were preserved in Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, found their place at UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register on 23 August 2007.

With its uniqueness and irreplaceability, the Vedas of India has created an important place in the world of manuscripts. Said to be one of the most important knowledge pillars on which the Asian culture is built upon, Rigveda dominates over every other manuscript. Even during the nomination of these manuscripts for the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, it had been stated that the availability of a complete and intact text is a rare achievement.