the Rigveda

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    The Rigveda (Sanskrit name: Ṛgveda) is the oldest and most authoritative work among the four major Vedic scriptures of ancient India. It is also one of the earliest surviving poetic documents in Indo-European civilization. It took shape between 1500 BCE and 1000 BCE, when the Aryans moved into and settled in the Indus River basin. Originally composed orally in archaic Vedic Sanskrit, it was preserved by generations of recitation and oral inheritance.
    The book is divided into ten volumes, collecting 1,028 sacred hymns with over ten thousand verses in total. Its literary form is dominated by sacrificial odes and religious paeans. The text mainly focuses on the worship of natural and celestial gods, including Indra the god of thunder, Agni the god of fire, Surya the god of the sun, and Varuna the god of water.
    It records the complete sacrificial procedures, ritual norms and blessing prayers of ancient Brahmanism, and incorporates abundant myths about creation, the origin of heaven and earth, and celestial phenomena. Meanwhile, it also indirectly depicts the real life of ancient Aryans, covering their nomadic lifestyle, tribal social structure, marriage customs, wars and production activities.
    The tenth volume of The Rigveda embodies simple philosophical thinking about the origin of the universe, the soul, life and death. It marks the initial sprout of Indian idealist philosophy and metaphysical thought, laying an important ideological foundation for later Indian religious and philosophical development.
    As the first canonical revealed scripture of Hinduism, The Rigveda established the core belief system of Vedic religion and Brahmanism. It also exerted far-reaching influence on the compilation and ideological connotation of the Samaveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda, as well as the Upanishads and ancient Indian epics.
    For thousands of years, the work was handed down only through oral teaching between masters and disciples. It was systematically sorted out, collated and officially published by Western scholars in the 19th century. Today, it has complete translated versions in Chinese, English and many other languages, and has become an irreplaceable primary historical document for researching ancient Indian history, religion, literature, linguistics and the origin of Indo-European nations.

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Reference：
Institute of Ancient History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Introduction to Rigveda [EB/OL]. (2020-11-06)[2026-05-07].
Encyclopedia of China. Rigveda [EB/OL]. (2022-02-15)[2026-05-07].
Wikipedia. Rigveda [EB/OL]. (2025-10-07)[2026-05-07].

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补充一个小细节：吉祥天女（拉克希米）的名称最早确实就出现在《梨俱吠陀》里，只是还没完全人格化，到《阿闼婆吠陀》里才慢慢演变成我们熟悉的财富与吉祥女神形象。这尊日本的吉祥天女造像也很有韵味，衣饰的细节能看出不同文化融合的痕迹，和吠陀里的源头形成了很有意思的呼应~