Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s10.t4: Rig Veda
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s10.t4
- Language
- English
Rig Veda
v1.c7.s10.t4.1
***Rig Veda*** - Ṛg-veda is the most ancient religious classics in India. It was produced approximately between 1600 BCE and 1000 BCE. It is a poetry anthology dedicated for praising the gods. In ancient Chinese books it was translated as “Samaveda”. There are totally 10 volumes of the anthology, collecting 1,028 hymns. These hymns were also chanted by Brahmin priests for praising God while presiding over ritual ceremonies, and rich in primitive religious atmosphere. Each poem contains several verses, where each verse is a “Rig.” In the anthology, most poems, about 250 poems, were praising the Thunder and Lightning God Indra; the second in quantity was for praising Vulcan Agni, about 200 poems; the third was for the Bacchus Soma, about 120 poems. All the gods have their own roles and responsibilities and were in charge of the triple realm of heaven, air and land separately.
v1.c7.s10.t4.2
In heaven, there is mainly the king of the universe Varuna, who is the most powerful god in heaven and in charge of the order and morality of the universe, he keeps an eye on the offenses in the world. Dyaus is the deification of sunlight, also known as the heavenly Father and in the shape of cattle. There are several other sun gods with different functions: Surya, the god representing the specific image of the sun, in the poetry he rode a seven horse-drawn cart through the sky, drove away the darkness and brought light; Savitri, the incarnation of the sun in the morning and evening, in the poetry he was described his whole body was shining and rode a golden cart, pulled by two glowing horses galloping in the heaven; Mitra is the incarnation of radiant sun during daytime; Usas represents the goddess of the dawn radiating beautiful morning glow.
v1.c7.s10.t4.3
In the air realm, there’s mainly the God of Thunder and Lightning Indra (Later was absorbed by Buddhism, and known as the “Sakka”), with tall body and infinite power, holding vajra, when angry
v1.c7.s10.t4.4
*Rigveda: Selected Hymns, Chinese edition (front cover)*
v1.c7.s10.t4.5
appearing piloerection, Indra is the most powerful god in the air realm. Later, he gradually evolved from Thunder God to the God of War who can destroy the enemy and symbolises victory. Storm God Rudra is in charge of storm, his whole body is brown with gold decoration, wearing braids and holding bows and arrows, he appears very evil. Aeolus Vayu has quick action and is a friend of Indra, they often ride in the same cart pulled by a thousand horses, which is extraordinarily swift and violent. There is also Rain God Parjanya, the Water God Apas and so on.
v1.c7.s10.t4.6
In the land realm, there’s mainly Vulcan Agni, who can dispel the darkness and eliminate evils, is the most important god in the land realm. Bacchus Soma, is the deification of soma wine, which was often used for rituals in ancient India, people thought all gods enjoy the wine, as wine can make gods excited, with courage and power multiplied. In addition, there’re also the Earth Mother Goddess Bolidipi, Alpheus Saraswati, Horse God Dadhikra and so on.
v1.c7.s10.t4.7
Rama and Sita
v1.c7.s10.t4.8
In addition to a lot of hymns praising Gods, in the *Rig Veda* there are also some poems speaking of the origin of the universe. Vedic poets raised various different views about the generation of the universe through direct observation or subjective speculation
v1.c7.s10.t4.9
Infant Krishna (Balgopal)
v1.c7.s10.t4.10
on the universe: some believed that the universe was born by “The One”, some thought it was born from “golden base”, and some hold the opinion that it was born from “Purusha”. *Rig Veda* not only has the literature value, but also is the most important historical documents for the study of ancient Indian religion and society.
v1.c7.s10.t4.11
With the introduction of Buddhism, *Rig Veda* was introduced to China very early, in many Chinese translation of Buddhist scriptures there were records of *Rig Veda*. In modern times, Chinese people had a more in-depth research on *Rig Veda*. Jin Kemu in his *History of Sanskrit Literature* (1964) made a profound statement regarding the literature value and the position of *Rig Veda* in the history of world literature: *Rigveda Samhita*, referred to as *Rig Veda* is one of cultural treasures left from the ancient human society. It is a collection of poems, emitting lights in world literature, same as *The Book of Songs* the poetry collection of our ancient society. Wu Baihui translated a large number of poems of *Rig Veda*, and offered detailed analysis on poems. His translation works of *Selections of Rigveda Sanskrit Philosophical Poems* and *Selections of Rigveda Sanskrit Aesthetics Poems* were published in the book *The Wisdom of Moon Country* (1997). Wu Baihui’s another book, *Indian philosophy - exploring of the meaning of the Vedas and analysis of Upanishads* (2000) also conducted in-depth discussion on the philosophical meaning of *Rig Veda* poetry.
v1.c7.s10.t4.12
(Zhu Mingzhong)
Cites (1)
- Ṛgvedasaṃhitā — Sanskrit