The Rig Veda is one of the more difficult texts in this list. It doesn’t have the mythic action of the Ramayana or the beauty of the Upanishads but it is an important text to read in order to get a sense of the basis of Hindu mythology as well as the naturalist beginnings of the religion. It also contains a lot of the basics of Indian philosophy that has become popular in the west today.
The Rig Veda is one of the most important texts of the Hindu religious faith. Today, the text is revered by Hindus, primarily in India and Nepal and its verses are recited at prayers, religious functions and other auspicious occasions.
The Rig Veda is a collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns and one of the four Hindu religious texts collectively known as the Vedas. The Rig Veda was probably composed between 1700–1100 BCE, making it one of the world's oldest religious texts. The prayers were passed down over the centuries by oral tradition alone and the text was not written and codified until the Early Middle Ages. Considering its great age, the text is very well preserved and uncorrupted.
The Rig Veda consists of 1,028 short hymns devoted to the praise of the Vedic gods and is organized into 10 books, known as Mandalas.

The chief gods of the text are Agni, the sacrificial fire; Indra, a heroic god who is praised for having slain his enemy Vrtra; and Soma, the sacred potion, or the plant it is made from. Other prominent gods mentioned are Mitra, Varuna and Ushas (the dawn) and the Ashvins. Also invoked are Savitar, Vishnu, Rudra, Pushan, Brihaspati, Brahmanaspati, Dyaus Pita (the sky), Prithivi (the earth), Surya (the sun), Vayu (the wind), Apas (the waters), Parjanya (the rain), Vac (the word), the Maruts, the Adityas, the Rbhus, the Vishvadevas (the all-gods), many rivers (notably the Sapta Sindhu, and the Sarasvati River), as well as various further minor gods, persons, concepts, phenomena and items.
The Rig Veda also contains fragmentary references to possible historical events, notably the struggle between the early Vedic people (known as Vedic Aryans) and their enemies, the Dasa.
According to Indian tradition, the Rigvedic hymns were collected by Paila under the guidance of Vyāsa, who formed the Rigveda Samhita as we know it. According to the Śatapatha Brāhmana, the number of syllables in the Rigveda is 432,000, equalling the number of muhurtas (1 day = 30 muhurtas) in forty years. This statement stresses the underlying philosophy of the Vedic books that there is a connection (bandhu) between the astronomical, the physiological, and the spiritual.