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Art. XVIII.—On the Arrangement of the Hymns of the Rigveda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Frederic Pincott
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Extract

The supreme importance of the Rig-veda in all questions bearing on the history of the Aryan mind, and on the development of the religious idea in man, gives interest to every attempt to throw light on that priceless heir-loom of India. Much has already been done by able scholars, in many ways, to investigate the language and ideas enshrined in the Rig-veda-sanhitâ; but no one has yet discovered the principle on which the hymns are arranged among themselves, or has advanced beyond the mere consciousness expressed by Prof. Max Müller in his History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, that “there is some system,” “some priestly influence,” “traces of one superintending spirit,” and such-like generalities. The object of the following paper is to show the principle which regulated the formation of the Sanhitâ, the aggregation of hymns into Maṇḍalas, the reason for the positions assigned to the Maṇḍalas, and the method followed in placing each particular hymn. If my deductions prove accurate, it is evident that a fresh impetus will be given to the study of these remarkable documents, for the clue to the labyrinth will be in the hands of future investigators.

Type
Original Communications
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , July 1884 , pp. 381 - 399
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1884

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References

page 382 note 1 The visionary character of this assumption is demonstrated by the following list of the Rishis of the 1st Maṇḍala with the number of verses which each contributed:—

It will be seen that only one Rishi contributed exactly 100 verses; five others roughly approximate 100 verses; but the remainder vary between the wide limits of a single verse up to no less than 237 verses. It deserves remark, however, that the term S'atarchin has this slender application to these Rishis, that, of all members of their respective families, their hymns approach nearest in their total to 100 verses. This is true even of Dirghatamas with his 237 verses; for he is the nearest to 100 of any member of the Gautama family.

page 386 note 1 Colebrooke's Essays, vol. i. p. 171 (ed. 1873).

page 382 note 2 It is worthy of inquiry whether the contests of the Solar and Lunar races had anything to do with the worship of the Sun and Moon. Certainly a compromise seems to have been effected in the Rig-veda, as a kind of settlement; for Soma or the Moon is accorded the posts of honour both here, and in the 1st Maṇḍala, while hymns to Agni, Fire, or the Solar principle, are placed first in order in every arrangement of individual hymns. Thus the Moon dominates the order of the Maṇḍalas, and the Sun rules the arrangement of the individual hymns.

page 390 note 1 Some of the Rishis in this cluster are of doubtful lineage; but they are all certainly Ângiras.

page 390 note 2 The special connection of Kaśyapa with the centre is plainly stated in the Bhâgavata-Purâṇa (ix. 16, 21. 22), where, speaking of the distribution of space among the Brâhmans, it is said:— … : “He gave …. to others the intermediate regions; and, to Kaśyapa, the central.”

page 391 note 1 The 6th Maṇḍala, however, has one hymn to Agni at the end.

page 391 note 2 These Five Rishis are said to have been râjarshis, or royal sages, and there is something in their relationships, and even in their names, to identify them with the five Pâṇḍava princes. It is noticeable that one of them, Ambarîsha, is reputed to have been the progenitor of ŚunaḥŞepha, whose hymns are conspicuous in this Maṇḍala. On the other hand, it must be stated that they are called Vârshagirs, or descendants of Vṛrishagir, who is supposed to have been an ancient king. I prefer to translate the word as “descendants of the adorers of the sprinkler,” that is, worshippers of Indra, a title singularly appropriate to the authors of a hymn to Indra and the Maruts. It is curious that the hymn itself speaks of the “five classes of beings”, as though this hymn were intended to express the adoration of all sections of the Brahmanic community.

page 392 note 1 It certainly deserves notice that no hymn of Atri, or of his family, finds a place in the 1st Maṇḍdala. He is the only Maharshi excluded. This may arise from the fact already mentioned that he represents the Soma, and the place he would therefore have occupied is filled by Kasśyapa. Atri appears to have been devoted to Lunar interests, and preserved no hymn to Agni, although some of his family did, and this partizanship may have operated to exclude his family from the eclectic Maṇḍala, every Rishi in which celebrates the god Agni.