The oldest of the four Vedas — 1,028 hymns to the gods of the Vedic pantheon (Indra, Agni, Varuna, Soma, Ushas), composed c. 1500–1200 BCE. The foundational scripture of the entire Hindu tradition.
1 chapter
Tradition
Śruti — "that which is heard." Vedic Sanskrit hymn collection in ten maṇḍalas (books). The single oldest religious text composed in any Indo-European language.
Translation
Ralph T. H. Griffith, *The Hymns of the Rigveda* (Benares: E. J. Lazarus & Co., 1889–1892; 2nd ed. 1896). Public domain. Selected hymns from Volumes I and II (Maṇḍalas I–VII); see source for the complete text. The OCR-derived text retains the original verse numbering of each hymn but may omit Griffith's editorial commentary and footnotes.
License
Public domain (pre-1929 English translation). Reproduced for educational and religious commentary.