The Teachings of the Rig Veda Samhitas

The Rig Veda Samhitas are the oldest surviving scriptures ever discovered. Written in ancient Sanskrit some six thousand years ago or more, their teachings still have as much significance today as they did in antiquity. And for as long as mankind lives.

There are four books belonging to the collection of Rig Veda Samhitas; Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Vedsa, Atharvada-Veda. The three subsequent texts draw heavily from the oldest Rig Veda and were probably written several thousand years later.

Hindu scholars cannot pinpoint when the Vedas were written. Many of the translations into English are also believed to be unreliable. But the books still reveal profound wisdom that serve important lessons of the human body-mind-soul connection and the mysterious relationship we have with a higher consciousness.

The Samhitas are a collection of Vedic hymns, mantras and prayers. In all there are 1,028 hymns and a total pf 10,600 verses. Although the books form the bedrock of modern Hinduism, anybody with an interest in ancient philosophy, self-development and consciousness will benefit from reading the Rig Veda Samithas.

The Influence of the Rig Veda in Modern Hinduism

There is a consensus that many of the lessons to learn from the Rig Veda are not taught in modern day Hinduism. That’s probably due to a lack of understanding by the leaders of an organised religion. The Rig Vedas are rich in symbolism and the lessons to learn have been passed down orally.

Therefore, many of the lessons are still practiced privately in families that have retained the ancient knowledge rather than the information adapted for a modern audience. But traces of the Rig Veda still remain in all Hindu thinking.

For example, Hindus accommodate all religions, faith and beliefs. They are fully conscious that everyone has their own path in life and it is wrong to discriminate or argue which is right and wrong.

We are pure consciousness having a human experience and there is more than one way for consciousness to evolve. It is the energy that guides out thoughts and actions. The energy of consciousness that Hindus and all other religions call, “God.”

Rig Veda 10.14.2.8:

Yama was the first to find us our abode,
a place that can never be taken away,
where our ancient Fathers have departed; all
who are born go there by that path, treading their own.

In my opinion, the reason a lot of the lessons taught in the Rig Veda is because the true meanings are buried in symbolism. Myths are stories that draw inspiration from real life in the time of the writer. So of course, the change in lifestyle is perhaps not as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.

But the Rig Veda teaches much more than that. The moral lessons are evident. But there is also knowledge about the body-mind-soul connection and the intricate relationship man has with energy. The Gods in the Rig Vedas and other ancient myths not only represent aspects of man, but also the mysterious nature of consciousness.

Rig Veda 10.90.1-4

Such is His magnificence, but
the Supreme Being is even greater than this;
all beings are a fourth of Him,
three-fourths–His immortality–lie in heaven.

Three-fourths of the Supreme Being ascended;
the fourth part came here again and again,
and, diversified in form, it moved
to the animate and the inanimate world.

The verse above is reflecting on how energy manifests. The reference to ‘three-fourths’ is symbolic of the evolution of consciousness. Four represents Earth, the fourth dimension in which we have an experience.

Before, energy can manifest as reality, it has to go through three earlier mechanisms of the process known as the triangle of manifestation – thoughts, emotions and actions. Thoughts only become a reality when you act on them, and to act on them you have to have the desire and motivation.

Universal Truths

Ancient sages had a much more profound understanding of the world, the Universe and everything in it than they are given credit for. They had an understanding of astronomy, consciousness and building that was not discovered in Europe until thousands of years later.

Even the ‘classic’ European myths are heavily influenced by the early Sanskrit writings. Although it was elite families that congregated in Europe and established the “age of enlightenment”, the knowledge that allowed such advancement in science and technology was engineered in the East thousands of years previously.

The writers of the Rig Veda even have a theory of the creation of the world that is likened to the modern theory of the big bang. There is also a suggestion they knew the Earth is a water planet.

Rig Veda X.129 translation by A.L. Basham

Then (1) even nothingness was not, nor existence. (2)
There was no air then, nor the heavens beyond it. 
What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping?
Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed?

Then there were neither death nor immortality,
nor was there then the torch of night and day. 
The One (3) breathed mindlessly and self-sustaining. (4)
There was that One then, and there was no other.

At first there was only darkness wrapped in darkness.
All this was only unillumined water. (5)
That One which came to bc, enclosed in nothing,
arose at last, born of the power of heat.

The footnotes of the translator indicated the original Sanskrit text for this passage uses the word ‘Svadha,’ which refers to energy as an intrinsic power which makes self-generation possible. After the mass generation of heat exploded, consciousness came into being and created life from the waters.

The Gods of the Rig Veda Samhitas

Of all the gods mentioned in the original Vedas, are a handful remain in the Hindu pantheon; by name at least. They are Indra, Agni and Varuna. However, the essence of the early Gods was continued into later myths, albeit under different names.

For example, Prajapati becomes Brahma, whilst the word Prajapati is known today as a group of Hindu Gods. Brahma, and the early God, Prajapati, represent our thoughts and ideas – hence a “group” of Gods.

The Gods of the Rig Vedas are rich in symbolism, but once the hidden meanings are decoded, the lessons are much more easy to grasp. Nonetheless, the teachings of the Rig Veda Samhitas, together with all the other ancient Hindu scriptures, teach us about mind, emotions and cosmic energy.