Mandala 2 Explained

The second Mandala of the Rigveda has 43 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra chiefly attributed to the Rishi . It is one of the "family books" (mandalas 2-7), the oldest core of the Rigveda, which were composed in early vedic period (1500-1000 BCE).^[1]

Witzel (1995) on the basis of internal evidence suggested that the second Mandala contains the oldest hymns of the Rigveda.^[2]

List of incipits

The dedication as given by Griffith is in square brackets2.1 (192) [[[Agni]].] .2.2 (193) [Agni.] 2.3 (194) [[[Apris]].] 2.4 (195) [Agni.] 2.5 (196) [Agni.] 2.6 (197) [Agni.] 2.7 (198) [Agni.] 2.8 (199) [Agni.] 2.9 (200) [Agni.] 2.10 (201) [Agni.] 2.11 (202) [[[Indra]].] 2.12 (203) [Indra.] 2.13 (204) [Indra.] 2.14 (205) [Indra.] 2.15 (206) [Indra.] 2.16 (207) [Indra.] 2.17 (208) [Indra.] 2.18 (209) [Indra.] 2.19 (210) [Indra.] 2.20 (211) [[[Asvins]].] 2.21 (212) 2.22 (213) [Indra.] 2.23 (214) [[[Brahmanaspati]].] 2.24 (215) [Brahmanaspati.] 2.25 (216) [Brahmanaspati.] 2.26 (217) [Brahmanaspati.] 2.27 (218) [[[Adityas]].] 2.28 (219) [[[Varuna]].] 2.29 (220) [[[Visvedevas]].] 2.30 (221) [Indra and Others.] 2.31 (222) [Visvedevas.] 2.32 (223) [Various Deities.] 2.33 (224) [[[Rudra]].] 2.34 (225) [[[Maruts]].] 2.35 (226) [[[Ap (water)|Son of Waters]].] 2.36 (227) [Various Gods.] 2.37 (228) [Various Gods.] 2.38 (229) [[[Savitr|Savitar]].] 2.39 (230) 2.40 (231) [[[Soma (deity)|Soma]] and Pusan.] 2.41 (232) [Various Deities.] 2.42 (233) [[[Kapinjala]].] 2.43 (234) [Kapinjala.]

External links

• – English translation by Ralph T. H. Griffith

Notes and References

1. Book: Dahiya, Poonam Dalal. ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA EBOOK. 2017-09-15. McGraw-Hill Education. 978-93-5260-673-3. 95. en.
2. Michael Witzel, Rgvedic history: poets, chieftains and politics, in: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, ed. G. Erdosy, Berlin/New York (de Gruyter) 1995, 307-352; Witzel, "Westward Ho"