A dazzling chorus of seer-poets, often called rishis or muni, wove the hymns of the Rigveda over centuries—each mandala bearing the signature of a sage or a school:

• Vishvamitra: Credited with Mandalas 3 and significant portions of 1, this once-royal sage is famed in later myths for his clash with Vashishta.
• Vashishta: Lender of his name to Mandala 7, his lineage also left verses scattered throughout Books 1 and 10.
• Atri: A stalwart figure behind Mandala 5, his family’s hymns praise Agni, Indra and the Maruts with fiery devotion.
• Bharadvaja: Owning Mandala 6, his clan’s verses roll out like thunderclaps in honor of the storm-god Indra.
• Gritsamada: Composer of Book 2, his compositions sing of dawn and cosmic order in crystalline detail.
• Vamadeva: Associated mainly with Mandala 4, the hymns celebrate Soma’s intoxicating power.
• Angiras: A broad school credited with Mandala 8, championing varied deities from the Varuna-Mitras to the waters themselves.
• Kanva: Though chiefly linked to later shakhas, the Kanva family left poetic fingerprints across hymn collections.
• Kashyapa, Jamadagni and other sages: Scattered throughout the tenth book, these seers collectively explore themes from creation myths to everyday rituals.

Rather than a lone author, the Rigveda reads like a kaleidoscope—each hymn a facet colored by a particular family of rishis who “heard” the celestial sound (śruti) in secluded hermitages or under starlit skies. Thanks to recent digitization projects and AI-driven linguistic analysis, these ancient verses are once again in the spotlight—drawing everything from academic crowds at UNESCO heritage forums to curious listeners on streaming apps that play Vedic chants alongside lo-fi beats.

Even today, when the International Day of Yoga brings millions together, echoes of those primordial hymns still resonate in mantras and meditation practices worldwide—proof that the rishis’ voices, carried down through an unbroken oral tradition, continue to strike a living chord.