the oldest of the sacred books of Hinduism, composed in an ancient form of Sanskrit about 1500 BCE, in what is now the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. It consists of a collection of 1,028 poems grouped into 10 “circles” ( mandalas). It is generally agreed that the first and last books were created later than the middle books. The Rigveda was preserved orally before it was written down about 300 BCE. (See Veda).