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The Rig Veda

A Selection of Verses from 3700BC
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia in the Southern Autumn of 1996


Introduction

There is a certain amount of controversy surrounding the exact history of the Veda, the most ancient of Hindu scripture, which was first translated into European languages in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. At this time, it was the contention of the expanding scientific, philosophical and religious doctrines of western European culture, that these writings simply could not be more ancient than the classical roots of European civilisation. Whereas this hypothesis was strongly held by the expanding western educational regime, in recent times there has been cause to re-examine its claims.

In any event, although further references to this controversy are presented at the conclusion of this document, there is no doubt that these ancient Hindu scriptures are older than 1000BC. The word "Veda" is a Sanscrit word which means "knowledge" or "wisdom". There are in fact four Vedas: the Rig Veda" or "Veda of Hymns", the Sama-Veda or the "Veda of Chants", the Yajur-Veda or the "Veda of sacrifice" and the Artharva-Veda, which is later in date than the earlier three.

Although the Vedas are the earliest of the Hindu scriptures, they are by no means the only body of writings to have originated from the ancient sub-continent of India. The Katha Upanishad, is part of a large set of literature known as the Upanishads, and in the presentation of this you will find some interesting mappings between the science of the east and that of the west.

The reference work which I have used in the presentation of the following selection of verses from the Rig Veda is one from the "Everyman's Library" and entitled "The Hindu Scriptures". It is translated and edited by R.C. Zaehner as recently as 1966.

For a more in-depth research concerning the Rig Veda, I would recommend reviewing Hymns to the Mystic Fire, an extensive publication in 1946 by Sri Aurobindo - in particular the introductory sections in which he outlines the Doctrine of the Mystics.

I wish all research students the optimum of courage and determination concerning the pursuance of their common goals, and have pleasure in presenting the following texts from the Rig Veda.

Peace,


PRF Brown
BCSLS {Freshwater}
Mountain Man Graphics
Newport Beach, Australia


To Visvakarman [The "All-Maker"]


To Visvakarman


The Sacrifice of Primal Man


Vedic History - Resource Documents:

In reference to the controversy surrounding the true & correct History of India:

The Myth of the Aryan Invasion of India - By David Frawley

A History of India and Hindu Dharma - A clear outline of the New and the Old Models of Indian History, with very good references, maintained by Ms. Neha K. Desai at the universtiry of Manitoba in Canada.

Ancient India in a New Light - By C.J.S. Wallia, a review of two interesting books: Vedic "Aryans" and the Origins of Civilization by Navaratna Rajaram and David Frawley, World Heritage Press, 1995 and In Search of the Cradle of Civilization by Georg Feuesrstein, Subhash Kak, & David Frawley - Wheaton, Illinois Quest Books, 1995

Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization (c. 3000 B.C.) - A thoroughly researched article by Dr. S. Kalyanaraman of Mylapore, Madras, India which, in the words of the author, has the objective "to promote an understanding of and further researches into delineating the courses of the `lost' Sarasvati river from Siwalik ranges to the Rann of Kutch (sAgara) and to gain deeper insights into an ancient civilization that flourished on the Sarasvati and Indus river valleys circa 3000 BC."

Demise of Aryan Racial/Invasion Theory - A very interesting article retained during November 1995 consisting of a post by Dinesh Agrawal, of the State College, PA, USA which provides excellent references, discussion, bibliography and resource notes for the interested research student. This archive site is worth exploration, and is managed by the Soc.Religion.Hindu Newsgroup.


Further resources on the Vedas:

Hymns to the Mystic Fire - The 1946 publication by Sri Aurobindo ... The Doctrine of the Mystics.

Veda - Dharma & Vedic Culture - An extensive compendium and part of the vast SPIRIT-WWW, with many articles covering Vedic literature, Overviews, Collected articles related to Vedic writings and their applications to today's times, book extracts and articles discussing world views (Vedic/Western [Refer next item], Hindu/Christian, Mystic/Scientific, etc).

The Vedic Experience - Hinduism's Contemporary Holy Bible by Professor Raimon Panikkar

BaLitthA Suukta - A detailed presentation of the BaLitthA Suukta of the Rig Veda from the Dvaita Site and Shrisha Rao.

World Views: Vedic vs. Western - an article by Sadaputa Dasa (Richard L. Thompson) who earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from Cornell University. He is the author of several books, of which the most recent is Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy.

Hymns from the Rig Veda - maintained by Paul Brians, Department of English, Washington State University

The Aryan Pages - are maintained by delash out of Manchester in the UK, and have a number of interesting references to Vedic History and Literature.

The Creation Hymn - from my UseNet Archive ... a post concerning this most ancient writing.


Other Ancient Hindu Writings on the Web

The Upanishads: After the "dawn of the ancient Vedic Times" and the Vedas themselves were well taught and instructed, there arose further writings. This page examines the Katha Upanishad and provides commentary as to its applicability as to a model of the environment known as the ecosystem of Inner Man. References to further Upanishadic resources are to be found at this page.

The Ramayana:: one of the largest epics in the world, comparable to the Illiad and Odyssey.

The Mahabharata:: the largest epic in the history of mankind.

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General Information on Hindu WWW Resources

WWWVL: Religions: Hinduism - Part of the World Wide Web Virtual Library - one of the original and well established resource indices and material covering the Hindu Religion.

Global Hindu Electronic Networks: The Hindu Universe - Extensive resource, hosts of the above links for The Ramayana and Mahabharata and other literature available in many formats and languages.

Soc.Religion.Hindu Newsgroup HomePage - Extensive archived resources of articles, posts and other information discussed within this newsgroup for quite some time - host to a number of excellent pages.

Alt.Hindu Newsgroup Home Page - A further set of archived articles, posts and other information gathered back into the dim dark era of 1994.


LogoforMountainManGraphics,Australia

The Rig Veda

A Selection of Verses from 3700BC
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia in the Southern Autumn of 1996