fyi David Bear, I've started editing the Samagana article at Wikipedia ... thought you might beinterested in lending a hand. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samagana and below is a related article. sung by creation ... Milllennium Rishis of the Rig Veda and oral traditions of the Vedas
This
post is in response to comments and queries from Kaveriyamma. Those
related to the Rishis of the Rig Veda, their linage, the female Rishis
and the oral tradition.
RISHI
A Rishi in Rig Veda is an author of a Rik, a mantra. It
is not a product of his reasoning or intellect, but of an intuitive
perception. He envisioned the entities beyond the range of human
senses,concived the self evident knowledge (svatah pramana)
and realized the Truth by direct intution. Vamadeva , a Rishi in one of
his hymns (RV 4.3.16) describes himself as the illumined one ,
expressing the Truth reveled to him(ninya vachasmi).
The term Rishi is defined as "rishati jnānena samsāra-pāram” meaning one who goes beyond the mundane world by means of knowledge. Further, some scholars think the root 'drish' (sight) might have given rise to root 'rish' meaning 'to see'.
Rishi is therefore a wise seer, a drastara, one who visualizes a mantra. He is also the one who hears. The seers were the "hearers of the Truth" (kavayaha sathya srutah) .Sri Aurobindo described Shruthi as "divine recordings of cosmic sounds of truth" heard by the Rishis.The Vedas are thus Shruthis , revealed scriptures. That is the reason , the Vedas are Apaurusheya , not authored by any agency.
Amarakosha, the Sanskrit lexicon, gives the synonym for the term Rishi as satyavachah,
the one who speaks truth. A Rishi in the Rig Veda is a sage who
realized the truth. However all sages are not Rishis; just as not all
Rishis are Kavis. (For more on Kavis, please see
Kavi, Rishi and the Poet
).
Yasca_charya makes a significant classification even among the Rishis.He draws a clear distinction between a Sakshath_krutha_Rishi , the seer who has the direct intutional perception; and the Shrutha_rishi , the one heard it from the seeres and remambered what he heard.
Rig
Veda mentions about four hundred Rishis and about thirty of them were
women. Before going into their names and other details, let us,
briefly, talk about the mantras.
MANTRA
Poetry
raised to its sublime heights is mantra to which a Rishi gives
utterance. The Rishi visualizes a magnificent idea, through intuitive
perception, crystallizes it and gives it an expression. . One cannot be
a sublime poet unless one is a Rishi (naan rishir kuruthe kavyam).
Badarayana Sutra (244:36) says Rishi not only lives the mantra but also is the essence of it.
A
mantra is usually prefaced by a segment made of three components,
mentioning the Rishi who visualized the mantra, the Deva or the Devatha
who inspired the mantra or to whom the mantra is addressed; and the
metrical form of the mantra. Every time, one meditates on the deity
uttering its mantra with devotion; one recalls its Rishi with reverence
and gratitude. For instance, the most celebrated Gayatri mantra which appears in Rig Veda at 3.62.10 is prefaced by a short description, Vishvamitra risihi, Savitha devatha, Gayatri chandaha,
which
says that the mantra was revealed to Rishi Vishwamitra; the
illuminating spirit behind the mantra was Savitha Devatha from whom
everything comes into being ; and it was conveyed to the Rishi in
Gayatri chandas (a metrical form having three lines of 8 syllables
each, a total of 24 syllables). Before one meditates on goddess Gayatri
uttering her mantra, one submits salutations to its Rishi, Vishwamitra.
Yaska_charya also mentions that mantras have three layers of meaning (traye artha). The
essential power of the mantras are to transport us to the world of
ideas beyond the ordinary and to experience the vision that the Rishi
had.
BOOKS of Rig Veda
The
Rig Veda contains 10,552 mantras; grouped into 1, 028 Sukthas each of
roughly ten mantras, spread over ten Mandalas (Books).The Mandalas are
of uneven size. These mantras are authored by about 400 Rishis of whom
about 30 are women. Each Rishi is identified by two names – his/her
personal name and the name of his/her father or teacher or lineage. For
instance, the first Suktha of Rig Veda was revealed to Madhuchchanda
Vishwamitrah meaning that he was the son or the disciple of
Vishwamitra; the Gayatri mantra was revealed to Vishwamitra Gathin
meaning Vishwamitra was the son of Gatha. It also indicates whether the
Rishi was a man or a woman; for instance, Ghosha Kakshivali (RV
10.39-40) was the wife of kakshivan another Rishi.
A
Rishi could be a man or a woman, could be a celibate or a householder or unmarried.
As
mentioned, each hymn of the Rig Veda is attributed to a Rishi. Of the
ten Mandalas (Books) six Mandalas, numbering from 2 to 7 are homogenous
in character and are considered the oldest parts of the Rig Veda. Each
of these six books was composed by a Rishi and by members of his family
/ disciples and of his Gotra. These Mandalas (2-7) are therefore often
called Family Books. On the other hand, the books 1, 8 and 10 were not
each composed by a distinct family of Rishis but by different
individual Rishis. The Books #1 and 8 are almost Family Books as a
majority of their hymns are composed by the family of Kanvas and many
hymns are found in both the Books. The
Book # 9 is different from the rest; all the hymns therein are
addressed to Soma (while not a single hymn is addressed to Soma in the
Family Books) and by groups of Rishis. The tenth Book is a collection
of various earlier and later hymns.Book # 10 appears to be of a later
origin and of a supplementary character. The Books # 1 and 10 are the
latest and the longest Books together accounting for about 40 percent
of the bulk of the Rig Veda. (
http://www.voiceofdharma.com/books/rig/ch2.htm
)
RISHI-linage
There
are certain texts called Anukramani (also called Anukramanika) which
serve as Index to the Rig Veda and provide basic information about each
hymn of the Rig Veda. The most well-known of the Aukramani is
Katyayana’s sarvanukramani and is dated around the second century. The entries in the texts mention about each hymn specifying, the name of the Rishi who authored
the hymn; the Devatha who inspired or to whom the hymn is addressed;
and the Chandas or the metre of the hymn. They are extremely useful in
historical analysis of the Rig Veda. For more on Anukramanis, please
see
http://www.bharatvani.org/books/rig/ch1.htm
.
The following table indicates the number of hymns in the rig Veda, attributed to some main families.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda )
As regards female Rishis (Rishikas), about 30 of them are named in the Rig Veda. To name some of them:
: Ghosha Kakshivati , Dakshina Prajapathya ,Vishvavara Atreyi, Godha,
Apala Atreyi, Yami Vivasvathi, Lopamudra, Romasha Svanya, Aditi
Dakshayeni, Ratri Bharadwaja , Vasukra Pathni , Surya Savitri, Indrani,
Sarma Devasuni ,
Urvashi, Shashwati Angirasi, Sri Laksha and others .
Lopamudra , a great Rishika in her own right , was the wife of Rishi Agasthya and Ghosha Kakashivati was the wife of another Rishi kakashivan . Daughters of the Rishis Bharadwaja , Angirasa and Atri were also Rishikas.Vishvavara, Romasha and Vach Ambrini stood out as other Rishikas of merit.
Tradition
accepts that Rishi Veda_Vyasa categorized and compiled four Vedas by
splitting the primordial single Veda and rendered the Vedas more
amenable to study and to memorize. The task of preserving and
perpetuating each branch
of the Veda, in its entirety and purity , was assigned to a specified
Shakha (meaning branch).The followers of each Shakha , identified as Shakins of
that particular Vedic school, were responsible for preserving their
assigned part of the Veda. Followers of each Shakha would learn and
preserve one the four Veda Samhitas along with their associated
Brahmana, Aranyaka, Upanishads and the Sutras such as Grhyasutra and
Shrautasutra. Only a small number of these Shakhas have survived; the
prominent among them are Sakala and Baskala. For more on Shakas, please
see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakha
It is astounding that large bodies of Vedic texts have been preserved in oral traditions for over thousands of years, safeguarding their purity and entirety. How our ancients could successfully achieve such an unbelievable task, is truly remarkable.
In
order to achieve this difficult task, an elaborate and a meticulous
systems of recitations were devised. These systems of discipline with
their checks and
balances , ensured the correctness of a text including the correct
sequence of its words; purity of the language; exact pronunciation of
the words; precise stress on syllables ; measured pause between
syllables; appropriate tone, accent, modulation and
pitch of recitation; proper breath control etc. Shiksha one of the six
Vedangas (limbs of Veda) that dealt with phonetics and phonology of
Sanskrit, laid down rules for correct pronunciation of Vedic hymns and
mantras.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiksha
The salient features of a few main Paathaas are as under:
Vakhya Pathaa or Samhitaa Pathaa: To recite the mantras in a straight sentence.
Pada Paathaa: to recite the mantras, word by word, instead of joining the words; to acquaint the student with the words in the text.
Krama
Paathaa: the first word of the mantra is added to the second, the
second to the third, the third to the fourth and so on, until the whole
sentence of the mantras is completed. The order of words will be 1-2;
2-3; 3-4; 4-5 and so on. This helps to fix the words in their proper
position and sequence. It also helps the students to understand changes
occurring in swara in such a combination. The person who is well versed in reciting the Krama Paathaa is known as "Krama Vit.”.
Jata
Paathaa: the first two words are recited together and then the words
are recited in a reverse order and then again in the original order.
Jata Paathaa is a play by twisting the Krama Paatha:
Krama + Inverse of Krama + Krama = jataa. The order will be 1-2-2-1-1-2, 2-3-3-2-2-3, 3-4-4-3-3-4, 4-5-5-4-4-5 and so on
Ghana
Paathaa: This is one of the most popular form of recitations and
requires years of learning and practice. A scholar proficient in
recitation in this format is honored as Ghana_ paathi. In Ghana Paathaa
the combination will be: 1-2-2-1-1-2-3-3-2-1-1-2-3 2-3-3-2-2-3-4-4-3-2-2-3-4,
3-4-4-3-3-4-5-5-4-3-3-4-5 and so on till last pada ends in that
sentence. This is a complex combination of Jata Paatha and Pada Paatha
in the following order:
jataa + 3rd Padaa + Inverse of 3 Padaas + 3 Padaas in Straightway = Ghana Paathaa.
The
Samhita Paathaa and Pada Paathaa are called Prakrithi (or natural)
Paathaas, as the words of the mantras occur in normal sequence. The
rest are called Vikrithi (or artificial and not natural) Paathaas.
Recently mathematical series have been devised to work out the Krama,
Jata and Ghana Paatha patterns. For more on this and for greater
details on Paathas please visit
http://pvkalathur.blogspot.com/2007/08/v-e-d-s.html
By applying these stringent methods of
learning and complicated patterns of recital, each generation committed
to memory long passages of its assigned texts through incessant
practice spread over a number of
years,
retained the form and content of the texts in their pristine condition
and transmitted, orally, to the next generation. This was how the Vedic
texts were retained in oral form, uncorrupted, over the centuries.cf http://www.valdostamuseum.org/hamsmith/RgVeda.html http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14993/14993-h/14993-h.htm According to the VedAs , women are more intelligent than men (i.e) she is a purandhi.In AsvanEdhA , there is a prayer that women must be " purandhi". By that term , Women's superior intelligence is indicated. " According to the VedAs , Woman is a karma yogi . She does duty for duty's sake.She sacrifices her individual pleasure and pain and serves the family . The early life of all children depend on the care of the mother. She brings them up as intelligent and pious ones . The stability of her integrity is brought out in one MantrA , which points out that women are to be strong as a rock in the family so that the family can survive . Her integrity not only keeps the family in a high order , but it overcomes all enemies as well ".She is the queen of her husband's house .She maintains the customs and traditions of the house strictly , with vigilance .The house may be buil t by bricks and wood , but it is not the real house.In fact , the wife is only the real house. VedAs never confine a woman to the house.Many brilliant women have reached out with their husbands and attained a spiritual status equal to or higher than that of their husbands , who are revered as Manthra dhrushtAs of the various Veda Manthrams The names of the women Rishis (RishikAs or Lady seers ) are etched in the annals of the Veda manthrams. None of the Rishis or the Rishi pathnis are recognized as the composers of the Veda manthrAs , but as samhithAkarthAs, who assisted in the collection of the Veda manthrams thru the power to "see " them as manthra dhrushtAs . Angirasa, Gautama, VasishtA, ViswAmithrA, Bhrugu, Athri, Marici, KasyapA, AgasthyA and BharadhvAjaa belong to the rich set of Rishis in this category. Every Veda manthram has a Rishi or RishikA, Chandas and DevathA. We invoke them prior to the recitaion of the individual mathrAs of the different VedAs. Each of these Rishis have a distinguished wife well versed in scholarship, AchAram and anushtAnam. These rishikAs or Lady Seers took an important part in SamaadhikaraNam. YajnavalkyA' s wife and her tight questioning of her husband gave birth to a great Upanishad . There are abundant reference to the RishikAs in the Tenth Canto of Rg Vedam besides the other Cantos.  1LopamudhrA is one such RishikA as the wife of AgasthyA, known for his command over Sanskrit and Tamil. The meaning of the word "LopamudhrA " is one, who is totaly absorbed in herself (i-e)., she is one of the BrahmavAdhini RshikAs.Two manthrAs of the Rg Vedam ( Canto I.179.1-2) are attributed to her . RoamasA the wife of SvanyA, VisvavArA belonging to the Athri family, AangirasI Sarasvathi of Angirasa family, ApAlA of the Athri family, YamI Vaivasvathi, SraddhA, Vasukra pathni, GhOshA , SooryA, IndrANi, Urvasi, Sarama, Joohu, VagAmbhruNi and PoulOmi Sachi are well known RshikAs, who are revered and are associated with individual Rg Veda ManthrAs. |
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![[Illustration: ATLAUA, SINGING AND DANCING. HYMN XVIII.]](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14993/14993-h/images/full5.jpg "ATLAUA, SINGING AND DANCING. HYMN XVIII.")
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