Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/39

 Aryans developed, and it enlightens and clears up much that is dark and obscure in the religions and myths of Aryan nations all over the world.

To the Hindus the Rig-Veda is a work of still higher importance. It explains the whole fabric of the later Hindu religion; it solves all the complications of later mythology; it throws light on the history of the Indian mind from its earliest stage of infancy. The Hindu learns from this ancient and priceless volume that Vishnu, the supreme preserver, and his three steps, which cover the universe, mean the sun at its rise, its zenith, and its setting; that the terrible god Rudra, the supreme destroyer, originally meant the thunder or thunder-cloud; and that Brahma, the supreme creator, was originally prayer or the god of prayer.

The Rig-Veda consists of 1028 hymns, comprising over ten thousand verses. The hymns are divided into ten Mandalas or Books, and with the exception of the first and last books, every one of the remaining eight books contains hymns said to have been composed or rather proclaimed by one Rishi, by which we may understand one family or line of teachers. Thus the second book is by Gritsamada; the third is by Visvamitra; the fourth is by Vamadeva; the fifth is by Atri; the sixth is by Bharadvaja; the seventh is by Vasishtha; the eighth is by Kanva; and the ninth is by Angiras. The first book contains 191 hymns, which, with scattered exceptions, are composed by fifteen Rishis; and the tenth book also contains 191 hymns, which are mostly ascribed to fictitious authors.