The seventh Mandala of the Rigveda

Rigveda

The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...

("book 7", "RV 7") has 104 hymns. In the Rigveda Anukramani, all hymns in this book are attributed to Vasishta. Hymn 32 is additionally credited to Sakti Vasista, and hymns 101-102 (to Parjanya

Parjanya

Parjanya, according to the 1965 Sanskrit–English dictionary by Shri Vaman Shivram Apte gives the following meanings:* Rain-cloud, thunder cloud, a cloud in general* Rain...

) are additionally credited to Kumara Agneya.
It is one of the "family books" (mandalas 2-7), the oldest core of the Rigveda.

The hymns are dedicated to Agni

Agni

Agni is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices. The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods...

, Indra

Indra

' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...

, the Visvadevas, the Maruts

Maruts

In Hinduism the Marutas , also known as the Marutagana and sometimes identified with Rudras, are storm deities and sons of Rudra and Diti and attendants of Indra. The number of Maruts varies from two to sixty . They are very violent and aggressive, described as armed with golden weapons i.e...

, Mitra-Varuna

Mitra-Varuna

Mitra and Varuna are two deities frequently referred to in the ancient Indian scripture of the Rigveda. They are both considered Adityas, or deities connected with the Sun; and they are protectors of the righteous order of rta...

, the Asvins, Ushas

Ushas

Ushas , Sanskrit for "dawn", is a Vedic deity, and consequently a Hindu deity as well.Sanskrit is an s-stem, i.e. the genitive case is . It is from PIE , cognate to Greek Eos and Latin Aurora....

 (Dawn), Indra-Varuna, Varuna

Varuna

In Vedic religion, Varuna is a god of the sky, of water and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld...

, Vayu

Vayu

Vāyu is a primary Hindu deity, the Lord of the winds, the father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman...

 (Wind), two each to Sarasvati, Rudra

Rudra

' is a Rigvedic God, associated with wind or storm, and the hunt. The name has been translated as "The Roarer", or "The Howler"....

, the Waters

Ap (water)

Ap is the Vedic Sanskrit term for "water", in Classical Sanskrit occurring only in the plural, , whence Hindi . The term is from PIE hxap "water"....

, the Adityas

Ādityas

In Hinduism, Āditya , meaning "of or related to Aditi", refers to the offsprings of Aditi. Adityas are solar class deities. In later Hinduism, Aditya is used in the singular to mean the sun.-Vedas:...

, Vishnu

Vishnu

Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

, Vastospati, Brhaspati, one each to the Apris

Apris

Apri in Sanskrit means "conciliation, propitiation" and refers to special invocations spoken previous to the offering of oblations. RV 1.13 is known as the Apri-hymn of the Kanvas, and Sayana in the context of this hymn enumerates twelve Apris propitiating twelve deities, also known as Apris...

, to Vasistha

Vasistha

Vashist in the seventh, i.e the present Manvantara, and the Rajpurohit / Rajguru of the Suryavansha or Solar Dynasty. He was the mānasaputra of Brahma. He had in his possession the divine cow Kamadhenu, and Nandini her child, who could grant anything to their owners...

, Savitar

Savitar

Savitar may refer to:*Savitr, a Vedic Hindu Solar deity of Aditya class*Savitar , a supervillain published by DC Comics*Savitar, a character from Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series...

, Bhaga

Bhaga

Sanskrit is a term for "lord, patron", but also for "wealth, prosperity". The cognate term in Avestan and Old Persian is , of uncertain meaning but used in a sense in which "lord, patron" might also apply. A Slavic cognate is "god"...

, the Dadhikra

Dadhikra

is the name of a divine horse, personification of the morning Sun, addressed in the Rigveda, hymns RV 4.38-40, RV 7.44, RV 3.20, RV 10.101....

s, the Rbhus

Rbhus

The Ribhus are three semi-divine beings of the Rigveda and the Atharvaveda, Ribhu, Vaja and Vibhvan, collectively called by the name of their leader. In later Hindu mythology , Ribhu is a son of Brahma....

, Dyaus and Prthivi (Heaven and Earth), Parjanya

Parjanya

Parjanya, according to the 1965 Sanskrit–English dictionary by Shri Vaman Shivram Apte gives the following meanings:* Rain-cloud, thunder cloud, a cloud in general* Rain...

 (Rain) and Indra-Soma

Soma

Soma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the subsequent Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains 114 hymns, many praising its energizing qualities...

. 7.103 is dedicated to the frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

s.

The rivers

Rigvedic rivers

Rivers, such as the Sapta Sindhu , play a prominent part in the hymns of the Rigveda, and consequently in early Vedic religion...

 mentioned in the 7th Mandala are the Sarasvati

Sarasvati River

The Sarasvati River is one of the chief Rigvedic rivers mentioned in ancient Hindu texts. The Nadistuti hymn in the Rigveda mentions the Sarasvati between the Yamuna in the east and the Sutlej in the west, and later Vedic texts like Tandya and Jaiminiya Brahmanas as well as the Mahabharata...

, Asikni, Parusni and possibly the Yamuna

Yamuna

The Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...

 (in 7.18.19 the name of a helper of Indra, maybe also the name of a woman or goddess). Hymns 75 and 76 are entirely dedicated to Sarasvati.

The 7th Mandala contains references to the Battle of the Ten Kings

Battle of the Ten Kings

Battle of the Ten Kings is a battle alluded to in Mandala 7 of the Rigveda , the ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is a battle between Aryans...

 (notably hymns 18 and 83), where king Suda

Sudas

Sudās was a king in the Rig Veda. His name means "worshipping well", an s-stem, either from a root dās, or with the extra s added to avoid an archaic root noun in ā, Sudā-, which would easily be mistaken for a feminine name....

 defeated a confederation of hostile Aryan and Dasyu tribes. This may correspond to a historical war (mythologically embellished, similar to the Iliad

Historicity of the Iliad

The extent of the historical basis of the Iliad has been a topic of scholarly debate in classical studies since the 19th century.While the Age of Enlightenment had rejected the story of the Trojan War as fable, the discoveries made by Heinrich Schliemann at Hisarlik reopened the question in modern...

) dating to the early phase of Indo-Aryan presence in India

Indo-Aryan migration

Models of the Indo-Aryan migration discuss scenarios of prehistoric migrations of the proto-Indo-Aryans to their historically attested areas of settlement in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent...

.

List of incipits

The dedication as given by Griffith

Griffith

-People:* Griffith * Griffith * Griffith Borgeson , American race car historian and editor-in-chief of Motor Trend magazine* Griffith Brewer, pioneer English balloonist and aviator* Griffith Davies , actuary...

is in square brackets