Malati devi dasi, a senior religious leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, was born in San Francisco and became an initiated disciple of Srila Prabhupada in 1967. Her daughter, Sarasvati, was the first child born to an ISKCON member. Malati is the only female member of Governing Body Commission for ISKCON. [1] Head of the all-female Columbus, Ohio temple since the early 90s, she has often been a controversial figure within ISKCON for her outspoken defense of women in the movement.
The first Mandala ("book") of the Rigveda has 191 hymns. Together with Mandala 10, it forms the latest part of the Rigveda, its composition likely dating to the Early Iron Age.
Hymn 1.1 is addressed to Agni, arranged so that the name of this god is the first word of the Rigveda. The remaining hymns are mainly addressed to Agni and Indra. Hymns 1.154 to 1.156 are addressed to (the later Hindu god) Vishnu. Verse 1.164.46, part of a hymn to the Vishvadevas, is often quoted as an example of emerging monism or monotheism:
"They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni / and he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutman."
"To what is One, sages give many a title / they call it Agni, Yama, Matarisvan." (trans. Griffith)
The editio princeps of the book is due to Friedrich August Rosen, published posthumously in 1838. It was the earliest edition of a Rigvedic Mandala, predating Max Müller's edition of the entire Rigveda by more than 50 years.
The second Mandala of the Rigveda has 43 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra chiefly attributed to the Rishi gṛtsamada śaunohotra. It is one of the "family books" (mandalas 2-7), the oldest core of the Rigveda.
Witzel (1995) on the basis of internal evidence suggested that the second Mandala contains the oldest hymns of the Rigveda, but changed his opinion in 2001, dating it with the "mid-level" texts.[1]. In circumvedic tradition, rishi Grtsamada of Mandala 2 is a descendant of Sunahotra Bharadvaja (of Mandala 6), which would suggests a younger age of Mandala 2 than that of Mandala 6, favoured by Talageri (2000) as the earliest.[2] There is no generally accepted relative sequence among the family books in terms of age: Being books preserved by individual families preceding the final redaction of the Rigveda into shakhas, they are all accepted to date to the earliest Vedic period, but considered themselves to be the parallel product of several generations.
List of incipits
The dedication as given by Griffith is in square brackets
^ Michael Witzel, Rgvedic history: poets, chieftains and politics, in: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, ed. G. Erdosy, Berlin/New York (de Gruyter) 1995, 307-352; Witzel, "Westward Ho"
The third Mandala of the Rigveda has 62 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra. It is one of the "family books" (mandalas 2-7), the oldest core of the Rigveda. Most hymns in this book are attributed to viśvāmitra gāthinaḥ
3.62 (296) [Indra and Others.] imâ u vām bhṛmáyo mányamānā
References
^ e.g. McDonell and Keith 1912, Vedic Index; Rahurkar, V.G. 1964. The Seers of the Rgveda. University of Poona. Poona; Talageri, Shrikant. (2000) The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis
The fourth Mandala of the Rigveda has 58 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra. Most hymns in this book are attributed to vāmadeva gautama. It is one of the "family books" (mandalas 2-7), the oldest core of the Rigveda.
List of incipits
The dedication as given by Griffith is in square brackets
The fifth Mandala of the Rigveda has 87 hymns. Most hymns in this book are attributed to the atri family. The mandala is one of the "family books" (mandalas 2-7), the oldest core of the Rigveda.
The sixth Mandala of the Rig Veda has 75 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra. Most hymns in this book are attributed to the family of Angirasas, especially to Bharadvaja. It is one of the "family books" (mandalas 2-7), the oldest core of the Rigveda.
The rivers mentioned in the sixth Mandala are the Sarasvati, Yavyavati and Hariupiya. RV 6.61 is entirely dedicated to Sarasvati. In RV 6.45.31 the term Ganga occurs which may refer to the Ganges River.
Talageri (2000), based on his proposition of an westward expansion early Rigvedic culture from Harayana (contrary to the nearly universially assumed eastward expansion from Gandhari) and his identification of some Rigvedic rivers , claims this Mandala as the oldest of the family books.[1]
List of incipits
The dedication as given by Griffith is in square brackets
The seventh Mandala of the Rigveda has 104 hymns. Most hymns in this book are attributed to . It is one of the "family books" (mandalas 2-7), the oldest core of the Rigveda.
The rivers mentioned in the 7th Mandala are the Sarasvati, Asikni, Parusni and possibly the Yamuna (in 7.18.19 the name of a helper of Indra, maybe also the name of a woman or goddess). Hymns 75 and 76 are entirely dedicated to Sarasvati.
The 7th Mandala contains references to the Battle of the Ten Kings (notably hymns 18 and 83), where king Suda defeated a confederation of hostile Aryan and Dasyu tribes. This may correspond to a historical war (mythologically embellished, similar to the Iliad) dating to the early phase of Indo-Aryan presence in India.
List of incipits
The dedication as given by Griffith is in square brackets
The eighth Mandala of the Rigveda has 103 hymns. Other than the "family books" (Mandalas 2-7, dated as an old part of the RV) and RV 1 and RV 10 (dated as the latest portion of hymns composed shortly before redaction of the Rigveda into shakhas), Mandala 8 cannot straightforwardly be dated as a whole relative to the other books, and its hymns may include both ancient and late specimens. Most hymns in this book are attributed to the kāṇva family. The hymns 8.49 to 8.59 are the apocryphal vālakhilya, the majority of them are devoted to Indra; these are accepted as a recent portion, properly already post-Rigvedic.
The hymns are dedicated to Indra, Agni, the Asvins, the Maruts, the Adityas, Varuna, Mitra-Varuna, the Vishvadevas, and Soma. 8.100 is dedicated to Indra and Vak (Speech). Of the Valakhilya, six hymns are dedicated to Indra, and one each to the Asvins, the Vishvadevas and Indra-Varuna. 8.55 and 8.56 praise "Praskanva's Gift", the reward given to the rishi by Dasyave-vrka "the wolf of the Dasyus", a hero who in alliance with the Kanvas has won a victory over the Dasyus.
According to some scholars, the 8th Mandala has the most striking similarity to the Avesta.[1]: it contains allusions to Afghan Flora and Fauna[2], e.g. to camels ( = Avestanuštra (c.f. Zaraθ-uštra; RV 8.4.7, 8.5.37, 8.46.22, 8.46.31; elsewhere in the RV only in 1.138.2). The river nameSuvastu in 8.19.37 refers to the Swat River in Gandhari.
List of incipits
The dedication as given by Griffith is in square brackets
The ninth Mandala of the Rigveda, also called the Soma Mandala has 114 hymns, entirely[1] devoted to , "Purifying Soma", the sacred potion of the Vedic religion. Similar to RV 8, it cannot be dated within the relative chronology of the Rigveda as a whole; dealing with the Soma cult, a practice reaching back into Proto-Indo-Iranian times (late 3rd millennium BC), some of its hymns may contain the very oldest parts of the Rigveda, while other hymns may be rather recent relative to the other books. As with book 8, each hymn should be studied independently, since the Soma Mandala was not compiled by the redactors in its preserved form on grounds of authorship or clan affiliation, but topically, grouping the Soma hymns.
The tenth Mandala of the Rigveda has 191 hymns. Together with Mandala 1, it forms the latest part of the Rigveda, containing much mythological material, including the Purusha sukta (10.90) and the dialogue of Sarama with the Panis (10.108), and notably containing several dialogue hymns. The subjects of the hymns cover a wider spectrum than in the other books, dedicated not only to deities or natural phenomena, including deities that are not prominent enough to receive their own hymns in the other books (Nirrti 10.59, Asamati 10.60, Ratri 10.127, Aranyani 10.146, Indrani 10.159), but also to objects like dice (10.34), herbs (10.97), press-stones (for Soma, 10.94, 175) and abstract concepts like liberality (towards the rishi, 10.117), creation (10.129 (the Nasadiya Sukta), 130, 190), knowledge (10.71), speech, spirit (10.58), faith (10.151), a charm against evil dreams (10.164).
10.15, dedicated to the forefathers, contains a reference to the emerging rite of cremation in verse 14, where ancestors "both cremated (agnidagdhá-) and uncremated (ánagnidagdha-)" are invoked.
10.47 to 50 are to Indra Vaikuntha, "Indra son of Vikuntha". Vikuntha was an Asuri whom Indra had allowed to become his second mother. The rishi of 10.47 is called Saptagu, while that of 10.48-50 is likewise called Indra Vaikuntha.
10.85 is a marriage hymn, evoking the marriage of Suryā, daughter of Surya (the Sun), another form of Ushas, the prototypical bride.
10.121 is another hymn dealing with creation, containing elements of monotheism. It has a recurring pada "what God shall we adore with our oblation?", in verse 1 named Hiranyagarbha "golden fetus", a Rigvedic hapax legomenon, later a name of Brahma, in verse 10 addressed as Prajapati.
10.129 (the Nasadiya sukta) and 130 are creation hymns, probably the best known Rigvedic hymns in the west, especially 10.129.7:
He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not form it, / Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not. (Griffith)
These hymns exhibit a level of philosophical speculation very atypical of the Rig-Veda, which for the most part is occupied with ritualistic invocation.
10.145 is attributed to Indrani. It is a spell for a jealous wife to get rid of more favoured rival. Untypical of the Rigveda, similar spells are found in the Atharvaveda.
10.154 is a funeral hymn, asking for that the departed may join those who attained heaven through tapas. Padas 1cd is reminiscent of the Norse concept of Valhalla:
To those for whom the meath flows forth, even to those let him depart. (Griffith)
10.155 is against the "one-eyed limping hag" Arayi.
10.166, attributed to Anila, is a spell for the destruction of rivals, similar to 10.145, but this time to be uttered by men who want to be rid of male rivals.
10.173 and 174 are benedictions of a newly elected king.
The rishis of the 10th Mandala are divided into Shudrasuktas and Mahasuktas, that is, sages who have composed "small" vs. "great" hymns.
The parikrama party today went first to Dwarkadish Temple. With the sankirtan party led by Rasananda Prabhu, the devotees were loudly chanting "Radhe! Radhe!" as a way of telling the Lord of Dwarka, "Hey where's your peacock feather and your flute? Why you left Vrndavan? Are you really happy away from our Swamini? Radhe! Radhe!"
Among the new temples of Mathurä, the Dwarkadish Temple is prominent. It was established about 150 years ago by a devotee in the line of Sri Vallabacharya. This temple is situated close to Vishram ghat.
Then the parikrama party proceeded to the temples of Adi Varaha or Krishna Varaha (black Varaha Deity) and Sweta Varäha (white Varaha Deity) whiich are just nearby. Below is an excerpt about the Deity of Varahadev from Sri Vraja Mandal Parikrama book by Sri Srimad Bhakttivedanta Narayan Goswami Maharaja:
"At the beginning of Satya-yuga, there was a brahmin rishi named Kapila. He was a worshipper of Bhagaväan Adi Varaha. Indra, the king of the demigods was pleased with that brahmin and brought that deity of Varaha to Svarga (heaven), where he installed Him for worship. Having defeated Indra, the mighty Ravana seized that Varaha deity from Svarga and established Him in Lanka. After killing the nirvisheshavadi Ravana, Bhagavan Sri Ramachandra brought that same deity to Ayodhya and installed Him in His palace. While leaving Ayodhya to kill Lavanasura, Maharaja Shatrughna asked his elder brother Sri Ramachandraji for this Varaha deity. Maharaja Shatrughna carried the deity with him and, after killing Lavanasura, established Him in the city of Mathura, where one can take darshana of Him today."
Today is ekadasi and today our parikrama party had darshan of Bhuteshwar Mahadev, Sri Krishna Janmasthan, Adi Keshav, Mahavidya devi and more. The eternal kshetra-pala (area protector) on Mathura's western side is Bhuteshwar Mahadeva. Nearby is Patala devi, whom Kamsa worshipped, and a little further on are Potra Kunda, Adi Keshav and Sri Krishna Janma-sthana which will be covered in my next video episode.
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