Rig Veda First Mandal - Notes to myself

 नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि

नैनं दहति पावकः।
न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो
न शोषयति मारुतः॥

No weapon can cut the soul into pieces, nor can it be burned by fire,

nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.

A short sabbatical that I have taken, gave me an opportunity to do something that I was planning to do for years. I revised the Sanskrit lessons I had taken in school, taught myself Sanskrit grammar, and prepared myself to read Rig Veda, though with a Hindi translation alongside. 

I begin with the first mandal.

It begins with the worship of Agni Dev, and inviting agni to the holy yagna. Agni means fire. Without invoking Agni, Yagna is not possible so the first prayer is to the Agni. 

The second set of prayers is to Indra, Vayu and Varuna. Vayu is air, Varuna is water, or sky in some references, I think Varuna is that part of sky that brings water. 

Indra is the King of Swarg (Heaven) in the Sanatan tradition, and in Jain tradition he is the king of some higher realm, where super humans live. Swarg denotes a realm where unlike the mrityu lok, there is no misery. The existence in Swarg is that of bliss. Whether this bliss comes from the state of being or some means is unclear. 

At Yagna Indra, along with Vayu and Varuna are evoked in the second sukta. 

In the second sukta, there is a mention of Soma - which is a liquid used to perform Yagna. What constitutes this liquid, will be explored further.