The Rig Veda: 10 Mandalas, 1,028 Hymns, 10,552 Verses
The Rig Veda (ऋग्वेद, ṛgveda) is the oldest of the four Vedas and the foundational scripture of the Vedic tradition. Composed in archaic Sanskrit between roughly 1500 and 1200 BCE, its 10 Mandalas contain 1,028 Suktas (hymns) and over 10,500 Riks (verses) addressed to Agni, Indra, Soma, Varuna, the Maruts, the Ashvins, Ushas, and the other deities of the Vedic pantheon.
This portal presents the complete Rig Veda Samhita with the original Devanagari Sanskrit, IAST romanisation, Ralph T. H. Griffith's classic English translation, and modern verse-by-verse explanations. All text is free to read. Audio recitation, semantic search, the knowledge graph and AI chat are reserved for subscribers.
Browse by Mandala
Each Mandala is traditionally attributed to a Rishi family. Click any Mandala to see all its hymns; click a hymn to read every verse with Sanskrit, romanisation, English translation, and commentary.
Famous Hymns You May Be Looking For
- Agni Sukta (1.1) — the opening hymn invoking Agni
- Gayatri Mantra (3.62.10) — the most celebrated verse
- Purusha Sukta (10.90) — the cosmic person
- Nasadiya Sukta (10.129) — the creation hymn
- Hiranyagarbha Sukta (10.121) — the golden embryo
- Indra & Vritra (1.32) — slaying of the dragon
How the Rig Veda is Organised
The Rig Veda is structured hierarchically: Mandala (book) → Sukta (hymn) → Rik (verse). Mandalas 2–7 are the "family books," each composed and preserved by a specific Rishi lineage. Mandala 9 is dedicated entirely to Soma Pavamana. Mandalas 1 and 10 are the longest and contain the philosophical and cosmological hymns that have most influenced later Indian thought.
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