PREFACE In 1957, as the work on the 16-Volume Vedic Word- Concordance and the 6-Volume Vedic Grammatical Indices which had been under active pursuance since 1931 in the Nityanand Vedic Lexicographical Department of our Institute towards supplying our next 25-Volume continuation-project in that line, namely, "A Comparative and Etymological Dictionary of Vedic Interpretation" with its sine qua non scriptorial rock-foundation was entering the ultimate stage of its completion which has fortunately been now achieved, our Mahatma Hans Raj Manuscript Collection, Preservation, Editing and Publication Department undertook to publish the Sanhita and the Pada texts of the Rgveda alongwith the critical editions of the Commentaries on it by the famous three pre-Sayaṇa scholiasts, Skaudasvamin, Udgitha and Venkata- Madhava and, also, of the Summary by Mudgala of the Commentary by Sayana, which, practically, extracted the entire body of the latter except the details of ritualistic application (viniyoga) and grammar, The idea was to provide the much-needed facility through this medium of studying together on a comparative basis the lines on which all the said reputed Indian Vedists of old had tried to understand and interpret the hoary and holy Rgveda, being universally acknowledged as the oldest extant literary monument in man's library. Same work that had alerady heer dans alsewhere in this dicer tion is being duly noticed, in its proper place, in the sequel alongwith the description of our other Basic Materials. A brief indication of the methodology we have followed in critically editing the texts named above forms the subject of the section which immediately follows. The Volumes II and III of this work containing the Suktas 81-191 of the Mandala 1 and the Mandalas II and III, respectively, were issued in 1963 being followed, in 1964, by the Volumes IV-VI carrying the texts, as available, to the end of the Sukta 45 of the Mandala X. The present Volume I supplying the first 80 Sukias of
