ऋग्वेदसंहिता: Rigveda Samhita (Sankhayan) With Padapatha (Set of 4 Volumes)

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ISBN
Vol-I: 9788192362960
Vol-II: 9788192362977
Vol-III: 9788192362984
Vol-IV: 9788192362984

This Veda Vidya Pratishthan was established in January 1987 at New Delhi under the Ministry of HRD. Govt. of India as an autonomous organization with a view to preserve and protect Vedic tradition, It was shifted to Ujjain in 1993 and was renamed as Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratishthan.

To fulfil its objectives, the Pratishthan is performing various activities, programmes. One of the most significant objective of the Pratishthan is to protect manuscripts and publish them. It has published more than 50 outstanding works in this field so far, It is a great pleasure for me in presenting the 1st Part of Samkhayana Samhita of the Rgveda with Pada-Patha comprising of Astakas first and second that it is being published for the l" time in the history of the Vedic scriptures. This work is edited by learned Vedic scholar Professor Amal Dhari Singh. I personally feel that it will add significant value to Vedic literature in coming years.

Vedas are the earliest literary treasure of mankind. These are not composed but have been realized by seers in penance. So these are authentic, free from all blemishes and thus are the treasure-house of all true knowledge as also have been eulogized by foreign scholars.

"They are the oldest of books in the library of mankind. "

"The oldest literary monument of the Indo-European world. "

F. Max Muller, Preface, Rgveda

In these Vedas, Rgveda is the oldest. In the beginning, there was only one Veda. Later on, Veda Vyasa classified it into four as Rk. Yajus, Saman and Atharva. During the time of Patanjali, the great commentator on Panini- Sutras, this Rgveda was embellished with 21 branches एकविंशतिधाबाहु च्यम् later on in 13th century Acarya Saunaka in his Caranavyuha mentions only 5 branches as;

Asvalayana, Samkhayana, Sakala, Baskala and Mandukayana,

In these, the Sakala-Samhita with Sayana Bhasya was published for the 1 st time from 1849 to 73 by Max Muller and other branches were remained unknown to the scholars.

It is great pleasure to mention that religious and literary minded Maharaja Sawai Vinay Singh of Alwar state of Rajasthan (1814-57) brought the complete MSS of Asvalayana and Samkhayana from Hyderabad and Ahmadnagar to Alwar and enriched his personal palace library. Mr. Peter Peterson, Professor of Sanskrit at Elphinstone College, Bombay prepared a catalogue of this Alwar collection which was published in 1892. Pt. Bhagavaddatta research scholar, Lahore visited this, library but he could not see these MSS of Asvalayana and Samkhayana.

Entire credit goes to Late Dr. Fatah Singh, a renowned Vedic scholar, then Director of Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute, Jodhpur, he studied all these MSS of Asvalayana and Samkhayana and decided to publish these valuable gifts of our Vedic Rsis. He made a plan in 1968 to bring out these both, Rgvediya Sakhas and deputed Dr. A.D. Singh, Dr. L.N. Sharma and Dr. Shraddha Chauhan, then lecturers in the Department of Sanskrit, University of Jodhpur on this important task. This team of trinity worked hard, made a comparative study of all MSS with the published Sakala Samhita, prepared press-copy and handed over for the publication. Dr. Fatah Singhji retired in 1970 and his successive permanent Director Dr. P.D. Pathak also retired. Thus, due to unavailability of permanent Director, this valuable material could not come out in light so far and this material is not traceable at present.

The Veda Vidya Pratishthan has the privilege now to publish this Samkhayana Samhita with Pada-Patha. The publication of complete Samhita in one volume, will be very heavy, so it is decided to publish it into 4 parts and this will be easier to handle the publication. The complete Samhita of 8 Astakas will come in a series. This is the 1st Part comprising of first two Astakas.

In this publication of Samkhayana Samhita much credit goes to Dr. Giridhari Sharma of Jaipur, a heart specialist of Bombay Hospital. He is a devoted scholar of Vedic studies and is a favourite disciple of Late Dr. Fatah Singh. He came to know that Dr. A.D. Singh is working on the Sakhas of Veda from his articles published in various journals. He searched Dr. Singh, persuaded him to complete this long felt desideratum and provided necessary materials. Due to his constant inspiration Dr. Singh succeeded in completing this onerous work.

This valuable Vedic treasure is also preserved in oral tradition in Nagara and Jha Brahmanas of Banswara (Rajasthan). Pt. Shubhshankar Nagar, Pt. Harshadlal Nagar, Pt. Indra Shankar Jha are praiseworthy traditional scholars for keeping this Vedic tradition alive.

Veda Vidya Pratishthan feels indebtedness to Maharaja Sawai Vinay Singhji of Alwar State, Late Dr. Fatah Singh, Dr. Giridhari Sharma and Nagara and Jha Brahmana families of Banswara (Rajasthan).

The Pratishthan is also grateful to Dr. Amal Dhari Singh who is an energetic scholar in the age of eighties and always remains active for the service of Veda and Pratishthan has credit to make fruitful the labour of Dr. Singh. He has been working since 1968 on Vedic Sakhas, has presented many articles but this Samkhayana Samhita could not be published. In March 2011 on the eve of Maha-Siva-Ratri-Parva the Pratishthan has published the Rudra- Patha of Sarnkhanyana Sakha edited by him. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he is a member of this Pratishthan family. He belongs to Varanasi but works here at Ujjain. The Pratishthan encourages Dr. Singh to remain in the worship of Veda: The celebrated Vedic world is requested to honour this work and to provide constructive and fruitful suggestions.

I feel very glad and proud to express my deep sense of appreciation and blessing to a great Paniniyan grammarian dear Dr. Devanand Shukla, Programme Officer in Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratishthan who has put his sincere efforts in the' publication of this rare Rgvedic Samkhayana School.

Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratishthan feels highly obliged to Shri Shyam Singh Rajpurohit, Director, Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute Jodhpur, Rajasthan who very kindly has given permission to publish this Samkhayana-Samihita, preserved at Alwar Palace Branch and also to Dr. Sarvesh Kumar Sharma who has very generously provided the photo-copies of these MSS. In real sense their contribution in the protection of Vedic heritage is commendable. The Alwar Palace Branch of Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute is very rich in respect of Sanskrit MSS, especially of Vedic literature. In its collection, there are 38 MSS of the Asvalayana and 25 of the Samkhayana Sakha. These MSS are arranged in Astaka-Krama in eight parts, having Samhita-Patha and Pada-Patha separately. We have procured the photo-stat and micro-filmed copies of all MSS of the Samkhayana so far and our publication project is in process. It is a matter of great pleasure and enthusiasm that this Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratishthan is celebrating its Silver Jubilee year w.e.f. 20.01.2012. On this sacred occasion, the publication of the most ancient heritage of our Rsis will definitely add more importance and glamour to this festival and this is a real contribution. It will inspire others for the cause of Veda.

Vedas are the earliest and richest treatise in Indian literature. These are not composed, but have been revealed by Omniscient Divinity. The seers have perceived through their tapas, penance. Being realized these are free from all short comings and so they are authentic. Thus these Vedas are the repositories of all kinds of true knowledge. These are the eternal store-house of highest learning, foundation of Indian thought, greatest treasure of light, divine wisdom: These are the foundation, eternally perennial source from which the steady and never drying nectar of virtues flowed for the welfare of all beings. Thus these are the light of lights, truth of all truths, spirit of all spirits. This divine lore is the excellent, matchless and incomparable. Due to these Vedas, our Indian culture is the best 'Visva- Vara' in the world.

In the beginning Veda was one, later on Veda-Vyasa classified it into four as Rk. Yajus, Saman and Atharva and due to this work he is known as Veda-Vyasa. Gradually these four Vedas took innumerable forms in the tradition of teachers and taughts. Thus one Veda became embellished with so many branches.

Sakha is a Sanskrit word which is used to denote various recensions of Vedic texts. The Vedas with their accessory texts are many, differing from each other in several ways. According to Patanjali, the great commentator of Panini, the four Vedas with their accessory texts and secret knowledge assumed many forms. Thus the Yajurveda came to have one hundred one branches, the Samaveda one thousand, the Rgveda twenty one and the Atharvaveda had only nine branches. In these Vedas, the Rgveda is the earliest treatise in Indian culture. It was bedecked with 21 branches during the time of Patanjali, but later on at the time of Acarya Saunaka, this Veda remained to have only 5 branches. He has named them as Asvalayana, Samkhyana, Sakala, Baskala and Mandflkayana in his 'Carana- Vyiiha'. Of these 5 Sakhas also, only the Sakala Samhita is available and it is considered as the oldest recension of the Rgveda. It was published by Max Muller from 1849 to 73 with the commentary of Acarya Sayana. Other branches of this Veda are practically untraceable and so have been presumed as lost during the course of time. So all the commentators indigenous or foreign, old or modern have widely studied and commented upon this Sakala. This Samhita concluds with the following mantra of Samjnanasukta:

The Baskala-Samhita has not been procured so far. But on the basis of the Anuvakanukrarnani, Caranavyuha and few references occurring in other texts, this Samhita has 1025 Suktas, exceeding by 8 from the Sakala and in the end it has an additional Samjnana Sukta comprising of 15 mantras.

The Mandukayana Samhita is not available, but it is great pleasure to mention that the Asvalayana and Samkhayana these two branches are preserved at Alwar Palace Library branch of Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute. Maharaja Sawai Vinay Singhji (1814-57) of Alwar State has procured these MSS from Hyderabad and Ahmadnagar and enriched his personal library. Pt. Bhagavaddatta visited this palace but he could not study the MSS. Mr. Peter Peterson, Prof. of Sanskrit at Elphinstone College, Bombay is the first scholar who prepared the catalogue of this Alwar collection and mentioned the MSS of Asvalayana and Samkhayana and Dr. Fatah Singh, a renowned Vedic Scholar, the Director of RORI studied these MSS thoroughly and in 1968 he made a plan to publish these Sakhas

These two Samhitas are accompanied with their Pad a-texts and are arranged according to the Astaka-Krama and are available in eight parts. The Asvalayana has 38 copies of Samhita and pada-texts while the Samkhyana has 25 copies. All these MSS have different copy-writers, bear different times and places of writing, but there is complete resemblance between the Samhita- texts and Pada-texts and this very fact also proves their authenticity.

Peculiarities of Samkhayana:
a- In Samhita-Patha the oldest manuscript is 8th Astaka as Vikrama Era 1659 and in Pada-Patha is 7th Astaka as Vikrama Era 1517. It inserts avagraha(s) regularly before vowel. It gives Anukramani of Vargas in the end of each adhyaya and thus helps in knowing the number of Vargas.

b- Pada-Pathai- There are very remarkable differences between these Sakhas in ' Pada-Patha. While separating the two members of compound, the Sakala is having only one method as the use of Avagraha(s) for this separation, while the Samkhayana is having three methods for this purpose as the use of A vagraha(s), the figure 2 and zero (0), Where the second member of the compound is 'Iva', there the Samkhyana uses Avagraha, where the first member ends in visarga(:), there it uses figure 2 and where both the members are separate, having no euphonic change, there it uses zero (0) as; c- The number & order of Mantras:- There is great difference in the number of Mantras and also sometimes in their order. Some mantras, which have been accepted as 'Khila' in one Sakha, the same have been admitted as original in other Sakhas. The Khila Mantras mostly are included within the vargas, As in the 5th Adhyaya of 2nd Astaka after Varga 16 (in the end of 1 st mandala) there occurs a khila of 10 mantras in the Sakala Sakha. In these the Samkhyana accepts 1st 4 mantras as original and so Varga No, 16 remains unchanged, while the Asvalayana accepts all these 10 mantras as original. Similarly 5 mantras have been accepted as Khila by the Sakala and the Samkhayana occurring in the 8th Adhyaya of 2nd Astaka after varga 12 (in the end of 2nd mandala) which have been accepted as original by the Asvalayana. In the 4th Adhyaya of 4th Astaka, after Varga 34, there is a 'Khila' of 5 Suktas, known as 'Srt-Sukta' in the Sakala and Samkhyana, but these are read as original in the Asvalayana. In this Adhyaya, the Sakala and Samkhayana are having 36 Vargas, while in the Asvafayana, the number of Vargas is 40. In Asvalayana and Samkhyana after the Samjnana-Sukta there are 7 Vargas more than the Sakala. These two conclude with विष्णवे महते करोमि mantra. Both these Samhitas have Mahanamni Rks, not available in the Sakala and Baskala. These Rks are found in the Aitareya Brahmans XXII. 2. As the Brahmana contains these Rks, so these must be in its Samhita, the Rgveda. The Asvalayana Sruatasutra also gives its use, application. Due to unavailability of these Mahanamni in the Sakala, Acarya Sayana calls them as आरव्याध्ययनार्था' and expresses their importance by means of a legend. Indra attained divine glory and greatness by the application of these mantras. So these are called Mahanamni, The concluding 64th adhyaya of the Samkhyana Samhita ends on varga 63 and of the Asvalayana on 64th with this mantra

This Samkhayana Samhita is also preserved in oral tradition in the Nagara Brahmana families of Banswara Region of Rajasthan. Pt. Shubh Shankar Nagar, Pt. Harshadlal Nagar and Pt. Indra Shankar Jha are devoted to keeping this tradition alive.

The Asvalayana-Samhita recently has been published by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi and the Samkhyana Samhita with pada-Patha is being published by Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratishthan, Ujjain. In this way the most valuable and ancient heritage of our seers becomes preserved.

On this sacred occasion, I am remembering my revered teachers with high regards. I feel myself very fortunate to hear holy mantras from the mouth of Rev. Pt. K.c. Chattopadhyay at Allahabad University in 1958-60. Afterwards I found very fine opportunity to study Vedas at Banaras Hindu University from Dr. Suryakant, a renowned scholar orientalist, great Indologist eminent scholar. He aroused great interest in me towards Vedas. Then I studied Vedas from my Rev. Teachers Dr. V.K. Varma, Pt. Gopal Chandra Mishra, Pt. Ram Nath Dixit and had fine privilege to study in detail with Rev. Dr. Ramadhar Pathak, a sound scholar of vedic texts and grammar. Dr. Pathak was very eager to teach me. Luckily I have been teaching Vedic texts to Hons. and P.G. Classes since 1967. Specially, I am very much indebted to Revered Prof. S. Bhattacharya, an eminent distinguished scholar of Indic Studies and Law, my research supervisor who moulded my carrier and so I left Military Services and became engaged in the worship of Sanskrit. I pay my deep regards and adoration to him.

On this sacred occasion with deep regards I am remembering Rev. Dr. Fatah Singhji, a very renowned well-known scholar of vedic studies and specialist of Sindhughati Lipi, the Director, Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute, Jodhpur. I joined University of Jodhpur as a Lecturer in Sanskrit in . September 1967._ I was fortunate to hear Dr. Singh and became very much impressed with his deep knowledge and RSI like personality. At that time in Sanskrit Department Dr. L.N. Sharma and Dr. Shraddha Chauhan, belonging to Vedic field were my senior colleagues. In 1968 Dr. Fatah Singhji gave impelling suggestions to us to make a comparative study of Asvalayana and Samkhyana Samhitas with the published Sakala Samhita of the Rgveda. These two Samhitas were preserved in MSS form at Alwar Palace Library branch which were procured by literary minded His Highness Maharaja Sawai Vinay Singh Judev of Alwar State (1814-57) from Hyderabad and Ahmadnagar. We studied all MSS thoroughly with the generous help of Pt. Laxminarayan Goswarni, specialist of MSS in the Pratishthan. We prepared press-copy of 1st Astaka of Samkhyana Samhita, along with the Pada-Patha and presented it for the publication. Dr. Fatah Singh retired in 1970 and his successive permanent Director Dr. P.D. Pathak also retired and as such this material could not be published and it is said that it was destroyed in pool of water along with other materials kept in underground 'Pothikhana'.

Dr. L.N. Sharma and Dr. Shraddha Chauhan retired from Jodhpur University and left Jodhpur and I also left Jodhpur and joined Baiswara College Lalganj, Rae Bareli, but I ever kept awakening scholars regarding these valuable heritage of Rsis by means of articles.