The Rig Veda Audiobook read by
Translated by Ralph T H Griffith in 1889 and long out of print is a full translation of the entire work. The price is wonderful and for those needing a glance into the forgotten world of Vedic India would be hard-pressed to surpass this book for another version of Rig Veda for at least double the price. For an English person wanting to swim in the tide of these ancient prayers then this is a good investment that can give years of inspirational reading.
Here you will meet Indra, Rudra,Agni and praises to soma the sacrificial offering to the Vedic Gods with verses to be sung to them in quiet ritual of wonder.
Often appearing as Ṛgveda, the oldest of the four sacred books linked to Hinduism, it was composed in an ancient form of Sanskrit about 1500 BCE. The Rig Veda (Sanskrit: The Knowledge of Verses) was preserved in secrecy by ancient clans, initially orally, before it was written down about 300 BCE.
These 1028 poems, grouped as 10 ‘Circles’ (mandalas), have variously been called hymns, poems or songs by Sanskrit scholars. The Rik (so pronounced by the ancient Angirases clans, or Seer-Priest families) was an experiment with sound. The emphasis is always on sounding the words perfectly. The focus tends to be on the ideas rather than on the authors in Vedic literature, they are largely religious in nature, reflecting the world view and spiritual preoccupations of ancient India.
This volume is the whole Rig Veda which is a unique event in itself due to lack of other full translation at an affordable price. The range of prayers this book covers is enormous and gives a direct view into the mindset of this civilization of at least three thousand years ago. Here history is shrouded in myth and the religious attitudes of the ancient Indian people ring out from these pages.
Like the Homeric epics, portions were composed during different periods in the north-western region of present-day India and Pakistan. That any of these verses have entered modern-day usage is in itself extraordinary. No Hindu wedding is performed without reference to the Suryasukta, the model marriage of the Sun to the daughter of the Moon (Book 10, hymn 85). In India today certain surnames denote whether a family has a Vedic link, Dwivedi (knowledge of two vedas) Trivedi (three), Chaturvedi (four) among other Vedic linked ancestral roots. Very, very few had open access to this the Secret most Magical Veda.
The writers or composers of the Vedic verses were essentially storytellers. Once they had told their stories enough times they began to believe in the mythology they had woven to explain the vagaries of the universe. The sudden flood, the torrential downpour, the landslides that killed life-giving cattle and the forest fires that consumed all it touched, the quaking earth or sudden drought, all of which disarrayed an agrarian community.
In comparison with other ancient belief systems the magical practice contained herein link with the Judaic tradition. A social order is seen evolving its supremacy with ritual practice. A strong priestly bias exists as the Seer-Priests monopolised transmitting them.
This is a good book for any interested modern researcher to add to the bulging bookshelves and the publisher’s Forgotten Books are to be applauded for reprinting many of these long out of print treasures.