The second Mandala of the Rigveda has 43 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra chiefly attributed to the Rishi . It is one of the "family books" (mandalas 2–7), the oldest core of the Rigveda, which were composed in early vedic period (1500-1000 BCE).
Witzel (1995) on the basis of internal evidence suggested that the second Mandala contains the oldest hymns of the Rigveda.Michael Witzel, Rgvedic history: poets, chieftains and politics, in: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, ed. G. Erdosy, Berlin/New York (de Gruyter) 1995, 307-352; Witzel, "Westward Ho"
List of incipits The dedication as given by Griffith is in square brackets 2.1 (192) [ Agni.] . 2.2 (193) [Agni.] 2.3 (194) [ Apris.] 2.4 (195) [Agni.] 2.5 (196) [Agni.] 2.6 (197) [Agni.] 2.7 (198) [Agni.] 2.8 (199) [Agni.] 2.9 (200) [Agni.] 2.10 (201) [Agni.] 2.11 (202) [ Indra.] 2.12 (203) [Indra.] 2.13 (204) [Indra.] 2.14 (205) [Indra.] 2.15 (206) [Indra.] 2.16 (207) [Indra.] 2.17 (208) [Indra.] 2.18 (209) [Indra.] 2.19 (210) [Indra.] 2.20 (211) [ Asvins.] 2.21 (212) 2.22 (213) [Indra.] 2.23 (214) [ Brahmanaspati.] 2.24 (215) [Brahmanaspati.] 2.25 (216) [Brahmanaspati.] 2.26 (217) [Brahmanaspati.] 2.27 (218) [ Adityas.] 2.28 (219) [ Varuna.] 2.29 (220) [ Visvedevas.] 2.30 (221) [Indra and Others.] 2.31 (222) [Visvedevas.] 2.32 (223) [Various Deities.] 2.33 (224) [ Rudra.] 2.34 (225) [ Maruts.] 2.35 (226) [ Son of Waters.] 2.36 (227) [Various Gods.] 2.37 (228) [Various Gods.] 2.38 (229) [ Savitar.] 2.39 (230) 2.40 (231) [ Soma and Pusan.] 2.41 (232) [Various Deities.] 2.42 (233) [ Kapinjala.] 2.43 (234) [Kapinjala.]
References
External links
– English translation by Ralph T. H. Griffith