Journeys into Vedic Thought
Long-form, researched essays on the deities, language, ritual and history of the Rig Veda. All free to read.
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Dasas, Dasyus, and the Question of the Other: Who Were the Rigveda's Enemies?
The Rigveda names its opponents Dasas and Dasyus, but who were they? This article traces the textual evidence, the linguistic cognates, and 150 years of scholarly debate to show what we actually know and where the gaps remain.
The Wedding Hymn: Surya's Bridal and the Ritual World of RV 10.85
Rigveda 10.85, the oldest surviving wedding liturgy on earth, narrates the cosmic marriage of Surya to Soma and has been recited at Hindu weddings for over three thousand years. A close reading reveals what the hymn tells us about Vedic bridal processions, ritual fire, the bride's public authority, and the enigmatic doctrine of 'three husbands before the human one.
The Riddle at the Heart of the Veda: Dirghatamas and the Cosmic Enigmas of RV 1.164
A blind seer composed the longest hymn in the oldest book of the Rigveda: 52 verses of numerical riddles, cosmological metaphors, and unanswerable questions. What happens when you read them carefully?
Vishnu's Three Strides: How a Minor Rigvedic God Became Supreme
Vishnu commands only six dedicated hymns in the Rigveda, roughly half a percent of the corpus, yet he became the supreme deity of later Hinduism. How a striding solar ally of Indra transformed into the lord of the universe.