The Rig Veda: An Anthology

The Rig Veda: An Anthology is a selection of 108 hymns from the ancient Sanskrit collection of religious poetry, the earliest substantial literary composition in an Indo-European language. Intended for a general audience, Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty’s popular translation of the Rig Veda, published by Penguin in 1981, anthologizes approximately one tenth of the original Sanskrit text, which numbers over 1,000 poems.

Composed between 1400-900 BCE, the hymns of the Rig Veda praise the gods of Bronze Age Hindu culture, describe the rituals and sacrifices of worship, and meditate on the origin and structure of the cosmos and the relations between mankind and the divine. Orally transmitted with remarkable fidelity for over a millennium before it was set down in writing, the Rig Veda stands at the fountainhead of Hindu culture and provides valuable insight into early Indian mythology, philosophy, religion, and social life. Along with the Iranian Avesta, the Rig Veda is an indispensable source for the reconstruction of proto-Indo-European language, culture, and mythology.

The Rig Veda is the earliest of four Vedic texts—Rig Veda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Artharvaveda—that comprise the written tradition and ritual system forming the basis of ancient Indian religion. Consisting of hymns, mantras, litanies, and prayers, these early collections of oral texts are known as Samhitas. Recited, chanted, or sung by priests, Vedic hymns had a liturgical function and were an integral part of Hindu sacrificial and other rituals, such as the important Soma rite associated with the warrior god Indra.

The Rig Veda is divided into ten books or mandalas (literally, “cycles”). Books 2-7, the “Family Books,” are the oldest parts of the collection. Vedic commentaries attribute the authorship of each of these books to poets of the same familial lineages. Books 1 and 10 are considered the youngest additions to the Rig Veda, while Book 9 is noteworthy in that it is a collection of hymns focused on the preparation of Soma, the sacred beverage offered to the gods and praised for its stimulating and euphoric effects. Many of the hymns of the Rig Veda relate, directly or indirectly, to the Soma sacrifice, the most important Vedic rite.

Plot Summary

Doniger’s anthology groups the poems thematically. Chapter 1, “Creation,” focuses on the origin of the cosmos, variously depicted as resulting from the sexual intercourse of primal forces, the creative act of a cosmic embryo, or the sacrifice of a primordial Man. Chapter 2, “Death,” describes funeral rites, in which Agni, the god of the ritual fire, and Yama, the lord of the afterlife, prominently figure. Chapter 3, “The Elements of Sacrifice,” and Chapter 4, “The Horse Sacrifice,” focus on sacrificial rituals other than the Soma rite, the role of priests, and the power of sacred speech in the context of ritual and poetic composition.

The Vedic gods Agni and Soma, ritual substances personified as deities, are the subject of the hymns in Chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 7, “Indra,” focuses on the heroic deeds of this pre-eminent god of the early Vedic pantheon. Chapter 8, “Gods of the Storm,” contains hymns about the minor nature deities who serve Indra: the Maruts, and Parjanya and Vayu—gods of the thunderstorm and wind. Chapter 9, “Solar Gods,” features hymns about gods with solar characteristics, including the Sun, Dawn, Night, Pusan the divine charioteer, and the Asvins, twin benefactors of mankind. Chapter 10 contains poems about the primal deities Sky and Earth, mythical parents of mankind. Varuna, a sky-god who becomes the sovereign deity presiding over moral and ethical behavior, is the focus of the hymns in Chapter 11. Chapter 12 features poems about Rudra, father of the Maruts and antecedent to Siva in classical Hinduism, and Visnu, a Vedic deity whose scope significantly expands in later Hinduism.

Chapter 13, “Realia,” sheds light on the worldly pleasures, anxieties, and the day-to-day life of the Vedic tribes. Chapter 14, “Women,” depicts the role of women and the tensions of marital life, often comically. The final chapter features a selection of incantations and magical spells, shedding additional light on domestic life and popular beliefs.