Text
The Sanskrit text is Ṛgveda 10.129, given in Devanāgarī (as continuous recitation, saṃhitā) and in IAST roman transliteration with the words separated. The English translation and the word-by-word meanings were prepared for this edition. For deeper study, read the hymn with the traditional commentaries listed below.
Audio
- Sanskrit chant: synthesised with Vāgdhenu, a Sanskrit chant text-to-speech system by Prof. Prathosh A. P., Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. It produces classical śloka chant, not Vedic svara recitation. The hymn’s triṣṭubh lines are chanted with the closest classical eleven-syllable metre, upajāti.
- English narration: ElevenLabs text-to-speech.
- Background music: a veena, bansuri and tanpura bed made with ElevenLabs Music, tuned to the chant’s tonic.
Word highlighting
Each word’s timing was found automatically by forced alignment (a speech model that matches known text to audio). It is accurate to a fraction of a second for most words, but it can drift, especially on long held vowels in the chant.
Further reading
- Sāyaṇa, Ṛgveda-saṃhitā-bhāṣya, commentary on 10.129. The classical commentary on the whole Ṛgveda, written in fourteenth-century Vijayanagara.
- Ādi Śaṅkara, commentaries on the Bṛhadāraṇyaka (1.2), Taittirīya (2.6–7) and Chāndogya (6.2) Upaniṣads, where the hymn’s question of being and non-being is taken up.
- Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda (Sri Aurobindo Ashram), on reading the Veda as inner experience.
- Chaitanya Chinta, “From Rigveda to Research: Parallels Between Nasadiya Sukta and the Big Bang”, Hecimal. The source of this course’s reflections.