The Religion of the Rigveda

Cover
The Religion of the Rgveda
Copyright
Dedication
Preface
Contents
1. The Vedic Tribes
	1.1 Settlement areas and subsistence
	1.2 yóga and ks:éma: The settlements of the Vedic tribes
	1.3 Power structures
	1.4 Tournaments and the selection of ‘Indra’
		1.4.1 Verbal contests
		1.4.2 Chariot races
		1.4.3 The first drink of Soma
		1.4.4 The time at which Indra is selected
		1.4.5 New Year’s day and its festival
	1.5 Legitimation of authority
		1.5.1 The xυarənah of the Avesta
2. The R: gveda
	2.1 Songs and books: The text and its organisation
	2.2 Indo-European and Indo-Iranian heritage in the text of the R: gveda
3. The Indo-European Religion
	3.1 Inherited elements in the religion of the R: gveda
	3.2 Father Sky and his family
	3.3 The dragon slayer
	3.4 The divine twins
	3.5 Daughter of the Sky
	3.6 Daughter of the Sun
	3.7 Heavenly nymphs
	3.8 Dwarfish helpers
	3.9 The god of roads and borderlands
	3.10 The ‘Scion of the Waters’
	3.11 The god of healing
	3.12 The ‘heavenly’ drink of the gods
	3.13 The cult
4. The Indo-Iranian Religion
	4.1 Younger inheritance in the religion of the R: gveda
	4.2 Zarathustra’s religion
	4.3 The Indo-Iranian religion
	4.4 Excursus: ‘Truth’ and ‘reality’
	4.5 The god of victory
	4.6 The god of contracts
	4.7 The god of hospitality
	4.8 The dawn
	4.9 The dragon slayer
	4.10 The god of war
	4.11 Warrior ancestors
	4.12 Messenger of the gods
	4.13 The goddess of ‘abundance’
	4.14 The race of men
	4.15 The intoxicating libation
	4.16 The celestial river
	4.17 The star Sirius
	4.18 Cosmography
	4.19 The realm of the dead and its rulers
	4.20 The cult in the Indo-Iranian period
5. Conceptions of Gods in the R: gvedic Religion
	5.1 Poetic license, aspects of ritual, and religious reality
	5.2 Conceptions of gods in the R: gvedic religion
	5.3 Basic structure of the R: gvedic pantheon
		5.3.1 Ancient potentates and ‘present-day’ rulers
		5.3.2 Settlements and the religious system
			5.3.2.1 The Indra religion
			5.3.2.2 The Āditya religion
	5.4 Friendships and enmities among the gods
	5.5 The physicality of the gods
	5.6 The gods of the R: gvedic pantheon
		5.6.1 Agni
		5.6.2 Apā : m Napāt
		5.6.3 The Aśvins
		5.6.4 Aryaman
		5.6.5 Bhaga
		5.6.6 Mitra
			5.6.6.1 The formalities of concluding a contract
		5.6.7 Varu : na
			5.6.7.1 The oath
		5.6.8 B:rhaspati
		5.6.9 Gandharva
		5.6.10 Indra
		5.6.11 Tva: s: t:r the smith
		5.6.12 Indra’s mother
		5.6.13 Maruts
		5.6.14 Narāśam: sa
		5.6.15 Parjanya
		5.6.16 Pū:san
		5.6.17 The R: bhus
		5.6.18 Rudra
		5.6.19 Savit:r
		5.6.20 Trita
		5.6.21 Vāyu
		5.6.22 Vi: s : nu
		5.6.23 Lesser deities
		5.6.24 Heaven and earth
		5.6.25 Sun, moon, and stars
		5.6.26 Vāta
		5.6.27 U:sas
		5.6.28 Sūryā
		5.6.29 Aditi
		5.6.30 Āpa: h
		5.6.31 Sarasvatī
		5.6.32 Bhāratī and I: dā
		5.6.33 Apsaras
		5.6.34 Dhi:sa: nā
		5.6.35 Pathyā Svasti
		5.6.36 Puram: dhi
		5.6.37 Sinīvālī
		5.6.38 Vāc
		5.6.39 Wives of the gods
		5.6.40 Groups of gods
6. Myths
	6.1 The theft of the Soma
	6.2 The mythical battle between gods at the beginning of the world
	6.3 Killing the serpent and releasing the waters
	6.4 The Vala myth
	6.5 Battling a serpent
	6.6 Indra’s disputes
	6.7 Other martial feats performed by Indra
	6.8 Indra in history
	6.9 The Aśvins and their rescues
	6.10 Impregnations and incest
	6.11 The anthropogony of the R: gveda
	6.12 The creation of the world: Cosmogonic myths and philosophical concepts
		6.12.1 Technomorphic interpretation models
		6.12.2 Biomorphic interpretation models
7. The Cult of the R: gvedic Religion
	7.1 Cultic acts, ritual complexes, ceremonies
	7.2 The R: gveda as a cultic text
		7.2.1 Excursus: Poetic license and constraints
	7.3 The ‘priests’ of the (R: g)Vedic cult
	7.4 Distribution of the sacrificial offering
		7.4.1 The ‘first drink’ of the Hot:r
	7.5 The sacrificial site
	7.6 The sacrificial fires
	7.7 The dual sacrifice system
	7.8 Offerings
	7.9 The ‘ritual calendar’
	7.10 The individual rituals
		7.10.1 The Soma ritual
		7.10.2 The animal sacrifice
		7.10.3 The horse sacrifice
		7.10.4 The Sautrāma: n
		7.10.5 The Pravargya
		7.10.6 The wedding ritual
		7.10.7 Pregnancy and birth
		7.10.8 Ancestor and death rituals
		7.10.9 The new and full moon rituals
		7.10.10 The Agnihotra ritual
		7.10.11 Fertility rituals
		7.10.12 Exculpatory and expiatory rituals
	7.11 Magic
	7.12 Curses and malediction
8. R: gvedic Conceptions of the World Beyond and the Soul
	8.1 Conceptions of life after death
	8.2 Svàr : nara: Location of the heavenly ‘paradise’
	8.3 The R: gvedic conception of ‘reincarnation’
	8.3.1 Soma and the ‘five-fire doctrine’
	8.4 The concept of souls in the R: gveda
Bibliography
	Primary sources
	References
Index Locorum
	1. ‘R: gveda’
	2. Other Vedic Texts
	3. Avesta
Index of Names and Subjects