The ''Anukramaṇī'' (, ) (also ') are the systematic indices of

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...

hymnsMax Müller, F. (1860) ''A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature So Far As It Illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans'', London:Williams and Norgate, pp.215-29 recording

poetic meter In poetry, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of ...

, content, and traditions of authorship.

Anukramanis of the Rigveda

Six Anukramanis of the

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...

are ascribed to

Shaunaka Shaunaka (, ) is the name applied to teachers, and to a Shakha of the Atharvaveda. It is especially the name of a celebrated Sanskrit grammarian, author of the , the , the , six Anukramaṇīs (indices) to the Rigveda, and the Vidhāna of the Rig ...

: ''Anuvakanukramani'', ''Arshanukramani'', ''Chandonukramani'', ''Devatanukramani'', ''Padanukramani'' and ''Suktanukramani''. Except the ''Anuvakakramani'', other Anukramanis survive only in quotations found in the writings of Shadgurashishya. The most important Anukramani of the

is Katyayana's '' Sarvanukramani'' (ca. 2nd century BCE), recording the first word, the number of verses, name and family of poets ( rshis), names of

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

and

metres The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

for each of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda. The ''Vedarthadipika'', written by Shadgurushishya (12th century) is a significant commentary of this work. Mayrhofer (2003) discusses the personal names contained in the Rigveda Anukramani, counting 543 items. Academic opinion regarding the age and authenticity of the tradition of these names is not unanimous. Mayrhofer suggests that Hermann Oldenberg (1888) was essentially correct in assuming that :"the editors of the lists of authors .. ossesseda correct notion of the families associated with these Mandalas he Rigvedic "family books" 2–7 ''possibly'' rooted in tradition. Beyond this, they do not betray as much as the slightest sign of any genuine tradition on the hymn authors." (p. 229) Another view is set forth by

Stephanie W. Jamison Stephanie Wroth Jamison (born July 17, 1948) is an American linguist, currently at University of California, Los Angeles and an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She did her doctoral work at Yale University as a student of ...

and Joel P. Brereton in the 2014 English translation of the Rigveda: :Even though the anukramaṇīs were composed and redacted long after the R̥gvedic period, they are an invaluable resource, for, by and large, their identifications of the poets of hymns are plausible.

Anukramanis of the other Vedas

The ''Arsheya Brahmana'' is the earliest Anukramani of the

Samaveda The ''Samaveda'' (, , from '' सामन्'', "song" and ''वेद'', "knowledge"), is the Veda of melodies and chants. It is an ancient Vedic Sanskrit text, and is one of the sacred scriptures in Hinduism. One of the four Vedas, it is a l ...

, belonging to its ''Kauthuma''

shakha A shakha () is a Hindu theological school that specializes in learning certain Vedic texts, or else the traditional texts followed by such a school.V. S. Apte. A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary, p. 913, left column.Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-Engli ...

. The ''Jaiminiya Arsheya Brahmana'' is a later Anukramani of the Samaveda belonging to its ''Jaiminiya'' shakha. There are three Anukramanis of the

Yajurveda The ''Yajurveda'' (, , from यजुस्, "worship", and वेद, "knowledge") is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism'' (Edito ...

belonging to the Atreyi ''shakha'' of the '' Taittiriyasamhita'', Charayaniya ''shakha'' (known as ''Mantrarshadhyaya'') and Madhyandina ''shakha'' of the ''Vajasaneyisamhita'' ascribed to Katyayana. The ''Brihatsarvanukramani'' and the ''Atharvavediyapancpatalika'' are the Anukramanis of the

Atharvaveda The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', the proced ...

. The ''Brihatsarvanukramani'' is a complete index of the ''Atharvavedasamhita'' in 10 ''patala''s.

Notes

References

click on the link below for vedas and vedic concordances http://fourvedas.webs.com/vedic-concordances-index *Manfred Mayrhofer, ''Die Personennamen in der . Sicheres und Zweifelhaftes'', Munich (2003). *Hermann Oldenberg, ''Ueber die Liedverfasser des Rigveda''. ZDMG 42 (1888) 199-247. {{DEFAULTSORT:Anukramani Vedas Rigveda