Of all the Vedic Samhita, Rig Veda is considered to be the most ancient one. Its hymns are mentioned even in the other three Vedas. It has been laid by Lokmanya Tilak that Rig Veda was composed between 6000 B.C. and 4000 B.C.

However, there is no unanimous consent about this period but there is no doubt of its being the most ancient one. Some scholars do not consider Rig Veda as a single Voluminous book rather they held it a huge collection of many volumes.

These scholars are of the view that it has not been composed by only one sage but by many saints of different periods.

It is believed that Rig Veda has mainly five parts or branches: (i) Shakal, (ii) Vaskal, (iii) Ashvalayan, (iv) Sankhyayan and (v) Mandukayan. Of these five, only the Shakal is available in totality today. Pandit Bhagvaddutta in his Vedic Vanmaya ka Itihas has mentioned 27 branches of Rig Veda.

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According to the scholars, tiiere are two kinds of divisions of Rig Veda: (i) Sukta and (ii) Mandal, Anuvak and Sukta. As per the first kind the entire Rig Veda is divided into eight parts called Ashtak.

In each Asthak there are eight chapters (Adhyaya). In other words, Rig Veda comprises eight Ashtak and 64 Adhyaya. As per the second kind, the Rig Veda is divided into ten divisions which is called Mandal.

The hymns in Mandal are called Sukta and the further divisions of Sukta are called Richayen. It is the latter kind of classification of Rig Veda which is prominent and popular.

According to this classification, Rig Veda has 10 Mandals, 1028 Sukta and 10,580 hymns (mantra). Its Richayen are related to 33 dieties.

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Being a collection of Richayen, it is called Rig Veda. Out of the ten Mandals, Richayen in the second and the seventh Mandals are the most ancient while the first and the tenth Mandals have been added in the end.