Structure of RigVeda

¿gveda sähit¿, ¿gveda for short, is undoubtedly the world¿s most ancient religious text. Knowing the history of ¿gveda goes a long way into understanding the religious history of the world. The historical study of ¿gveda was initiated by the Western scholars when they first came into contact with the Sanskrit literature about 200 years ago. They attacked the problem with great enthusiasm and ingenuity, their ideas and results of their study have dominated the field even today. ¿gveda sähit¿, as the name indicates is a collection of ¿k-s (mantra- s in poetic form). Each ¿k is set to certain chandas (meter), is associated with a ¿¿i (a seer, who envisioned the mantra and gave expression to it), a devat¿, (the deity to whom the mantra is addressed) and a viniyoga (an application). The ¿ca-s(plural of ¿k) are strung together into s¿kta-s (hymns), the s¿kta-s gathered together to form mä¿ala-s (books). The ¿gveda sähit¿ we corrently possess consists of 10552 ¿ca-s, grouped into 1028 s¿kta-s which are organized into 10 mä¿ala-s.