sangom
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Let us familiarise ourselves with Rigveda
I am starting this thread with the sincere hope that I will be able to give one verse (rik, as they are known) everyday. This will not help you to recite the verse in the prescribed "swaras", but will make people to know what is contained in this veda. But it is not definite that my health will permit me to be regular. Still, I shall try my best.
If members find it not useful, please give feedback so that I can stop. If any mistake/error is observed, please point out so that I can carry out necessary corrections.
Rigveda:
Rigveda (RV) as commonly spoken of today refers to the "SAkala SAkha" (शाकल शाखा - சாகல சாகை) or SAkala branch. It is believed that in olden times there were five branches of RV viz., SAkala, bAshkala, ASvalAyana, sAngkhyAyana and mANDUkyAyana. There were no material differences between them except arrangement of riks and sUktas and some riks being omitted in one or the other branch. This again is a belief, we have nothing to prove it. Most probably these differences could have arisen due to human inabilities during the millennia of oral transmission of the veda/s, and for reasons not known four out of the five branches have disappeared. Strangely, the westerners got hold of the SAkala version and thanks to them we have been able to get an enormous amount of knowledge, analysis, criticism etc., based on this version.
RV - the SAkala version - has 10 maNDalas (books) and 1017 sUKtas which together contain 10472 riks (verses); there is also another method of looking at RV as divided into 8 ashTakas, 64 adhyAyas, 85 anuvAkas in which the 1017 sUktas are divided. There are 1,93,816 words in the RV.
Note : There is some difference in the total number of sUktas and riks between various authorities. It is because some portions known as 'vAlakhilya (bAlakhilya)', a collection of 1 1 (according to some only 6 or 8) hymns of the Rig-veda (commonly inserted after viii, 48, but numbered separately as a supplement by some editors .
Of the ten maNDalas or books of RV books 2 to 7 are called "Family Books" by scholars because the sUktas in each of these maNDalas are ascribed to rishis of one particular lineage, as shown below:
maNDala-2 gr^tsamada
maNDala-3 viSvAmitra
maNDala-4 vAmadEva
maNDala-5 atri
maNDala-6 bhAradvAja
maNDala-7 vasishTa
Book 1 is older than Books 8, 9 and 10. These books were not composed by a distinct family of rishis each but by different individual rishis. Books 1 and 8 are almost like Family Books as a majority of the hymns are composed by the family of kanvas and many hymns are found in both the Books. Book 9 is different from the rest and all the hymns therein are addressed to Soma (while not a single hymn is addressed to Soma in the Family Books) and by groups of Rishis. Book 10 is a collection of various earlier and later hymns.It appears to be of a later origin and of a supplementary character. The Books 1 and 10 are the latest and the longest Books together accounting for about 40 percent of the bulk of the Rig Veda.
Among the Namboodiris of Kerala, they have a system of "mudras" or signs to indicate the word endings in RV and an expert will be able to recite the rik if someone simply indicates the mudras for two or three such consecutive mudras. This used to be one method of creating expertise in the RV.
vEdavyAsa is held to be the one who codified the vEdas. In Mahabharata, Santiparva, 359, there is a mention of another earlier Acharya by name "apAntarataman", son of vAgrishi, who was an epitome of virtues and a "trikAlajnAni" - one who knew the past, present and the future. This apAntarataman, it is told, spread the eternal vEda everywhere, and he taught it even to swAyambhuva manu. He was also known as "prAceenagarbhan" (ப்ராசீன கர்ப்பன்) .
Poetical metres or cHandases (छन्दः சந்தஸ்)in RV:
The more common poetical metres are listed below according to the number of letters (aksharas) required for each:
gAyatree* - 24
ushNik - 28
anushTup (anushTubh) - 32
br^hatee* - 36
pangkti - 40
trishTubh - 44
jagatee* - 48
* Note the long 'ee' ( ஈ) at the end.
There are other metres equiring less than 24 aksharas or more than 48 aksharas. According to scholars the shortest and longest metres in vEdas (all the four of them) are ’mA’ cHandas - 4 aksharas and utkr^ti cHandas - 104 letters.
An important point of much interest is that the gAyatree mantra is not in gAyatree cHandas; it is one akshara short (only 23 aksharas) and is therefore called "nicr^d gAyatree"(निचृद् गायत्री - நிச்ருத்காயத்ரீ). (This is why in the nyAsa for gAyatree japam we say "sAvitryA r^shirviSvAmitraH, nicr^d gAyatree cHandaH, savitA dEvatAH; the mantra is actually "sAvitri"). If two letters are short, then the metre is known 'virAj gAyatree'.
vEda recital modes (pATha - पाठ: பாடம்):
There are two main modes for vEda - nirbhuja and pratr^Na (प्रतॄण - ப்ரத்ருண). nirbhuja (or samhitA pATha) means without arms; it is reciting the entire vEda without any break, from start to end. pratr^Na means pada pATha, each pada or word is pronounced clearly and separately.
eg., agnim^, eeLE, purOhitam^, yajnasaya, dEvam^, r^tvijam^,...and so on.
(अग्निम् ईळे, पुरोहितम्, यज्ञस्य, देवम्, ऋत्विजम्....)
(அக்நிம், ஈளே, புரோஹிதம், யஜ்ஞஸ்ய, தேவம், ருத்விஜம், ... The ending 'm' is not pronounced as ம் but halfway between ம & மு).
By combining the above two modes, a third mode called "krama" or 'kramasamhita' has been created. It will be like: agnim^ eeLE, eeLE puraHahitam^, purOhitamiti puraH hitam^
vikr^tis (विकृति - विकृतयः - plural, விக்ருதிகள்):
The samhita is the natural form - prakr^ti - of the veda. From this 8 main vikr^tis have been created. These vikr^tis (or deformations) help to prevent mistakes. The eight vikr^tis are:-
1. jaTA- जटा - ஜடா
2. mAlA - माला - மாலா
3. SikhA - शिखा - சிகா
4. lEkhA (rEkhA)- लॆखा, रॆखा - லேகா, ரேகா
5. dhvaja - ध्वज - த்வஜ
6. daNDa - दण्ड - தண்ட
7. ratHa - रथ - ரத
8. ghana - घन - கன
The words of the rik or sometimes even a whole sUkta are committed to memory in different orders. For example if the words are 1,2,3,4,5,6, the arrangements for pancasandhi ghana pATha (பஞ்சஸந்தி கனபாட) will be:
1-2, 2-2, 2-1, 1-1, 1-2
1-2, 2-1, 1-2, 3; 3 –2-1, 1-2-3
2-3, 3-3, 3-2, 2-2, 2-3,
2-3, 3-2, 2-3- 4. 4-3-2, 2-3-4
3-4, 4-4, 4-3, 3-3, 3-4
3-4, 4-3 , 3-4 –5 , 5- 4-3, 3-4-5
4-5, 5-5, 5-4, 4 –4, 4-5
4-5, 5-4, 4-5 –6 ; 6-5-4, 4-5-6
This is the most difficult vikr^ti. And one who has mastered this pATha for the vEda is called ghanapAThi.
This apparently funny obsession with the permutations & combinations in word-rendering reveals the analytical or scientific genius of our ancients which they put to use in ensuring the transmission of the vEdas without any mistake, to the future generations. An instance was the yajurvEda mantra which goes as "natasya pratimA asti..." giving two derivations viz., na tasya pratimA asti (His idol is not there.) or, "natasya pratimA asti" (The idol of the one who bowed down is there.) Both sides argued in favour of their interpretation till the arbitrator asked for the ghana pATha when it became clear that the right rendering was "na + tasya" and not 'natasya'.
Note:
1. The mention of 'na tasya' brings to mind the way most people recite the verse containing these words in Sivakavacam - phalaSruti, which goes as follows:
yaH sadA dhArayEnmartyaH Saivam kavacam uttamam |
na tasya jAyatE kApi bhayam SambhOranugrahAt ||
Most people blissfully pronounce it as one word "natasya" because of ignorance. If there was some insight the two words would be pronounced with a very brief pause like 'na tasya'.
2. Despite all such precautions taken by the ancients, the horrible "sati" came to be practised, reportedly, on the basis of changing one word "agre" to "agne" in RV 10-18-08. It was probably done deliberately.
We now come to RV I-01-01, the very first rik, with which most people will be familiar because it can be heard on many occasions such as mantrapushpam, in the vEdAdhyayanam in Avani Avittam, etc.
ॐ
वैश्वामित्रो मधुछन्दाः ऋषिः गायत्री छन्दः अग्निर्देवता
अग्निम् ईळे पुरोहितम् यज्ञस्यदेवम् ऋत्विजम् ।
हॊतारम् रत्नधातमम् ॥ RV I. 01.01
agnim eeLe purOhitam yajnasya dEvam ritvijam
hOtAram ratnadhAtamam
அக்னிம் ஈளே புரோஹிதம் யஜ்ஞஸ்ய தேவம் ரித்விஜம்
ஹோதாரம் ரத்னதாதமம்
The rishi, cHandas and dEvata of this rik are vaiSvAmitra madhucHandA (madhucHanda of the viSvAmitra clan), gAyatree, and agni respectively.
I praise agni the dEvata in fire, who, in his Ahavaneeya form, resides in it (the fire) and bestows our desires, is generous, brings the (other) dEvas to the yagas (sacrifices), and as ritvik is adorned by jewels.
Note: In RV the sounds of Da and Dha (ड & ढ) are replaced by the sounds La & Lha (ळ & ळ्ह). Most probably the rigvEdic people had difficulty in correctly pronouncing the former set of sounds. Thus the word "eeLe" stands for the current Sanskrit "eeDe".
I am starting this thread with the sincere hope that I will be able to give one verse (rik, as they are known) everyday. This will not help you to recite the verse in the prescribed "swaras", but will make people to know what is contained in this veda. But it is not definite that my health will permit me to be regular. Still, I shall try my best.
If members find it not useful, please give feedback so that I can stop. If any mistake/error is observed, please point out so that I can carry out necessary corrections.
Rigveda:
Rigveda (RV) as commonly spoken of today refers to the "SAkala SAkha" (शाकल शाखा - சாகல சாகை) or SAkala branch. It is believed that in olden times there were five branches of RV viz., SAkala, bAshkala, ASvalAyana, sAngkhyAyana and mANDUkyAyana. There were no material differences between them except arrangement of riks and sUktas and some riks being omitted in one or the other branch. This again is a belief, we have nothing to prove it. Most probably these differences could have arisen due to human inabilities during the millennia of oral transmission of the veda/s, and for reasons not known four out of the five branches have disappeared. Strangely, the westerners got hold of the SAkala version and thanks to them we have been able to get an enormous amount of knowledge, analysis, criticism etc., based on this version.
RV - the SAkala version - has 10 maNDalas (books) and 1017 sUKtas which together contain 10472 riks (verses); there is also another method of looking at RV as divided into 8 ashTakas, 64 adhyAyas, 85 anuvAkas in which the 1017 sUktas are divided. There are 1,93,816 words in the RV.
Note : There is some difference in the total number of sUktas and riks between various authorities. It is because some portions known as 'vAlakhilya (bAlakhilya)', a collection of 1 1 (according to some only 6 or 8) hymns of the Rig-veda (commonly inserted after viii, 48, but numbered separately as a supplement by some editors .
Of the ten maNDalas or books of RV books 2 to 7 are called "Family Books" by scholars because the sUktas in each of these maNDalas are ascribed to rishis of one particular lineage, as shown below:
maNDala-2 gr^tsamada
maNDala-3 viSvAmitra
maNDala-4 vAmadEva
maNDala-5 atri
maNDala-6 bhAradvAja
maNDala-7 vasishTa
Book 1 is older than Books 8, 9 and 10. These books were not composed by a distinct family of rishis each but by different individual rishis. Books 1 and 8 are almost like Family Books as a majority of the hymns are composed by the family of kanvas and many hymns are found in both the Books. Book 9 is different from the rest and all the hymns therein are addressed to Soma (while not a single hymn is addressed to Soma in the Family Books) and by groups of Rishis. Book 10 is a collection of various earlier and later hymns.It appears to be of a later origin and of a supplementary character. The Books 1 and 10 are the latest and the longest Books together accounting for about 40 percent of the bulk of the Rig Veda.
Among the Namboodiris of Kerala, they have a system of "mudras" or signs to indicate the word endings in RV and an expert will be able to recite the rik if someone simply indicates the mudras for two or three such consecutive mudras. This used to be one method of creating expertise in the RV.
vEdavyAsa is held to be the one who codified the vEdas. In Mahabharata, Santiparva, 359, there is a mention of another earlier Acharya by name "apAntarataman", son of vAgrishi, who was an epitome of virtues and a "trikAlajnAni" - one who knew the past, present and the future. This apAntarataman, it is told, spread the eternal vEda everywhere, and he taught it even to swAyambhuva manu. He was also known as "prAceenagarbhan" (ப்ராசீன கர்ப்பன்) .
Poetical metres or cHandases (छन्दः சந்தஸ்)in RV:
The more common poetical metres are listed below according to the number of letters (aksharas) required for each:
gAyatree* - 24
ushNik - 28
anushTup (anushTubh) - 32
br^hatee* - 36
pangkti - 40
trishTubh - 44
jagatee* - 48
* Note the long 'ee' ( ஈ) at the end.
There are other metres equiring less than 24 aksharas or more than 48 aksharas. According to scholars the shortest and longest metres in vEdas (all the four of them) are ’mA’ cHandas - 4 aksharas and utkr^ti cHandas - 104 letters.
An important point of much interest is that the gAyatree mantra is not in gAyatree cHandas; it is one akshara short (only 23 aksharas) and is therefore called "nicr^d gAyatree"(निचृद् गायत्री - நிச்ருத்காயத்ரீ). (This is why in the nyAsa for gAyatree japam we say "sAvitryA r^shirviSvAmitraH, nicr^d gAyatree cHandaH, savitA dEvatAH; the mantra is actually "sAvitri"). If two letters are short, then the metre is known 'virAj gAyatree'.
vEda recital modes (pATha - पाठ: பாடம்):
There are two main modes for vEda - nirbhuja and pratr^Na (प्रतॄण - ப்ரத்ருண). nirbhuja (or samhitA pATha) means without arms; it is reciting the entire vEda without any break, from start to end. pratr^Na means pada pATha, each pada or word is pronounced clearly and separately.
eg., agnim^, eeLE, purOhitam^, yajnasaya, dEvam^, r^tvijam^,...and so on.
(अग्निम् ईळे, पुरोहितम्, यज्ञस्य, देवम्, ऋत्विजम्....)
(அக்நிம், ஈளே, புரோஹிதம், யஜ்ஞஸ்ய, தேவம், ருத்விஜம், ... The ending 'm' is not pronounced as ம் but halfway between ம & மு).
By combining the above two modes, a third mode called "krama" or 'kramasamhita' has been created. It will be like: agnim^ eeLE, eeLE puraHahitam^, purOhitamiti puraH hitam^
vikr^tis (विकृति - विकृतयः - plural, விக்ருதிகள்):
The samhita is the natural form - prakr^ti - of the veda. From this 8 main vikr^tis have been created. These vikr^tis (or deformations) help to prevent mistakes. The eight vikr^tis are:-
1. jaTA- जटा - ஜடா
2. mAlA - माला - மாலா
3. SikhA - शिखा - சிகா
4. lEkhA (rEkhA)- लॆखा, रॆखा - லேகா, ரேகா
5. dhvaja - ध्वज - த்வஜ
6. daNDa - दण्ड - தண்ட
7. ratHa - रथ - ரத
8. ghana - घन - கன
The words of the rik or sometimes even a whole sUkta are committed to memory in different orders. For example if the words are 1,2,3,4,5,6, the arrangements for pancasandhi ghana pATha (பஞ்சஸந்தி கனபாட) will be:
1-2, 2-2, 2-1, 1-1, 1-2
1-2, 2-1, 1-2, 3; 3 –2-1, 1-2-3
2-3, 3-3, 3-2, 2-2, 2-3,
2-3, 3-2, 2-3- 4. 4-3-2, 2-3-4
3-4, 4-4, 4-3, 3-3, 3-4
3-4, 4-3 , 3-4 –5 , 5- 4-3, 3-4-5
4-5, 5-5, 5-4, 4 –4, 4-5
4-5, 5-4, 4-5 –6 ; 6-5-4, 4-5-6
This is the most difficult vikr^ti. And one who has mastered this pATha for the vEda is called ghanapAThi.
This apparently funny obsession with the permutations & combinations in word-rendering reveals the analytical or scientific genius of our ancients which they put to use in ensuring the transmission of the vEdas without any mistake, to the future generations. An instance was the yajurvEda mantra which goes as "natasya pratimA asti..." giving two derivations viz., na tasya pratimA asti (His idol is not there.) or, "natasya pratimA asti" (The idol of the one who bowed down is there.) Both sides argued in favour of their interpretation till the arbitrator asked for the ghana pATha when it became clear that the right rendering was "na + tasya" and not 'natasya'.
Note:
1. The mention of 'na tasya' brings to mind the way most people recite the verse containing these words in Sivakavacam - phalaSruti, which goes as follows:
yaH sadA dhArayEnmartyaH Saivam kavacam uttamam |
na tasya jAyatE kApi bhayam SambhOranugrahAt ||
Most people blissfully pronounce it as one word "natasya" because of ignorance. If there was some insight the two words would be pronounced with a very brief pause like 'na tasya'.
2. Despite all such precautions taken by the ancients, the horrible "sati" came to be practised, reportedly, on the basis of changing one word "agre" to "agne" in RV 10-18-08. It was probably done deliberately.
We now come to RV I-01-01, the very first rik, with which most people will be familiar because it can be heard on many occasions such as mantrapushpam, in the vEdAdhyayanam in Avani Avittam, etc.
ॐ
वैश्वामित्रो मधुछन्दाः ऋषिः गायत्री छन्दः अग्निर्देवता
अग्निम् ईळे पुरोहितम् यज्ञस्यदेवम् ऋत्विजम् ।
हॊतारम् रत्नधातमम् ॥ RV I. 01.01
agnim eeLe purOhitam yajnasya dEvam ritvijam
hOtAram ratnadhAtamam
அக்னிம் ஈளே புரோஹிதம் யஜ்ஞஸ்ய தேவம் ரித்விஜம்
ஹோதாரம் ரத்னதாதமம்
The rishi, cHandas and dEvata of this rik are vaiSvAmitra madhucHandA (madhucHanda of the viSvAmitra clan), gAyatree, and agni respectively.
I praise agni the dEvata in fire, who, in his Ahavaneeya form, resides in it (the fire) and bestows our desires, is generous, brings the (other) dEvas to the yagas (sacrifices), and as ritvik is adorned by jewels.
Note: In RV the sounds of Da and Dha (ड & ढ) are replaced by the sounds La & Lha (ळ & ळ्ह). Most probably the rigvEdic people had difficulty in correctly pronouncing the former set of sounds. Thus the word "eeLe" stands for the current Sanskrit "eeDe".
Last edited:
