Rig Veda

The Purusha Sukta in the 10th Mandala of Rigveda (10.90)
tells us
that this universe or creation came out of great sacrifice
and from this came the things and beings
and along with them came the Vedic mantras for the benefit and guidance of human
beings. They were later echoed in the hearts of the sages
who gave to the world in the form of mantras.
It is stated that initially there was one volume with one lakh of mantras or the verses
and they were passed on from generation to generation by oral tradition by memorising
the mantras.
As the time passed with the loss of memory one lakh got reduced to almost 20,000
mantras and at that time on account of the efforts of Bhagwan Shri Vedavyas, they
were collected and then in the form of four volumes as we see them to-day, he gave
back to the mankind.
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