OLDEST BOOK IN THE WORLD- THE RIGVEDA
- There are four Vedas-
- The Rigveda
- The Samaveda
- The Yajurveda
- The Atharvaveda
THE RIGVEDA:
- The oldest Veda is the Rigveda.
- Composed about 3500 years ago.
- The Rigveda was composed in the north-west of the subcontinent.
- Includes more than a thousand hymns, called Sukta or ‘well said’
- Hymns/ Sukta are in praise of various Gods and Goddesses.
- Agni- The God of Fire
- Indra- A Warrior God
- Soma- a Plant from which a Special drink was prepared.
- These hymns were composed by sages(rishis)
- Priests taught students to recite and memorise each syllable, word, and sentence with great care.
- Most of the hymns were composed, taught and learnt by men.
- A few were composed by women
- The Rigveda is in old or Vedic Sanskrit ( different from today’s Sanskrit).
- The Rigveda was recited and heard rather than read.
- It was written down several centuries after it was first composed.
- And printed less than 200 years ago.
SANSKRIT AND OTHER LANGUAGES:
The mother language- Sanskrit
‘MATR’-SANSKRIT
‘MA’- HINDI
‘MOTHER’- ENGLISH
INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGE FAMILY—--SANSKRIT—--
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