- Reference is made to the 8 Vasus, 11 Rudras and 12 Adityas who are part of the 33 Gods. In Pitru Tharpanam, the ancestors are supposed to come to the ceremony in the form of the above Gods.

- Suktham 89 refers to Hiranya Garban ' who lives in the innermost depths of the minds of all living things' and to Prajapathi. We see the roots of the Upanishads here.

- We see the reference to ' Seven sacred rivers' in many Sukthams. At present the seven sacred rivers are Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswathi, Narmada, Sindhu, and Kaveri. As the Sukthams in the initial part of the Rig Veda were composed long before the Aryans moved to the Gangetic plains, they could not have known about Ganga or Godavari or Narmada or Kaveri. So it is difficult to say what rivers are meant by the term 'seven sacred rivers'

- We see reference to Gothrams. Names like Bharadwaja Gothram, which exists today also, are mentioned.
- In many Sukthams we see reference to "Brahma the creator ".
- We see reference to the mountain Mahameru which is an imaginary mountain referred to in many Puranas.
- We come across the concept of 'curse' in a few Sukthams. Rijraswan is cursed by his father and becomes blind as a result. He prays to the Aswis and gets back his eye-sight. The stories in the epics and Puranas are replete with the concept of curse from Gods and Rishis. Maharshi Durvasa is notorious for his habit of cursing all and sundry.
- Suktham 178 of Mandalam 10 is about Garuda, the King of birds, son of Thyaksha and Vinata. Garuda has been mentioned in some other Sukthams also. The Garuda Puranam is about Garuda and has its roots in Rig Veda
- In one Suktham we see the statement 'The Sun shows the way for Yogis to go to Brahmalokam'. This is the main concern of Upanishads. This is another root from which the Upanishads have developed.

From the above it is clear that the Hindu religious practices and thoughts have their roots in the first scripture of Hinduism, namely the Rig Veda. Some of the Sukthams in the last Mandalam of the Rig Veda are highly philosophical and are the fore-runners of the Upanishads. Suktham 81 of Mandalam 10 says 'The Supreme God with all-seeing eyes created the three worlds in Himself. He created the Heaven with His hands and Earth with His legs. With what tree did He make the Heaven and Earth? From which forest did He get that tree? Oh Men! develop the curiosity to ask this question. The answer will be that, that tree is Brahmam. Oh Supreme God! Let the Universe be unified with me. Let me see all living things in the Universe as part of myself'.

Suktham 82 says 'Oh Men! You do not realize that Supreme God who created everything that you see. There is a wide gulf between you who are materialistic and selfish and that Supreme Truth. You are enveloped in the fog of ignorance and so can not realize that Truth. All you want is to fill your belly somehow.'

Suktham 90 is the famous Purusha Suktham. It describes an imaginary Yajnam in which Prajapathi (the Supreme Being) in the form of Virat Purusha is sacrificed From this all