Nasadiya Sukta
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The Nasadiya Sukta (after the incipit ná ásat "not the non-existent") is the 129th hymn of the 10th Mandala of the Rigveda. It is concerned with cosmology and talks about the origin of the universe. It is an important example for the emergence of monistic or monotheistic though in the Vedic period of India.
It consists of seven trishtubhs, although pada 7b is defective, being two syllables short,
- yádi vā dadhé yádi vā ná
- "if he has created it; or if not [...]"
Brereton (1999) argues that the defect is a conscious device employed by the rishi to express puzzlement at the possibility that the world may not be created, parallel to the syntactic defect of pada 7d, which ends in a subordinate clause without a governing clause:
- só aṅgá veda yádi vā ná véda
- "he verily knows; or if he does not know [...]"
[edit] References
- Joel P. Brereton, Edifying Puzzlement: Ṛgveda 10. 129 and the Uses of Enigma, Journal of the American Oriental Society (1999)
- P. T. Raju, The Development of Indian Thought, Journal of the History of Ideas (1952)
- Karel Werner, Symbolism in the Vedas and Its Conceptualisation, Numen (1977)
[edit] See also
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
| The Rigveda (Mandalas: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10) |
| Deities: (Devas) Agni, Indra, Soma, Ushas | (Asuras) Mitra, Varuna, Vrtra | Visvedevas, Maruts, Ashvins |
| Rivers: Sapta Sindhu; Nadistuti; Sarasvati, Sindhu, Sarayu, Rasā |
| Rishis: Saptarishi; Gritsamada, Vishvamitra, Vamadeva, Atri, Angiras, Bharadvaja, Vasishta |
