The oldest Veda is the Rigveda. It has 1028 hymns called ‘Suktas’ and is a collection of 10 books called ‘Mandalas.’ The features of Rigveda are given in the table below:
| Features of Rigveda |
| It is the oldest form of Veda and oldest known Vedic Sanskrit text(1800 – 1100 BCE) |
| The meaning of the word ‘Rigveda’ is Praise Knowledge |
| It has 10600 verses |
| Out of 10 books or mandalas, book number 1 and 10 are the youngest ones as they were written later than books 2 to 9 |
| Rigvedic books 2-9 deal with cosmology and deities |
| Rigvedic books 1 and 10 deal with philosophical questions and also talk about various virtues including a charity in the society |
| Rigvedic books 2-7 are the oldest and shortest also called family books |
| Rigvedic books 1 & 10 are the youngest and longest |
| 1028 hymns deal with deities including Agni, Indra and are attributed and dedicated to a sage rishi |
| The ninth Rigvedic book/mandala is solely dedicated to Soma |
| The meters used to form hymns are Gayatri, Anushtubh, Trishtubh and Jagati (Trishtubh and Gayatri are most important) |