The Rig Veda is the foundation text of Hinduism and is the earliest of the four Vedas. It is popularly believed the Vedas is of divine origin and composed by no man. Popular belief is that the divine words were first compiled Veda Vyasa. Vedas are considered to be an eternal text and is rediscovered during each new cosmic era. There are numerous English translations of the Rg Veda. You can download one such ancient translation in PDF format for free.
Link: Download Rig Veda in PDF format
The Rig Veda in English is by Ralph T.H. Griffith and was translated in 1896. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read it.
41 comments:
The translation is grossly incorrect and terrible at the least. Read through it yourself. If Veda means 'knowledge', do you find anything in that translation that imparts knowledge? Sri Aurobindo gave a few examples of how bad this translation is and is close to being a blasphamy. Sri Aurobindo, in the same article, as an example translated a few shlokas to show how tangentially different the truth in Vedas is [Compared to the then western translations]. Please DO NOT publicize this rubbish.
- Bhishma
i have always felt Aurobindo is too hard to follow for common people... This is simple and atleast gives an introduction to the Vedas....And i don't think all the verses in Vedas is full of knowledge...it is scattered ...there is too much of ritual in most passages....
Thanks for the PDF
"i don't think all the verses in Vedas is full of knowledge...it is scattered ...there is too much of ritual in most passages"
This is exactly what Aurobindo was getting at. Think about it, if all the verses wasn't 'knowledge' then why were they even called 'Vedas' [knowledge]? First Indians need to be imparted the knowledge of the basic structure of the Dharmic texts. In short, the heirarchy is -
1)Vedas - These are the fundamental concepts or truths of life/universe around us. Divided into 4 sections: Brahmana, Samhita, Aranyaka, Upanishad. [Anyone using the phrase "Vedas and Upanishads" is a quack who doesn't know what he is talking about - it is like saying "science and physics"]
2)Darshan - The 7 branches of philosophies based on the fundamental truths described in Vedas: Vedanta, Mimamsa, Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya [Logic], Vaisheshika [Science] and Charvaka.
3)Purana - There are 5 primary sections and this imparts the 'truth' of Vedas through simple to understand stories.
4)Itihaas - The message through examples. Two primary texts - Ramayana and Mahabharat (This is where Gita fits in).
5)Agama - THIS is the sections that deals with procedures. It has 3 basic sections - Mantra, Yantra and Tantra.
6)Smrithi - These are more like laws that govers the day to day life. There are 1000s of these.
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The problem with books like Griffith's translation that Aurobindo talks about is exactly what you just mentioned. It gives the kids an incorrect impression which is worse than having no impression about the texts.
- Bhishma
PS: If you are interested in learning about Hinduism please visit my blog "hinduismresources.blogspot.com". I have compiled a list of some websites - to give a head start to people who want learn from websites. Please pass the link on to your friends if you like it.
Half-knowledge is much worse than no knowledge and it is better that people have no idea than the wrong ideas. Reading mistranslated and distorted text would only create a negative perception of the Veda in people's minds. There is a reason why the Veda has been so carefully guarded for generations. It has to be understood in the right way by people prepared to understand and to put in the hard work to get a true appreciation of it. If the right way is too hard to follow then at least don't follow the wrong way.
Hey Abhilash Thanks for the PDF….and please don’t listen to people like Bhishma and Govind…such people always talk about the greatness of Vedas but do little to take it to common man….Instead of talking such people should spread the correct meaning of Vedas and not keep it as a monopoly….This was done for more than 5000 years….Vedas were the monopoly of a few written in Sanskrit and kept away from people….common people never got a chance to read it….Instead they kept the rest of the Hindus in Darkness….This is one reason why Buddha had to create a new religion….
Knowledge should not be the monopoly of a few selected scholars….it should be spread…I came to know about the greatness of Vedas and Upanishads from English translations…and I feel proud about the knowledge in it….
Keep up the good work…..Thanks
Anonymous,
Few points are in order here -
1) 'Vedas' was as much a "monopoly of few" as 'higher education' is today. There is a set of procedures and channels for learning Vedas, the higher truths, failing which can result in a destructive thought and society. This is just like learning 'nuclear science' or 'medicine' or 'art of warfare' or chemistry or any other subject. An uncontrolled access to knowledge without guidance, beyond certain point is invariably destructive in longer run.
2) If you are refering to caste system - thats a long discussion by itself. Read Vivekananda's and Aurobindo's idea of how the concept of flexible 'Varna' was distorted into rigid 'Caste'. In short Vivekananda asserts that today's 'Caste' system is a self protective measure by little groups to safeguard their local culture and habits. Its rigidity, like in every such groupism, is a result of external threat which India faced for 1000 years. He concludes that the day India becomes powerful and wealthy, the confidence in people is restored and the perception of threat to their native culture is dimished leading to natural dissolution of caste system. Every other forced method will fail!
3) In the heirarchy of Dharmic texts that I mentioned, Buddha was essentially a Sankhya philosopher which was originally propounded by Sage Kapila.
4) Last but not the least. The problem is NOT (I repeat "NOT") with "english translation". It is with the person (his understanding and intent) who did the translation. The result is potentially devastating. To give examples from our conversation - (a) "i don't think all the verses in Vedas is full of knowledge" - They are, if you read the correct translation. (b) "Vedas were the monopoly of a few" The western idea of 'Caste' is quite different from Indian idea of 'Varna' (c) "Buddha had to create a new religion" From Dharmic perspective, Buddha was a Sankhya scholar - a tiensy section of Vedic ocean.
Bhishma...Thank you for your valuable comments...it is excellent and a highly constructive debate...
If you have the complete translation of Vedas which you feel is good and touches the core teaching of Vedas...pls share it here...so that we can also provide that for download to those who are interested.
Thanks for your time and for creating a healthy debate
Though Vedas are properly guarded but atleast a learned person should have access to it . what I feel personally is that many Indians were not literate few years back so there were more chances of not understanding the real meaning of verses,but the situation is different now, Indians /Hindus want to learn about their religion,its origin and its followings,then why they should be deprived of it? Is there not any scholar who can translate vedas in hindi and post it on internet? One should have the right to learn what he/she follows.
AJAY
Dear All,
It is too easy to follow every thing given above as it is said and written by some one who took birth on this earth like us but what about things mentioned hardly have any aurthor and still it makes sense but difficult to follow. the only thing thais important is the links we create with the written and what is written and what we experience.
Vedas beieng a way of life and not a religion it can and should be used for the betterment of the mankind as it the purpose of it.
Waiting eagerly for your reply at
chandrakant81@gmail.com
Hi, this is my two bits --reading the vedas , even memorizing them is no big deal. if you could teach a 10 yr old sanskrit, he too would read it. how does reading anything benefit anyone. its a lot like reading what an ice-cream is like, reading what it looks like, reading what it tastes like. all this will not give you the ice-cream. My point is, if you are seeking god/spirituality, you need to GET the spirituality, not read about it. How to get it is the next question. well, i recommend getting your own kundalini awakened by shri mataji nirmala devi. meditate for a few years, then read the vedas or the koran or the gita or the bible, and you will find them all to be your EXPERIENCE. The ice-cream would then be in your hand, mouth and stomach...not in a book :)
Dear Anonymous
Vedas are to be learnt in proper way under a Guru.
You cannot read Vedas by yourself and Half Knowledge is more dangerous.
Commenting on Vedas is itself a sin
Hi, I guess we all are educated and possess enogh intellect to form our own opinion. Can we get/download Vedas "As It Is" than any opinions.
Hi All, I guess we all possess enough intellect to form our own opinion. Is there some place where we can get to download Vedas "As It Is"
To say something about Veda - a worm like me will really fumble and stumble 'n' number of times.
By the blessing of my revered Guruji, what I have understood is that - to get through the true knowledge (or the 'jnana') part of veda for what it means by real wisdom, one has to go through the Upanishads.
Even then, you won't get a concrete idea; Upanishads are also full of examples and illustrations and cross-references. As in our scriptures, it's said, "Like a swan swimming on the pond it collects only the cream out of the mixture of mud and water, similarly, one has to grasp only the main theme out of the vast knowledge or wisdom spread across the pages of Veda and/or Upanishads.
Lord Krishna, in Shrimad Bhagvada Gita have uttered "sarvoponishada gaavo dogdha gopal nandana; paartha vatsa sudhirbhoktaa dugdham gitaamritam mahat" {the cows eat grass - the milk man milks the 'milk' out - the ghee-wala churns out the butter/ghee out of that milk; similarly the vedas concentrates to upanishads which again concentrates to Bhagvad Gita}
Sorry for being off-topic and pardon my poor English language.
Nevertheless, Abhilash-ji has done a great thing; the rest depends on how one realizes the text. and that is Indian philosophy - the penultimate HIM can be understood in infinite ways...
And as a commentary/opinion on the above debate...
I have no guts to speak something on great men like Swamiji and Hrishi Aurobindo... but consider this lesson imparted by Sri Sri Ramakrishna to his 12 disciples:
Someone asked Him about the definition of "pundit" - to be precise what scriptures say... His voice reflected the same shloka what has been mentioned in Bhagvada Gita - "Maatrivat para-dwaaresu, paradravyesu losthra vat; aatmavat sarvabhutesu jah pashyati sa panditah"
{one who sees his mother in other men's wives, one who percieves the belongings of others as similar as a poison-nut and one who sees himself in all the 'bhutas' - he and only he can termed as pundit...]
Someone has rightly said there can't be a true knowledge without Guru...
The sanskrit language is multi dimensional, there can be multiple meaning for a same phrase. For example somewhere in some skanda of saam-veda, it's written "Namah shwabhyah". The literal meaning of "swabhyah" according to Maharshi panini is nothing but a dog (yes a "DOG"). Now what stands? We even bow before dogs. The meaning is okay at least for common people; the phrase teaches one thing that everyone is same, God is in everyone's soul, hence respect every single living being; this is the superficial meaning.
To delve a little deeper, the words of Vedas can't be and shouldn't be interpreted by Panini grammar, it has to be interpreted according the 'nirukti' of maharshi 'Jask' (a.k.a. 'Yaska'). "Shwabhyah" according to him is "rice-soaked water" and "namah" means to donate; so the meaning stands as "donate rice-water". In fact, this line was an excerpt from a chapter where detailed procedures of a yagnya has been described. So, here in this context of proper steps of that yagnya, one has to spill rice-soaked water in to the 'homagni' and NOT bowing down before a dog!
The entire scriptures in six philosophies of India is written in this ambiguous theme, which when read by a common man like me, definitely the true theme will not be revealed, for that a guide is needed, and that guide can only be a GURU, none else!
However, I would like to request everyone to go through this book of "An autobiography of a Yogi" by Swami Yogananda Giriji and "Kriya Yoga - Its Mystery and Performing Art
by Swami Sadhanananda Giriji"
You can also follow this link just to get a brief sneak on what is what
"http://www.kriyayogashram.org/page1.html"
Vedas are not like harry potter so that u can translate it in any language as according to ur comfort, these are sacred texts or in a true way can say that these are coded texts which has deep meanings incripted in them rather than just superficial word meaning, so if u want to read a best seller go for any other book because Vedas are not novels,ok. Leave it to those who have capabilities sufficient enough to go through Vedas and elaborate it, already many of Hindu texts have been misinterpreted in the name of translating it to other languages.
can i get a link to a site where i can get a word by word translation of the original VEDAS and PURANAS.? thanks a ton for the help.
regds
my mail id is arshii.ayesha2gmail.com
This is quite a healthy discussion. But we all know even the sanskrit version of most of the verses are even from Germans or other ppl. I am just saying that if knowledge is there it must be able to enlighten all. I am not doubting the Vedas, just saying if we will read two explanations then can choose what is better one?
I many times doubt so many concepts as we talk about yugas and say that human beings are on the earth since many million years but we don't find evidences about that however, we found other creatures dating back.
The pople who are just jumping into the discussion must knnow oneself that what is the thruth? If one doesn't believe the truth infront of him/her or scientifically proved and believes on the things told by others or the way shown by others which one can never see or prove - is just miserable.
I concur with those people who mentioned before that not knowing is better than knowing a wrong interpretation. This is extremely true because it causes sudden confusion and tends to shake your strong conviction about the sublime theme of the vedas. Dr.Sougata's is of great value in this context. I would like to add a few more in the rig vedic context.
There was a sudden array of references from so-called scholars that beef is mentioned in rig vedam. I wanted to do a little investigation on this because there is no way thousands of yogis, rishis and sannyasis (and others)could have upheld the glory of vedas if they prescribe beef as often as pointed out by these people. I got hold of what they termed the "problem" verses, about 8 to 10 in number. I checked out an Indian English translation of rig vedam. In all of these instances, there were different kinds of misinterpretations. One of those is 'hanyante gaavo' phrase where they interpreted it to be killing cows. But it is not so. 'Han' root word has another meaning....to move...so this word here refers to motion rather than any killing. This i read in a blog has also been confirmed because the same verse occurs in atharva veda with some modification.
Another instance where they consistently mentioned about beef was wherever there was a phrase like "of the cow" or "food of the cow" or "food from the cow" and similar places. As we popularly know ghee, curd, dried dung cakes are all used in yajnas. These are the products which are actually mentioned in the above contexts and not otherwise. The third way of misinterpreting is to take the literal meaning of the word cow, where actually it could signify wealth, rays of the sun, or phase of the sun etc depending on context. For eg, in verse 5.79.8, "gomateerisha" means 'rays of the sun' and it is absurd to interpret it as luminous or radiant food as Sayana does and much more absurd would be to interpret it as "food of cow" or "cow's flesh".
My advise is hence "throw any indologist's translation in trash". Learn from an acharya or atleast if you want to get started with an English translation, it would be fine to go with a proper faithful Indian translation. I found the following volumes very illuminating.(but hard copy only)
Rgveda samhita
with english translation by
Svami Satya prakash saraswati and Satyakam Vidyalankar
Vol 1 to 13
Veda pratishtana , New Delhi
Hi,
I am from Bangalore.
Can anyone please guide me??..
From where can I get Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati's Veda Books??
Also how much it costs to buy all the 4 Veda books of Satya Prakash ji.
Please suggest.
If the ordinary people educated in the modern world of science want to understand the true mystical meaning at the heart of the Rg Veda and the Upanisads, then see the free pdf of draft introductory chapters from my forthcoming book The Brainstem-Brainwaves of Atman-Brahman: The Synthesis of Science and Spirituality available on Scribd.com. This follow-up to my The Oneness/Otherness Mystery: The Synthesis of Science and Mystcism [Motilal Banarsidass, 1999]. I have posted quotes from distinguished professors as a comment on the Scribd site. BBAB is aimed primarily at a Western audience with a reasonable education and, as the introductory chapters show, establishes the Sanatana Dharma as the true Ontology that will supercede the Physicalist myths of the modern West.
Sutapas Bhattacharya (London)
i do not trust the translation of griffith or max muller as both have vested christian interests to serve.
Bhishma
You say everything goes under the word veda, but this is ont so. I have read the upanishads serveral times and they refer to the vedas as the vedas and of upanishads as the upanishads. So the person you critizides was right. The error in you did was like saying that new testament is part of the old testament in the bible. Vedas are the vedic literature, upanishads is upanishads.
Maharshi Dayananda's ved-bhashyas are excellent. Swami Satya prakash ji's books may be available from DAV Management - N Delhi.
Please note the time of translation ....... its quite some long time ago .... a time when caste system still prevailed and these texts were hidden from common public. How could an outsider get access to such sacred texts for translation? And now many in this forum cry foul on the translation. So don't you think that we have done a big mistake by giving our texts to wrong people and the people within the nation are kept away from it.
Somebody mentioned that you need a lot of knowledge or some sort of quality to pass on the secrets these texts possess, and that it should not fall in the wrong hands else it may lead to some sort of destruction. Now i want to ask what quality Griffith possessed that he was given access to these texts, and whats the use of crying foul now.
These texts are even now unknown to many or most people don't know it. The fault lay within our system and the people who kept these texts hidden so as to maintain their supremacy over our society. We practice a lot of superstitions without understanding it. If the knowledge in these books were given to all people without discrimination, it would have had a positive impact on this nations foundation. I doubt some of these texts might have also been edited by some class of people so as to keep the common man in darkness forever.
These texts are a matter of research, and yes truly a lot of secret lay within it that if undiscovered can take us to a new beginning, might be a new non discriminative religion itself. So i kindly request if anybody thinks he possesses the true copy of vedas please do post here, rather than blaming others efforts.
Anoop
Bhishma,
You are quite right. Veda's have four parts just as you described. Samhita is what traditionally considered as veda but it is one of the four parts. Rest of your views are also closest to reality. For others, please do yourself a favor - be curious, non-judgemental, and try to figure things out for yourself - knowledge can't be given - it has to be earned. And yes, Buddha did not create a new religion - his teachers practiced Sankha and Yoga and that's from where most of the useful Buddhists ideas come from. He was a reformer just like Dayanand was. Another good book to read:
Rgveda for the Layman: A Critical Survey of One Hundred Hymns of the Rgveda, With Samhita-Patha, Pada-Patha and Word-Meaning and English Translation. Pada-Patha will help you understand the translation and the process in the simplest possible way. And this book is quite accessible. If you are more interested in learning and less in bashing others - spend some time reading it. Have fun.
The world is in the darkness. The evil powers have overshadowed the good. Man today is in deep slumber. The more darkness that spreads, that much light will be generated somewhere, that's the law of physics; and one day it will spread and enlighten the entire world. All religions and religious texts will be one and every person would would see GOD within himself. GOD IS ONE. Discover the Aatma within. Your soul is like matter; it has mass; it leaves your body after your death. Try to discover yourself within. Your search for god begins with yourself.
Amen
Amin
Aum
Anoop
Soul is not in the least like matter. It is transcendental and cannot be affected by any physical entity. It has obviously no mass and any of the associated properties of matter. It is has two important attributes paaratantryam(dependent of Lord Sriman Narayana) and gnyaanam(knowledge).
"Your soul", "my soul".....these kinds of statements are not correct because you is the atma, me is the atma. When "I" am the atma, there is no meaning to "my atma".
In Griffith's translation of the Vedas, there is one portion which is in Latin.I can guess why Griffith chose the portion not to be translated in English.... however, that is besides the point.
I need help in this matter, without being drawn into any debate.
If someone is willing to help me, I shall request him/her to contact me or leave a response to this request.
Regards
India a center for "Spirituality", and even the entire world agrees to it. The real "Hinduism' is out of the reach of common man. The "Vedas", "Puranas", "Upnishads", "Astrology", etc are not completely known to max. people. Also some people are mis-interpreting Vedas and Geetha , when they don't understand them...
I request somebody to send me the links for all the "Vedas translated in Hindi or English" by an Indian ...... the foreign versions are "generates misconceptions"....
At the same time i request the people to read about "J Krishnamurthy" books on philosophy...
It is true that the translation is not up to the mark but it at least gives some idea. Vedas have two meanings; literal meaning is ritualistic but they contain great knowledge in cryptic form which was given by demigods. You can read the same PDF online at
http://hinduismfacts.org/hindu-scriptures-and-holy-books/rigveda/
Every follower of Islam reads and follows the Quran and atleast 90% of them do it genuinely, The Christians too follow the bible maybe in todays world 60% of them follows its true essence. How come we all call ourselves Hindus proudly and yet there are very few maybe less than 5% of Hindus who actually know our Sacred Literature. That may be the reason why India still faces lot of conflict within its same religious community of the majority i.e. The Hindus.
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i read somewhere that rigveda says that the god donot have any shape , colour , appearance ,etc.
Quran says the same , so i want to read rigveda and point some similarities on basic issues .
I think most of the hindus left their scriptures thats why doing blasphemy like worshipping statues .
God knows best .
pls read about hindu temples and its relation to cosmic energy. statue worship has a lot more meaning i think
anybody pls help me knwin abt origin n history of hindu........?
plus want to knw...ki as we al knw..God is one.
He is only power.He is Shapeless n Has no form...
so hw v hv avatars of god n v still worksip it??
pls help me
Was there any changes made by the people later as days passed by to the cedas? if not why are there so many contradictions in the vedas?
Was there any changes made by the people later as days passed by to the cedas? if not why are there so many contradictions in the vedas?
Was there any changes made in the vedas by the people as days passed by?if not y there are so many contradictions in the vedas? Please reply me ..!!
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