Slight difference in the first verse of the first hymn of the Rig Veda

[Riverwolf]

The mantra (romanized) reads: "agnimeeleh purohitam yajnasya devamrtvijam."

At this place:

http://www.vedaresearch.org/index.ph...tid=34:mantras

The word in question reads "rtvijam." It reads this way here, too: http://is1.mum.edu/vedicreserve/rk_veda/rk_ved_m1.pdf

However, at Internet Sacred Texts Archive:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rvsan/rv01001.htm

It reads "rtveejam."

Can anyone explain what may be going on? I suspect the former is the correct one and ISTA made a mistake. But I wanted to confirm this, as well as get some ideas as to why the slight difference.

[naras229]

rtvijam--ऋत्विजं--is the correct word. It means one who officiated at a vedic sacrifice--यागः

[Kumar_Das]

Without doubt Im sure its 'rtvijam'. The devanagiri from the above posts says that.^ Pronouncing it as "rtveejam" destroys the whole melody of the verse. The beauty of Vedas is its rhyming syllables.