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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The Rigveda's Accidental Census: What Its Personal Names Give Away
The Rigveda's hymns were carefully shaped. The personal names inside them were not. Read the poets, patrons and outsiders by name and a different society appears: one with foreign donors, joke names, blind bards and women who exist only as grammatical operations on a husband.
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.