A Horse Amongst Donkeys

By kant

Who were the Aryans? Does their book the Rigveda make any sense or is it a compilation of abstract poetry? What are the secrets hidden in the Rigveda? Will its real meaning ever be revealed? Where were the Rigvedic people located? Was India the homeland, or was it elsewhere? Was Indra a God? If yes, why isn't he worshipped now?

If you are looking for the answers to such questions, you have come to the right place. This short book is the first ever in providing the real meaning of hymns from the Rigveda. Although only 16 hymns are presented, these are enough to answer many of the above questions.

This effort blows away many long-standing myths and misconceptions. It demonstrates that Rigveda is not full of abstract poetry but is a fascinating and readable document.

This is the first step in a long journey ahead to demystify Rigveda and uncover the secrets of the people that inhabited Earth thousands of years ago.

• Language: English
• Publisher: kant
• Release date: Jun 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310190612

kant

Dabbling in Indology was a hobby, till I tried to translate a few lines from the Rigveda.Now, having translated 16 hymns in 6 months (part time), I am gearing up to attract funding so I can translate the entire Rigveda full-time.I have a PhD in Physics, and an MBA.

Book preview

Thousands of years ago, a group of people, called the Vedic people, lived in an area called the Sapta-Sindhu. These people spoke an Indo-European language that people call Sanskrit, carried out spectacular attacks on their enemies under the stimulus of a drink called the Soma, and were led in many of these battles by a supreme commander called Indra. The exact location of Sapta-Sindhu is yet to be determined. These people were motivated and guided by their priests, who, for posterity, composed motivational poetry by memorising it and passing it down generation to generation. The book that records this poetry is called the Rigveda.

Rigveda is perhaps the oldest composition in human history. The book is a compendium of the activities of the Vedic people, possibly spread of over a period of a few thousand years, finally put together say around 1200 BCE by a sage known as Veda Vyasa. The exact dating is still subject to disagreement amongst scholars.

The importance of the book is that when correctly translated, it can throw light on the life and times of the Vedic people and the others they came in touch with, enabling greater understanding of ancient human history, the location where they thrived and most importantly, overcome the many misconceptions and misunderstandings that have arisen due to inaccurate translations that exist.

There are indeed many myths surrounding the Rigveda. Not surprisingly, many of these arise from mistranslations. This short book is the first ever effort in thousands of years to open up some of the secrets of the Rigveda and present the real meaning of a few selected hymns. As a result, even with this small number of the corpus having been translated, a number of long-standing misconceptions and myths stand shattered.

The general image of Rigveda is that of a series of ritualistic prayers full of abstract meaning, difficult to understand, with only an occasional passing reference to actual events. In other words, not something that would interest a general reader. The reason why such an image has persisted is that there wasn't any translation available that provides the real meaning of the Rigveda.

The Rigveda is possibly everything as above except that it’s not abstract, not dull at all, is certainly very interesting to a general reader, provided it is translated correctly.

Most existing translations follow that of Sayana who lived in the 14th century in the court of the Vijaynagar Empire. All such translations, including those by Griffith, Wendy Doniger (partial) or even the latest one by Profs. Jamison and Brereton (The Rigveda, Oxford University Press, 2014, hereafter referred to as J&B) are all full of obscure words and with no clear meaning ascribed to the hymns. The hymns continue to appear abstract and devoid of any coherent flow or a story like character.

The Rigveda, surprisingly, is very readable indeed.

To illustrate, let’s look at the first line of the very famous creation hymn (Hymn 10.129)

"nAsadAsIn no sadAsIt tadAnIM

nAsId rajo no vyomAparo yat"

Wendy Doniger’s translation is:

"There was neither non-existence nor existence then;

there was neither the realm of space

nor the sky which is beyond."

My translation is:

"You have no bodily form,

but you have always existed,

just as dust, that sits in the air."

I have later in this book demonstrated that this hymn is not at all about creation. It’s for sure about the almighty God.

The hymn 5.15 has an interesting line (verse 3):

"aNhoyuvas tanvas tanvate

vi vayo mahad duSTaram pUrvyAya"

Griffith’s translation is:

"Averting woe, they labour hard to bring him,

the ancient, plenteous food as power resistless."

I have translated it as:

"What was earlier a greatly difficult task,

can be accomplished, by doing it, portion by portion."

You will agree this makes much more sense.

Let us consider hymn 8.6, verse 20:

"yA indra prasvastvAsA garbhamacakriran

pari dharmeva sUryam"

In their translation, J&B comment that they find the Sun simile in this line rather opaque. Their translation is:

"The fecund ones who have made you their infant-by-mouth,

surround you, as the supporters do the Sun."

On the other hand, my translation is:

"We seek, o’ Indra, great prosperity, homes,

let life run its circle; just as the Sun does religiously

(viz. its cycle of night and day)."

Again, there is clarity and the simile is perfectly clear as well.

Another example is a line from the famous Nadi-Stuti (Hymn 10.75.3). The poem or prayer is to hail the glory of rivers. The line is:

divi svano yatate bhUmyoparyanantaM SusmamudiyartibhAnunA

Griffith’s translation is:

"His roar is lifted up to heaven above the earth:

he puts forth endless vigour with a flash of light."

The translation by J&B is

"Her sound takes its place in heaven, above the earth.

She sends up snorting without end along with radiance"

Now consider my translation:

"In the daytime, we bathe in your waters,

when the Sun’s heat becomes unbearable across the Earth"

This is a rather logical activity. Thousands of years ago, when there were no air conditioners, people would obviously love to indulge in a cooling dip during a hot summer day. And it makes sense for the poet to include this fact as part of the reason the rivers are venerated. As you read my full translation of this hymn later in this book, you will see how more of the benefits of the rivers are enumerated by the poet. This clarity and meaning is unfortunately not at all evident in any previous translation to date.

This is the crux of my argument. I believe each hymn makes eminent sense. The composers were not writing abstract poetry. They were composing these hymns for a purpose. I propose that each and every hymn has a central theme and flow. Each hymn, I believe, was composed for a very specific occasion, ordained by a specific king, was sung on a specific date, for a specific reason.