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==  ऋग्वेदः || Rigveda ==

==  ऋग्वेदः || Rigveda ==

=== व्युत्पत्तिः ॥ Etymology ===

=== व्युत्पत्तिः ॥ Etymology ===

The Samskrit धातुः "ऋच्" (तुदादि-गणः) is used in the meaning स्तुतिः || Stuti (to praise). That which has the description of the quality, action and nature of substances is said to be ऋक् (Rk).<ref name=":02232222">Shastri, Jwalanth Kumar. (2009) ''Ved aur vedarth'' Rajasthan: Sri Ghudhmal Prahladkumar Arya Dharmarth Nyasa</ref> Rigveda contains primarily Mantras (set in 2, 3 or 4 पादा-s || padas) dealing with the stuti for देवताः ॥ devatas, their invocation, यज्ञकर्माणि ॥ yajnakarmas, कर्मकाण्डः ॥ karmakanda, उपासना-मन्त्राः ॥ upasana mantras, mantras related to different worldly activities such as दानम् ॥ dana, conduct, medical remedies etc.

The Samskrit धातुः "ऋच्" (तुदादि-गणः) is used in the meaning स्तुतिः || Stuti (to praise). That which has the description of the quality, action and nature of substances is said to be ऋक् (Rk).<ref name=":02232222">Shastri, Jwalanth Kumar. (2009) ''Ved aur vedarth'' Rajasthan: Sri Ghudhmal Prahladkumar Arya Dharmarth Nyasa</ref> Variously called as 'rk or rik (ऋक्)', 'richas (ऋचाः)', 'rig (ऋग्)', these Mantras are meant for the praise of the deities.

 

Rigveda contains primarily Mantras (set in 2, 3 or 4 पादा-s || padas) dealing with the stuti for devatas, their invocation, yajnakarmas, कर्मकाण्डः ॥ karmakanda, उपासना-मन्त्राः ॥ upasana mantras, mantras related to different worldly activities such as दानम् ॥ dana, conduct, medical remedies etc.

===  ऋग्वेद-विभाजनम् ॥ Rigveda Vibhajana ===

===  ऋग्वेद-विभाजनम् ॥ Rigveda Vibhajana ===

There are two types of divisions of Rigveda namely, मण्डल-क्रमः ॥ Mandala krama and अष्टक-क्रमः ॥ Ashtaka krama. They arose mainly for अध्ययनम् || study and अध्यापनम् || teaching. A small lesson is easily grasped or understood and committed to memory.(See footnote 3 on Page 35 of Reference 1<ref name=":02232222" />) There are different versions advocated by different scholars about the number of सूक्त-s || suktas and मन्त्र-s || mantras available in Rigveda.   

There are two types of divisions of Rigveda namely, मण्डल-क्रमः ॥ Mandala krama and अष्टक-क्रमः ॥ Ashtaka krama. They arose mainly for अध्ययनम् || study and अध्यापनम् || teaching. A small lesson is easily grasped or understood and committed to memory.(See footnote 3 on Page 35 of Reference 1<ref name=":02232222" />) There are different versions advocated by different scholars about the number of सूक्त-s || suktas and मन्त्र-s || mantras available in Rigveda.   

Only one Shaka (school or recension) of the Rigveda is available today

Only one Shaka (school or recension) of the Rigveda is available today

* '''शाकल-शाखा || Shakala shakha'''<ref name=":02232222" /><ref name=":1232222" />

* '''शाकल-शाखा || Shakala shakha'''<ref name=":02232222" /><ref name=":1232222" />

According to सर्वानुक्रमणि-वृत्तिः ॥ Sarvanukramani vritti, अहिर्बुध्न्यसंहिता ॥ Ahirbudhnyasamhita, मुक्तिकोपनिषद् ॥ Muktikopanishad and पतञ्जलेः महाभाष्यम् ॥ Patanjali's Mahabhashya, and recently many scholars opined that Rigveda had 21 shakhas.   

According to सर्वानुक्रमणि-वृत्तिः ॥ Sarvanukramani vritti, अहिर्बुध्न्यसंहिता ॥ Ahirbudhnyasamhita, मुक्तिकोपनिषद् ॥ Muktikopanishad and पतञ्जलेः महाभाष्यम् ॥ Patanjali's Mahabhashya, and recently many scholars opined that Rigveda had 21 shakhas.   

However, according to Pt. Satyavrat Samashrami<ref name=":02232222" />, Rig veda has only 2 ancient shakhas namely, शाकलः || Shakala and माण्डूकेयः || Mandukeya. These two shakhas became 21 shakhas gradually. शाकलाचार्यः ॥ Shakalacharya taught this veda to 5 of his disciples and gradually in their pronunciation there were differences bringing about 5 different versions of the Veda, which according to the text विकृति-कौमुदी ॥ Vikruti Kaumudi is as follows:  <blockquote>शाकल्यसेय शतं शिष्या नैष्ठिकब्रह्मचारिणः | पञ्च तेषां गृहस्थास्ते धर्मनिष्ठाश्च कुटुम्बिनः ||</blockquote><blockquote>शिशिरो वाष्कलो सांख्यो वात्स्यश्चैवाश्वलायनः | पञ्चैते शाकलाः शिष्याः शाखाभेदप्रवर्त्तकाः ||</blockquote><blockquote>śākalyaseya śataṃ śiṣyā naiṣṭhikabrahmacāriṇaḥ | pañca teṣāṃ gṛhasthāste dharmaniṣṭhāśca kuṭumbinaḥ ||</blockquote><blockquote>śiśiro vāṣkalo sāṃkhyo vātsyaścaivāśvalāyanaḥ | pañcaite śākalāḥ śiṣyāḥ śākhābhedapravarttakāḥ ||</blockquote>Meaning : शाकलः ॥ Shakala had 100 students who were brahmacharis. Of them, 5 who were having धर्मनिष्ठा ॥ dharmanishtha were grhasthas bearing the responsibility of maintaining a family. शिशिरः || Shishira, वाष्कलः || Vashkala (Bashkala), साङ्ख्यः || Sankhya, वात्स्यः || Vatsya and आश्वलायनः || Ashvalayana were the five disciples who were the प्रवर्तक-s || pravartakas of the different shakhas.<ref name=":02232222" /> Ashvalayana Samhita was available as lately as 17th century but is presently unavailable. शाङ्खायन-संहिता ॥ Sankhayana samhita is not available but its Brahmanas and Aranyakas are available. Some scholars opine that शाङ्खायन ॥ Sankhayana and कौषीतकी शाखाः॥ Kaushitaki shakhas are one and the same.<ref name=":2232222" />

However, according to Pt. Satyavrat Samashrami<ref name=":02232222" />, Rig veda has only 2 ancient shakhas namely, शाकलः || Shakala and माण्डूकेयः || Mandukeya. These two shakhas became 21 shakhas gradually. शाकलाचार्यः ॥ Shakalacharya taught this veda to 5 of his disciples and gradually in their pronunciation there were differences bringing about 5 different versions of the Veda, which according to the text विकृति-कौमुदी ॥ Vikruti Kaumudi is as follows:  <blockquote>शाकल्यसेय शतं शिष्या नैष्ठिकब्रह्मचारिणः | पञ्च तेषां गृहस्थास्ते धर्मनिष्ठाश्च कुटुम्बिनः ||</blockquote><blockquote>शिशिरो वाष्कलो सांख्यो वात्स्यश्चैवाश्वलायनः | पञ्चैते शाकलाः शिष्याः शाखाभेदप्रवर्त्तकाः ||</blockquote><blockquote>śākalyaseya śataṃ śiṣyā naiṣṭhikabrahmacāriṇaḥ | pañca teṣāṃ gṛhasthāste dharmaniṣṭhāśca kuṭumbinaḥ ||</blockquote><blockquote>śiśiro vāṣkalo sāṃkhyo vātsyaścaivāśvalāyanaḥ | pañcaite śākalāḥ śiṣyāḥ śākhābhedapravarttakāḥ ||</blockquote>Meaning : शाकलः ॥ Shakala had 100 students who were brahmacharis. Of them, 5 who were having धर्मनिष्ठा ॥ dharmanishtha were grhasthas bearing the responsibility of maintaining a family. शिशिरः || Shishira, वाष्कलः || Vashkala (Bashkala), शाङ्ख्यः || Sankhya, वात्स्यः || Vatsya and अश्वलायनः || Ashvalayana were the five disciples who were the प्रवर्तक-s || pravartakas of the different shakhas.<ref name=":02232222" /> Ashvalayana Samhita was available as lately as 17th century but is presently unavailable. शाङ्खायन-संहिता ॥ Sankhayana samhita is not available but its Brahmanas and Aranyakas are available. Some scholars opine that शाङ्खायन ॥ Sankhayana and कौषीतकी शाखाः॥ Kaushitaki shakhas are one and the same.<ref name=":2232222" />

=== देवताः छन्दसः ऋत्विक् च ॥ Devatas, Chandas and Rtvik ===

=== देवताः छन्दसः ऋत्विक् च ॥ Devatas, Chandas and Rtvik ===

Rigveda mantras are chanted by the [[Hota (होता)|होता || Hota]] (the Rigveda priest), to invoke the deities to the यज्ञः ॥ [[Yagya (यज्ञ)|yajna]]. Important Rigvedic deities are अग्निः ॥ [[Agni (आग्निः)|Agni]], इन्द्रः ॥ [[Indra (इन्द्रः)|Indra]], वरुणः ॥ [[Varuna]], उषस् ॥ [[Usha (उषा)|Ushas]], सविता ॥ [[Savita (सविता)|Savita]], पूषा ॥ [[Pushan|Pusha]], मित्रः ॥ [[Mitra (Vedic)|Mitra]], विष्णुः ॥ [[Vishnu]], रुद्रः ॥ [[Rudra (रुद्रः)|Rudra]], मरुत् ॥ [[Maruts|Marut]] and पर्जन्यः ॥ [[Parjanya (पर्जन्यः)|Parjanya]]. गायत्री ॥ Gayatri, जगती ॥ Jagati, बृहती ॥ Bruhati, पङ्क्ती ॥ Pankti and त्रिष्टुभ् ॥ Trishtubh and अनुष्टुभ् ॥ Anustubh are widely used meters (Page No 6 of Reference 4<ref name=":2232222" />).   

Rigveda mantras are chanted by the [[Hota (होता)|होता || Hota]] (the Rigveda priest), to invoke the deities to the यज्ञः ॥ [[Yagya (यज्ञ)|yajna]]. Important Rigvedic deities are अग्निः ॥ [[Agni (आग्निः)|Agni]], इन्द्रः ॥ [[Indra (इन्द्रः)|Indra]], वरुणः ॥ [[Varuna]], उषस् ॥ [[Usha (उषा)|Ushas]], सविता ॥ [[Savita (सविता)|Savita]], पूषा ॥ [[Pushan|Pusha]], मित्रः ॥ [[Mitra (Vedic)|Mitra]], विष्णुः ॥ [[Vishnu]], रुद्रः ॥ [[Rudra (रुद्रः)|Rudra]], मरुत् ॥ [[Maruts|Marut]] and पर्जन्यः ॥ [[Parjanya (पर्जन्यः)|Parjanya]]. गायत्री ॥ Gayatri, जगती ॥ Jagati, बृहती ॥ Bruhati, पङ्क्ती ॥ Pankti and त्रिष्टुभ् ॥ Trishtubh and अनुष्टुभ् ॥ Anustubh are widely used meters (Page No 6 of Reference 4<ref name=":2232222" />).