The title of earliest philosophical and religious scripture of Indian subcontinent is ‘Rigveda Samhita’. This text is the compilation of Rik mantras i.e. mantras meant for praise of deities.
Now there are actually two forms of division for Rigveda. While traditionally it is divided into 10 mandals, consisting of total 85 anuvakas and 1028 suktas. There is an uncommon way of dividing it into 8 Ashtakas, further divided into 8 adhyays and several vargas. The division of Mandal is history based and belongs to a particular rishi or groups of rishis, while the division of Ashtaka is lesson based. Today Mandal division is considered official and is quoted in scholarly work.
| Mandala | Sukta | Mantra | Name of Rishis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 191 | 2006 | Madhucchanda, Medatithi, Gotama and many others |
| 02 | 43 | 429 | Gritasamda and his family |
| 03 | 62 | 617 | Vishwamitra and his family |
| 04 | 58 | 589 | Varnadeva and his family |
| 05 | 87 | 727 | Atri and his family |
| 06 | 75 | 765 | Bhardwaj and his family |
| 07 | 104 | 841 | Vashistha and his family |
| 08 | 103 | 1716 | Kanva, Angira and their family |
| 09 | 114 | 1108 | Some Devta and different rishis |
| 10 | 191 | 1754 | Vimada, Indra, Shachi and many others |
So for example if a work quote RV 3.53.12, it simply means 12th mantra from 53rd Sukta of Third Mandala. This was the Mantra that coined the term Bharatam Janam for the first time.
य इ॒मे रोद॑सी उ॒भे अ॒हमिन्द्र॒मतु॑ष्टवम् । वि॒श्वामि॑त्रस्य रक्षति॒ ब्रह्मे॒दं भार॑तं॒ जन॑म् ॥ RV 3.53.12
“I have made Indra glorified by these two, heaven and earth, and this prayer of Viśvāmitra protects the race of Bharata.”
Whenever you start a study of Indian scriptures you will never encounter Veda alone. They are often accompanied by Brahamanas, Aranayaks, Upanishads. While Veda Samhita delves deep into the fields of theology and philosophy, the brahamanas are supportive books containing explanation, reasons, criticism, doubts and recommendations. Rigveda is accompanied by Aitareya and Kaushitaki Brahamanas.
The Samhita, Brahamanas, Aranayaks and Upanishads forms the teaching of a Shakha. According to Patanjali Rigveda Samhita had 21 Shakha. But the Rigveda that we have available today comes under Shaakal Shakha. The students of a particular Shakha were called Charana. Thus, the rishis like Vishhwamitra, Vashistha etc. who wrote the mandalas of rigveda were Charana of Shaakal Shakha.
The creation of Rigvedic hymn was done around c. 1500 BCE to 1000 BCE while it’s compilation took place between c. 1200 BCE to 900 BCE. Even though the numbers are heavily debated topics still today everyone agrees on the longevity of this text.
The amount of time that required to compile it was vast and it is easily visible through content. For example
During early books individual Gods like Agni, Indra, Varuna, Maruts (Wind), Ushas (Dawn) were invoked but in later books they are referred as Visve Devas (all Gods). The initial two hymns of 8 Mandalas belonged to Agni and then Indra, but in the 10th Mandala it was Visve Deva. It also shows that there was a pattern of compilation and was done under single supervision.
The second Aitareya Aranayak talks about a collection of 52 Rik Mantras. This was the state of Rigveda when Aitareya Aranayak was being composed which changed into a behemoth of 10,552 Mantras.
Another feature is Rigveda is written in Pada Patha form. In which Padas (words) are joined together due to the rules of Sandhis and the outcome is the Samhita form of recitation. But in later Mandalas there are some Mantras that do not follow this form showing that these Riks were added after the compilation.
