The Rig Veda
Selected, translated and annotated by Wendy Doniger
Penguin Books. Translation and annotation first published 1981.
There are four commonly acknowledged vedic compilations of hymns - the Rig, the Atharva, the Ayur and the Sama vedas. Of these the Rig veda is held to be the oldest of all and the most philosophic - the others are said to deal with more prosaic matters such as rituals and prayers and medicines and life practices. Doniger selects 108 from the over 1000 hymns in the Rig veda. The number 108 occurs frequently in Hinduism, in ritual practice and in everyday life, though its precise significance is obscure. Doniger must have chosen that particular number of hymns to translate as a nod to the practice. The Rig vedas addresses a variety of topics, and her selection spans this variety, though surely not fully. There are only a few hymns in this selection that can be called deeply philosophical - as ruminations on Life, the Universe and Everything. Others are ritual invocations to the Gods - Indra, mainly, but also Varuna, Agni and a few others. Vishnu and Rudra (Siva) are among these, but not with the prime positions in the pantheon they have since come to occupy. There are also hymns that describe rituals, that set up and repeat myths, or refer to myths that were probably well known at that time. Some of these stories may be interpreted to have psychological or philosophical meaning, but such interpretations have to be carried out carefully, and should be read by the lay reader with even more care.
The translation is scholarly and profusely annotated, though, perhaps for that very reason, dry. In the present day and age most of the vedas, I think, can have only religious or ritual significance. It may be nice to understand what the priests actually say at a Hindu wedding or a Grahapravesam or other ritual of passing. But apart from that, these poems, except for a few them, would be of interest only to Hindu ritualists, and to scholars of ancient literature, religion and philosophy. But there are few of general interest, and I will mention the ones that struck me as such from this collection.
The well-known and frequently quoted creation hymn (no. 10.129 in the system of enumeration of the hymns used by Doniger) is the first one in this book. It alludes to a space-time, outside of space and time, whence these two fundamentals were created, or sprang into existence. This was followed by the creation of matter and energy, and the Gods, and everything else. The last sloka is a stunner: 'Whence this creation has arisen - perhaps it formed itself, perhaps it did not - the one who looks down on it, in the highest heaven, only he knows - or perhaps he does not know.'
The Purusa sukta (no. 10.90) describes the creation of the castes when Purusa, or the primeval man, was sacrificed. His mouth became the brahmins, his feet the sudras, and his thighs the kshatriyas. Other parts of his body became, including stuff like fat, all other parts of creation were derived - plants, animals, verses, chants, rhymes and metres, ritual formulas, everything.
Hymn 10.72 describes Aditi, the mother of the Gods, and of men. Sloka 4 is translated as: 'The earth was born from her who crouched with legs spread, and from the earth the quarters of the sky was born. From Aditi Daksa was born, and from Daksa Aditi was born' - in cyclical act of creation.
Hymn 10.135 is a moving and complex song about death. A boy watches his father die, and yearns for him to come back from the land of death - 'Beneath the tree with beautiful leaves where Yama drinks with the Gods, there our father, the head of the family, turns with longing to the ancient ones. Reluctantly I looked upon him as he turned with longing to the ancient ones, as he moved on that evil way. I longed to have him back again'.
Hymn 10.117 contains this probable fore-runner to the riddle of the Sphinx: 'One-foot (the sun) surpasses Two-foot (human); and Two-foot leaves Three-foot (old man with a cane) behind. Four-foot (a dog) comes at the call of Two-foot, watching over his herds and serving him.'
Hymn 6.70 has an obvious interpretation. It is translated unexplained by Doniger: 'The two full of butter, beautiful masters of all creatures, broad and wide, milked of honey, beautifully adorned...'
Hymn 7.103 describes frogs croaking just after the first rains, and simultaneously brahmins chanting the slokas: 'After lying still for a year, brahmins keeping their vows, the frogs have raised their voice that Parjanya (the God of the Rain-storm) has inspired.'
Hymn 10.34 is a gambler's lament: 'The dice seemed to me like a drink of Soma from Mount Mujavant, keeping me awake and excited.'
Perhaps a more imaginative translation, while less authentic, would be easier to read, maybe even more inspirational. However I intent to revisit this collection several times.
There are four commonly acknowledged vedic compilations of hymns - the Rig, the Atharva, the Ayur and the Sama vedas. Of these the Rig veda is held to be the oldest of all and the most philosophic - the others are said to deal with more prosaic matters such as rituals and prayers and medicines and life practices. Doniger selects 108 from the over 1000 hymns in the Rig veda. The number 108 occurs frequently in Hinduism, in ritual practice and in everyday life, though its precise significance is obscure. Doniger must have chosen that particular number of hymns to translate as a nod to the practice. The Rig vedas addresses a variety of topics, and her selection spans this variety, though surely not fully. There are only a few hymns in this selection that can be called deeply philosophical - as ruminations on Life, the Universe and Everything. Others are ritual invocations to the Gods - Indra, mainly, but also Varuna, Agni and a few others. Vishnu and Rudra (Siva) are among these, but not with the prime positions in the pantheon they have since come to occupy. There are also hymns that describe rituals, that set up and repeat myths, or refer to myths that were probably well known at that time. Some of these stories may be interpreted to have psychological or philosophical meaning, but such interpretations have to be carried out carefully, and should be read by the lay reader with even more care.
The translation is scholarly and profusely annotated, though, perhaps for that very reason, dry. In the present day and age most of the vedas, I think, can have only religious or ritual significance. It may be nice to understand what the priests actually say at a Hindu wedding or a Grahapravesam or other ritual of passing. But apart from that, these poems, except for a few them, would be of interest only to Hindu ritualists, and to scholars of ancient literature, religion and philosophy. But there are few of general interest, and I will mention the ones that struck me as such from this collection.
The well-known and frequently quoted creation hymn (no. 10.129 in the system of enumeration of the hymns used by Doniger) is the first one in this book. It alludes to a space-time, outside of space and time, whence these two fundamentals were created, or sprang into existence. This was followed by the creation of matter and energy, and the Gods, and everything else. The last sloka is a stunner: 'Whence this creation has arisen - perhaps it formed itself, perhaps it did not - the one who looks down on it, in the highest heaven, only he knows - or perhaps he does not know.'
The Purusa sukta (no. 10.90) describes the creation of the castes when Purusa, or the primeval man, was sacrificed. His mouth became the brahmins, his feet the sudras, and his thighs the kshatriyas. Other parts of his body became, including stuff like fat, all other parts of creation were derived - plants, animals, verses, chants, rhymes and metres, ritual formulas, everything.
Hymn 10.72 describes Aditi, the mother of the Gods, and of men. Sloka 4 is translated as: 'The earth was born from her who crouched with legs spread, and from the earth the quarters of the sky was born. From Aditi Daksa was born, and from Daksa Aditi was born' - in cyclical act of creation.
Hymn 10.135 is a moving and complex song about death. A boy watches his father die, and yearns for him to come back from the land of death - 'Beneath the tree with beautiful leaves where Yama drinks with the Gods, there our father, the head of the family, turns with longing to the ancient ones. Reluctantly I looked upon him as he turned with longing to the ancient ones, as he moved on that evil way. I longed to have him back again'.
Hymn 10.117 contains this probable fore-runner to the riddle of the Sphinx: 'One-foot (the sun) surpasses Two-foot (human); and Two-foot leaves Three-foot (old man with a cane) behind. Four-foot (a dog) comes at the call of Two-foot, watching over his herds and serving him.'
Hymn 6.70 has an obvious interpretation. It is translated unexplained by Doniger: 'The two full of butter, beautiful masters of all creatures, broad and wide, milked of honey, beautifully adorned...'
Hymn 7.103 describes frogs croaking just after the first rains, and simultaneously brahmins chanting the slokas: 'After lying still for a year, brahmins keeping their vows, the frogs have raised their voice that Parjanya (the God of the Rain-storm) has inspired.'
Hymn 10.34 is a gambler's lament: 'The dice seemed to me like a drink of Soma from Mount Mujavant, keeping me awake and excited.'
Perhaps a more imaginative translation, while less authentic, would be easier to read, maybe even more inspirational. However I intent to revisit this collection several times.
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