The Importance of the Rig Veda

"O'er Sire and Mother they have roared in unison bright with the verse of praise, burning up riteless men, 
Blowing away with supernatural might from earth and from the heavens the swarthy skin which Indra hates."- [Rig Veda , Soma Pavamana - 9.73.5]

This verse has reached an almost memetic status among pagan circles, but I am sure that some readers have no idea what this is about. Who is Indra? What is the Rig Veda? To answer these questions, one must talk about the migration of the Proto-Indo-European peoples, or as it is known in less politically 'correct' circles, the Aryan invasion.

The Aryans were a genetically European, semi-nomadic pastoralist society that originates, to our knowledge, from the Pontic-Caspian steppe, that being modern day Ukraine, European Russia, and parts of Kazakhstan. From the Neolithic up until the Late Bronze Age, these people spread out in several waves, first conquering Europe and subduing the pre-existing peoples in there, then to Central Asia, Persia, Anatolia and India*. And it is exactly about India that we shall talk about.

The Rig Veda is a collection of hymns, poetry and rituals dedicated to the Indo-European Gods. It also includes philosophical discourse regarding the nature of the Universe and commentary on the hymns. It is the earliest of four scriptures called Vedas. Though it has existed as an oral tradition for millennia, the Rig Veda as we know it is thought to have been first composed around 1700-1500 BC, and verses being added upon it until 1200-1000 BC. Overall, it is a liturgical composition. The language it is written in is archaic Sanskrit.

It is easy to categorize the Rig Veda as a mere "Hindu" text, completely unrelated to Europe and Europeans (and you would not believe the fervour of some that try), but among Hindus, the Rig Veda is the least studied text, and that religion has long since departed from the original RigVedic scripture. And regarding the exact relation to the Aryans who went to India and modern day Europeans: they are our cousins.

To learn from them would be akin to a Norwegian reading Celtic mythology to better the vast richness of the Indo-European Tradition, and as consequence his own ethnic religion. And there is more to learn than mere information regarding the Gods.

The Rig Veda is made up of ten books of unequal length containing one thousand twenty eight hymns comprised of ten thousand verses. As translated by H.P. Griffith, it is about one thousand six hundred pages long**. 

The hymns are used to recite or sing praise to the Gods. Though many of them are used to show devotion to the Gods, others are used in an attempt to plea to the Gods for aid in battle, or an increase in wealth, or even for the Gods to only grace the pleaders with their presence during a feast in dedication to them.

Some Gods have a fully fleshed out narrative of how they gained a title or characteristic. Other gods, who lack that, are still given praise and thanks for their wisdom, and the fact that they maintain and uphold an aspect of the cosmos and its governing laws.

These hymns are composed by poets of a superior sort, and then either sang or recited by priests. Poetic works in dedication to the gods are found in Homeric Greece, skaldic poetry and many other western Indo-European cultures. Initially, the poet was more important than the priest, and for each ritual, a poet would be hired to compose a new hymn for the Gods. But at some point this changed, and the priest took precedence. It was from this point on that no new hymns were added to the Rig Veda. However, the existing hymns were maintained through a strict oral tradition, to the point that for a long, long time, it was forbidden to write them down, and initiates of priests had to learn them by heart and not change a single letter.

There are thirty-three Rig Vedic deities. I will list them here, and that is to be considered a prelude to our next articles which will expand upon the relation of the Vedic Gods with the European ethnic Gods.

Indra - Lord of the Sky and storm, thunder and rain. Demon-slayer and protector god. At a first glance he looks similar to the Germanic Thor, but a deeper look gives the impression he is more similar to Odin.

Agni - God of Fire and guardian of Rta (cosmic order, truth)

Soma - in the Rig Veda it is a ritual drink, but in later texts it is referred as a Moon deity

Ishwara - means Supreme God. according to later texts it's either another name for Shiva or a state of being in Yogic practice

The Asvins - divine twins associated with the Dawn, Health and Medicine. Divine twins are a common theme in Indo-European myths. The Dioskuroi of the Greeks, as well as Romulus and Remus come to mind.

Varuna - water deity that is also associated with punishing wrong doers who do not feel remorse over their wrong doing.

the Maruts - a troop of storm deities in the form of young warriors, sons of Rudra and companions of Indra. Comparable to Odin's Einherjar

Mitra - god of oaths, often associated with Varuna

Ushas - goddess of the Dawn. She is known as Aurora to the Romans, Eos to the Greeks, Ausrine to the Lithuanians and Eostre to the English.

Vayu - god of the Wind. He is more similar to Thor than Indra is.

Savitr - god of the vivifying power of the Sun, or god of the Sun itself.

the Rbhus - three deified artists who made the chariots and horses of Indra and the Ashvins. Also associated with the Sun and winds.

Pushan - psychopomp god. Guardian of marriages, journeys, roads, livestock. Cognate to the Greek Pan, though he overlaps with the Roman Mercury as well.

Brhaspati - teacher of the Gods, associated with the planet Jupiter

Surya - God of the Sun 

Dyaus and Prithivi - Father Sky and Mother Earth

Vishnu - Supreme Deity in later Hinduism, preserver/maintainer of the Universe. His is the abode where the true self/soul (atman) of living beings reside.

Rudra - god of storms, the hunt and the personification of terror. Also shares similarities with Odin.

Dadhikras - personification of the morning Sun

Yama (Death) - god of death and justice. Resides in the hellish abode where the souls of terrible people reincarnate. He is similar to the Greek Hades

Sarasvati - goddess of knowledge, music, wisdom, art and learning. Associated with the Sarasvati river.

Parjanya - god of rain, thunder and lightning. Some consider it merely another name for Indra

Vāc - goddess of speech

Vastospati - god-protector of the household

Vishvakarman - Grand Architect God of the Universe. Later scriptures expand upon him and refer to him as Brahman.

Manyu - god of anger, spirit, passion and ardour. Later scriptures associate him with Rudra

Aditi - goddess of the sky, past, future and fertility. She is the mother of many other deities, such as Agni.

Ksetrapati - tutelary deity, mistress of the soil

Nirrti - goddess of hidden realms and sorrows

Aranyani - goddess of the forests and animals that reside within them

Tvastar - artisan god

Saranyu - daughter of Vishvakarman

*There are people who deny the Aryan invasion in order to further their own agendas. How credible these deniers are can be seen from what categories of people they belong to. They are:

a) Cult followers of a certain Varg Vikernes, atheists who reduce the gods to mere metaphors for natural phenomena and claim Europeans stem directly from Neanderthals, despite lack of genetic evidence

b)right-wing mainstream Christians whom a pagan revival with a fully fleshed out theology frustrates to no end and want to prevent it

c)Christian Identitarians/Christogenea, who claim Europeans stem from the so-called lost ten tribes of Israel, limiting the true history of our glorious ancestors to merely the last two and a half millennia, and tying our origins to the chew toy of the Ancient Middle East

d)Indian nationalists whose national pride is wounded in wake of this discovery

**There are only two translations in English, and the one from Griffith is the only easily accessible one. It is not inaccurate, but it does not quite capture the beauty of the Rig Veda. Nevertheless, it is still good learning material for those who are willing.

Better translations are found in other languages: a German one from Karl Friedrich Geldner, a French one from Louie Renou (though this one leaves out some hymns to Indra and Agni) and a Russian one from T. Ya. Elizarenkova. If you are proficent in any of those languages, go read those.