The sages of RV expressed their wisdom about the goal of existence and the methods of achieving the goal by means of a four-fold formula of immortality or all-round perfection or bliss, freedom and knowledge which integrates all the aspects of existence and finally, the supreme Divine or God who pervades everything but is not limited by anything. If we study all the verses in RV grouped under these four headings, we get a glimpse of both the breadth and depth of the RV and notice that RV contains the seeds of all the multidimensional thoughts of the later Hindu spiritual literature. This is not to say that the sages of RV knew everything that is to be known or that the later teachers of Hinduism were not creative. Consider for instance, the concept of the One without the Second, Brahman, discussed in magnificent detail, in the Upanishad books of later times. One finds in the RV the seeds of the thought of these books. Similar comments can be made for the yoga of devotion and works, the occult psychological knowledge found in the Tāntrik texts etc. Hence, the seer of modern times, Sri Aurobindo states that the earliest formula for wisdom will prove to be the last.

Similarly no one can claim that all of mathematics is contained in RV. But the beginning of the mathematics is certainly there as seen by the mention of the spoked wheel in RV (1.164) which implies a solution of circling the square.

Immortality amŗtatva is declared as the goal to be achieved even while we are living, we being the sons of immortality (RV 10.13.1), a phrase quoted later in the Shvetashvatāra Upanishad. Immortality is intimately associated with bliss or happiness denoted by words like Soma, Madhu etc. Soma manifests itself in the stone, the herb, the animal, man and the worlds beyond the range of the senses. It is the Delight of Existence. But this bliss is concealed. It can be released only by work. Veda repeatedly mentions the squeezing of Soma, Somasuta. It has to be purified. It is this bliss that can remove the incapacities in the human existence like death, old age and illness and render perfection in every part and lead to immortality. It leads from a partial consciousness of existence asat to sat the true existence, united with the supreme being, not only in its unity but also in multiplicity.

We have already discussed in Section 5 that freedom is a key idea in Rigveda. It has no conception of hell into which the critics are thrown! Knowledge constitutes the bulk of RV. The key note of knowledge is its integrality. It is not divided into several rigid compartments.

RV describes several worlds lokās, each world being based on a particular psychological principle. Only the earth in which we live, bhūmi, is made of matter. Other worlds are supraphysical. In RV, the inner psychological structure of each person is considered to be a city dama, puri, gŗha, made up of many rooms, each room standing for one psychological power or faculty. These powers, undeveloped in the beginning, develop in the course of time in response to the aspiration of the individual, eventually, leading to perfection. This development is impossible without the help of devās, the distinct powers and personalities of the Supreme Being or God. Each deva manifests his power in each human being and literally grows in the human as described in hundreds of verses. The devās of the RV are faultless, perfect, always of one mind, always in touch with the Supreme Truth and always helpful to the human beings in their quest for the goal of supreme perfection.

RV has more than forty hymns about the aspects of every day life like marriage, the householder's life, the celibate student, wandering ascetic, the various professions, health, sickness and death. It deals extensively with the cause of suffering, the presence of evil forces and beings, their origin, and their influence on the human life; ever present is the discussion of the various paths to Immortality.

In every action we see the dominant contribution of the devās. Thus both devās and humans are collaborators or co-creators in all activities. Eventually every human being can achieve the perfection natural to a cosmic power  deva.  This comprehensiveness of knowledge distinguishes RV from all other spiritual books.

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