Rigveda

Ignatius Donnelly
Mesopotamian

The Holy Seven

Atri, a sage in Hinduism, is one of the Saptarishis credited with composing several hymns of the Rigveda and known for his wisdom and knowledge of dharma (duty, morality, law).

Vishwamitra is a celebrated sage in the Hindu texts, credited with composing many hymns in the Rigveda and playing a key role in the development of certain social and ritual practices, which involve complex verbal and communicative skills.

Gautama Maharishi, different from Gautama Buddha, is a revered figure in the Indian tradition, known for his contributions to the Rigveda and as a teacher of royal dynasties, emphasizing dharma (righteousness).

Bharadvaja is one of the revered Vedic sages (Saptarishis) in Hindu tradition, who is attributed with writing several hymns of the Rigveda and imparting significant spiritual and ritualistic knowledge.

Hinduism

The Rigveda Samhita

The sounds and texts of the Rigveda have been orally transmitted since the 2nd millennium BCE

The Rigveda is one of the oldest known religious texts and a foundational scripture of Hinduism.

Composed in ancient Sanskrit, the Rigveda is a collection of hymns or "suktas" dedicated to various deities and natural phenomena.

The Rigveda consists of 1,028 hymns and about 10,600 verses divided into ten books called "mandalas." The hymns praise a pantheon of gods and goddesses, including Indra, Agni, Varuna, and others, reflecting the religious, social, and philosophical ideas of early Vedic civilization.

Women in the Rigveda appear disproportionately as speakers in dialogue hymns, both as mythical or divine Indrani, Apsaras Urvasi, or Yami, as well as Apāla Ātreyī (RV 8.91), Godhā (RV 10.134.6), Ghoṣā Kākṣīvatī (RV 10.39.40), Romaśā (RV 1.126.7), Lopāmudrā (RV 1.179.1–2), Viśvavārā Ātreyī (RV 5.28), Śacī Paulomī (RV 10.159), Śaśvatī Āṅgirasī (RV 8.1.34).

The women of the Rigveda are quite outspoken and appear more sexually confident than men, in the text.

Creation Stories

The Rigveda (Hindu Mythology)Contains hymns speculating the origin of the universe, including the famous Nasadiya Sukta, which questions the existence of anything before creation.