Hindu sacred literature is the most ancient of the. Hinduism does not render the upholders of such views unfit to be recognised as pious and honourable members of the hindu religious society. Unpanishads the upanishads are also called as vedantas or the end of the vedas. Bhagavad gita the technical part of book 6 of the mahabharata is also the world famous one. The site is dedicated to religious tolerance and scholarship, and has the largest readership of any similar site on the web. Hinduism does not have a single holy book that guides religious practice. Hinduism does not have a single holy book, but many ancient texts and scriptures. Yajur veda mantras and benedictions to be used during ceremonies. The holy book of jainism is a collection of texts known as agam literature or the agam sutras. The version of ramayana i posted nearly a year ago was a shorter more popular edition.
Om lata bahadur, book of hindu festivals and ceremonies 2nd edition. Thus any definition of hinduism is somewhat arbitrary and. The book of the dead is believed to have influenced the ten commandments given to moses it reads exactly like them, except in the negative registry. Hinduism, has many holy books, but most popular is shreemad bhagavad gita, upanishads and veda. Scholars hesitate in defining the term hindu scriptures given the diverse nature of hinduism, but many list the bhagavad gita and the. The isopanisad is one of the more mystical ones and one of the oldest and shortest. The original purpose of these activities was to purify, avert malicious. Do hindus have a sacred text like bible to refer to as the canon. List of holy books in hinduism the galaxy of hindu literature is very vast and voluminous. The terms sacred text and religious text are not necessarily interchangeable in that some religious texts are believed to be sacred because of the belief in some theistic religions such as the abrahamic religions that the text is divinely or supernaturally revealed or divinely.
What are the top ten religions and what is the holy book. Isopanisad or the isha upanishad is a part of the ancient upanishads, the cornerstones of the hindu religion. The religion of hinduism originated in northern india, near the river indus, about 4000 years ago and is the worlds oldest existing religion. The holy books of world religions sacred texts in world. Hindu texts are manuscripts and historical literature related to any of the diverse traditions. Smriti literature is considered less authoritative than sruti. Third in the list of major religions, with more than 870 million followers, is hinduism. However, the puranas are supposed to be complied by muni vyasa. The heart of hinduism, in the spirit of the tradition, aims to be nonsectarian, evenhanded, and respectful in its description of all the hindu traditions. The bhagavad gita, usually considered part of the sixth book of the mahabharata dating from about 400 or 300 b. Hinduism does not condemn those who deny god as the creator and ruler of the world, who do not accept the existence of an eternal soul and the state of moksha or state of liberation. A few texts are shared resources across these traditions and broadly considered as hindu scriptures. These are the most ancient religious texts which define truth for hindus.
Instead, hinduism has a large body of spiritual texts that guide. The vedas a collection of hymns praising the vedic gods. Sruti consists of four vedas, upanishads, brahmanas, aranyakas, and bhagavadgita while smriti consists of manu smriti, 18 puranas, ramayana, and mahabharata and other hindu holy books. Tantric practices cross religious boundaries, and manifest themselves in aspects of hinduism, jainism, and buddhism. If the indus valley civilization 3rd2nd millennium bce was the earliest source of hindu traditions, then hinduism is the oldest living religion on earth. It is here we find the core texts on vedanta and the ideas of dvaita dualism, advaita nondualism and maya. The bhagavad gita by krishnadwaipayana vyasa, walk like a buddha. Hinduism holy book important books and writings of hinduism.
He has written several books about hinduism for children and young adults. This one here is a translation of the entire scripture directly from the original sanskrit versions. The shruti refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts, believed to be eternal knowledge authored neither by human nor divine. The holy books of shinto are the kojiki or records of ancient matters 712 ce and the nihongi or chronicles of japan 720 ce these books are compilations of ancient. The veda is a rather unusual collection of literature. The concept of hinduism being a single monolithic religion is recent, dating back only to the 19th century. Jainism is an eastern religion with origins in the indus river valley dating back to 3000 b. Hinduism download books, sacred, spiritual texts and pdf. The oral transmission of sacred knowledge, from the teacher to the student, continues till today. Rather, there is a huge array of different sacred texts. Compared to other religions, sikhism is a religion of recent origin, founded in the 15th century ad by its founder sri guru. The rigveda is a collection of hindu hymns that is considered to be one of the four vedas sacred canonical texts of hinduism. Hinduism goes back to 5000 bce and is a compilation of many diverse traditions in contrast to christianity and muslim traditions, both of which emerged from a single founder making it the oldest practised religion, closely related to that of jainism, sikhism, and buddhism. Linda johnsen, the complete idiots guide to hinduism.
Hinduism holy book important books and writings of hinduism sacred text of hinduism some important books and writings on hinduism hinduism does not possess a single holy book like bible in christianity and quran in islamic dharma. The hindu sacred texts about human origins ancient origins. The primary sacred texts, known as the vedas, were composed around 1500 b. W elcome to the largest freely available archive of online books about religion, mythology, folklore and the esoteric on the internet.
Where the vedas gave a foundation for the direction of hinduism, the upanishads filled in the gaps. The scriptures of the vedas are meant to guide hindu believers in their daily lives. Hinduism is the worlds third most popular religion, with around 750 million followers. Hindu dharma encourages us not just to get a wellrounded knowledge of all our scriptures or as many as possible, but also study the holy books of other religions with respect. Hinduism is practised by more than 80% of indias population. Hinduism is an ancient religion with diverse traditions such as vaishnavism, shaivism. It is also the predominant religion in bali, indonesia. Hindu festivals are combinations of religious ceremonies, semiritual spectacles, worship, prayer, lustrations, processions, music and dances, eating, drinking, lovemaking, licentiousness, feeding the poor, and other activities of a religious or traditional character. Ramayana and mahabharata are the two important holy books of hinduism. Hindu sacred literature is the most ancient of the living literatures of the world. Iskcon, the international society for krishna consciousness, belongs to the vaisnava tradition of hinduism. Jains see these texts, which are the transcriptions of lord mahavirs sermons, as sacred documents.
These texts are glorious tales of the hindu trinity brahma, vishnu and maheshwar shiva. There have been numerous instances of one or both the parents taking on the role of guru for continue reading hindu religious books for children. Ramayana as pdf ebook the story of king rama in four volumes. We are trying to list out here as many hindu scriptures and books as possible.
Such information is often considered to be stored in sacred or revered texts, so what are the holy books of the five major world religions. The guru shishya tradition in hinduism for kids the guru shishya paramparatradition is a very important part of the hindu culture and religion. Hindu religious books for children spiritual india trip. This sacred text is divided into two main sections, the old testament and the new testament which are then further divided into various books. Here is the complete pdf version of ramayana in english. The most holy of the hindu books is written in sanskrit and is referred to as the vedas. Hinduism is the most widely professed faith in india, nepal and mauritius. Hinduism, major world religion originating on the indian subcontinent and comprising several and varied systems of philosophy, belief, and ritual.
The heart of hinduism text book is produced by iskcon educational services, uk. The aryans gave hinduism its priestly language, sanskrit. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. In this article, we detail the two different categories. Hindu texts are manuscripts and historical literature related to any of the diverse traditions within hinduism. This is one of the most popular and accessible of all hindu scriptures, required reading for anyone interested in hinduism. Other holy scriptures in hinduism are called the upanisads, the smrutis, the puranas, the ramayana and the mahabharata. In this article, we detail the two different categories these texts are organized into, shruti and smriti, and overview the most popular of the hindu texts. The specific principles and disciplines of hinduism vary with different sects. Like the bible of christianity, the vedas of hinduism or the koran of islam, the guru granth sahib, also known as the adi granth, is the main scripture of sikhism. Which is the holy book or sacred scripture of hinduism. The puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india.
Itihasas in hindu religious context this term refers to the mahabharata and the ramayana but may also be used in reference to all kinds of indian epic. A scripture which says that it is itself is the only true book and everything else is not worthy of study and respect is actually the product of the limited. We are trying to list out here as many hindu scriptures and books. Hindus value many sacred writings as opposed to one holy book.