Scriptures of Hinduism

by Jayaram V

Hindu scriptures can be grouped into the following categories:

Technically speaking, there are only two broad categories namely
Shruti and Smriti. All other categories which are derivatives of
the Vedas (Shruti) and the Upanishadic wisdom can be grouped under
Smriti.

The Vedas:

The Vedas are part of the Shruti literature. Shruti means that
which is heard. The edas are considered to be divine in origin and
not man made. No one truly knows how old they are. Some of the Rigvedic
verses were perhaps composed in the early phases of human civilization.
For centuries they were passed down from one generation to another
through oral tradition. They were probably rendered into written
form during the epic period, around 1500 BC.

The Vedas are eternal (nitya) and out of this world (apauruseya).
Hindus believe that God brings the Vedas into this world at the
beginning of every cycle of creation for the welfare of the mankind
and withdraws them again at the end of it. The Vedas are revealed
to the mankind through rishis (rsi) or great seers. The rsis were
considered to be the mind born children of Brahma, who were created
solely for the purpose of introducing the Vedas to the mankind.
The word rsi means he who had seen (drs) the Truth.

The Mystery of the Vedas : The Vedas are considered to
be very holy, Brahman Himself in the form of words and sounds. Beneath
the layers of poetic imagery, colorful visions and seemingly superstitious
ritual prayers practices, The Vedas said to contain profound secrets
of the worlds, their origins and knowledge of the spiritual realms
into which man can ascend by the exercise of his will and transformation
of his consciousness. They speak not just of various gods and divine
powers of the external world for the purpose of bringing down rains,
drive away of the scourge or assuage our fear of storms and tempests,
but of various divinities and spiritual entities that exist in our
psychic awareness and arise and awake as we progress through various
stages of spiritual advancement in our quest for Self Realization.

Although on the surface, the Vedic hymns appear to be mere ritualistic
invocations addressed to various gods and goddesses, in reality
they are addressed to acknowledge the arrival or descent of specific
forces or energies of the higher worlds into our individual consciousness
or to invoke their presence. Unfortunately we are no more conversant
with the hidden meaning, although we have some vague idea about
it, because of the revelations of Sri Aurobindo, in his famous work,
the Secret of the Vedas.( To know more about Sri Aurobindo please
to the section on Masters).

For centuries the Vedas were kept as a closely guarded secret
by the Brahmin Caste and taught only to a select few. (Something
like the Microsoft not wanting to share its programming secrets
with others!). While this might have enabled the Vedas to survive
the ravages of time in their most unadulterated form, and enabled
the priestly order to maintain their sway, it also contributed to
the decline of the Vedic religion and the conversion of many lower
caste people into other religions and sectarian movements. It was
after the arrival of the Europeans to the Indian subcontinent that
an organized and sincere effort was made to introduce the Vedas
to the academic circles of the West in the form of translations
and commentaries.

The Vedas are four in number, namely the Rigveda, the Yajurveda,
the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda, of which the Rigveda is the oldest
and probably composed at a time when the Vedic Aryans were not yet
fully settled and were wandering around either in the Indian subcontinent
or elsewhere in search of a suitable homeland. The word ‘veda’ means
knowledge or wisdom and from the word veda are derived the words
vid (to know), vidya (study or education), vidvan (the scholar)
and vedavid (the knower of the Vedas). (For more details about the
four vedas and their translations, readers are requested to visit
our section on the Vedas.)

The Divisions of the Vedas: Each Veda is divided into
four parts, namely the Mantra, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad.
The Mantra part contains mantras or hymns addressed to various gods
and goddesses, which are chanted during ritualistic prayers or invocations
according to a particular rhythm. The Mantra part is concerned mostly
with the pronunciation of the words and the vibrations they create
in the minds of the invokers and in the physical atmosphere that
surround them so as to render the descent of the divine forces easier
and swifter. The Brahmana part contains information about rites
and rituals and serves as a kind of guide book that explains the
method and the manner in which the rituals are to be conducted.
The Aranyakas, or the forest books deal with the significance and
philosophical back ground of various rituals. The fourth part of
the Veda is called the Upanishad. The Upanishads are books of deep
spiritual knowledge known as Vedanta. There are hundreds of Upanishads
ascribed to the four Vedas of which 12 are considered to be the
most important. (To know more about the Upanishads and the list
of 108 principal Upanishads please visit our comprehensive section
on the Upanishads.)

Symbolism of the Vedas: The four
parts of the Vedas have significance and relevance to the four stages
(ashramas) of human life, namely brahmacharya, grihastashrama, vanaprastha
and sanyasashrama respectively. How this is so is explained below.

1. Brahmacharya : Brahmacharya is the phase of studentship.
During this phase a student of the Vedas is expected to memorize
the mantras completely and recite them with utmost accuracy. At
this stage in life for a man, the mantra part of the Vedas are important.

2. Grihasthashrama: This is the stage of the householder.
During this phase each adult is expected to lead a righteous life
and live like Lord Vishnu on earth working for the preservation
of his family and society through righteous deeds. For him at this
stage, knowledge of Brahmanas carry importance, because they deal
with the techniques of karmakanda.

3. Vanaprastha: This is the stage of forest dwelling.
During this phase a person leaves his house and properties to the
care of his children and retires into the solitude of the forest
with his wife, to lead a spiritual life. The knowledge contained
in the Aranyakas is useful to him during this phase.. (Interested
readers may visit our sacred scriptures section and read the Aitareya
Aranyaka available there under the heading the Upanishads.)

4. Sanyasashrama: This is final stage of renunciation
in the life of an individual during which he renounces the worldly
life completely and spends the rest of his life in the contemplation
of God and Self. During this stage the knowledge of the Upanishads
is very useful to him.

According to another classification the contents of the Vedas
are divided into three parts instead of four. These are the first
part known as karmakanda or the procedural part comprising of the
Mantras and the Brahmanas, the second part known as upsanakanda
or the contemplative part consisting of the Aranyakas and the third
part known as Jnanakanda or the knowledge part comprising of the
Upanishads.

The Smritis

In contrast to the Shruti literature, which contains revelations,
the Smriti literature is a product of human intellect. It contains
the works of various individuals who base their information and
interpretations upon the Vedas. Smriti means that which is based
upon memory. It is the literature produced out of human intellect.
It is a sacred literature that is intellectual in origin and meant
for the purpose of human welfare. Strictly speaking all scriptures
which are not shruti or divine in origin come under this classification.

However, standard classification includes only those works that
are based upon the knowledge contained in the Vedas. These are the
law books known as dharma shastras. They deal with various aspects
of human life and social organization. They instruct how an individual
should conduct himself or herself in society in the light of the
caste to which the individual belongs. The define the rules and
roles for various groups of individuals in the society. The topics
range from such issues as the status, duties and responsibilities
prescribed for the four main castes, remedies against possible transgression
of the prescribed laws and also remedies for divine retribution.

Among the available dharmashastras four are considered to be
very important: They are the works Manu, Yagjnavalkya, Sankha, and
Parasara. Of these the first one known as Manusmriti is the most
popular. Known as Manavadharma shastra, or the scripture of human
laws, Manusmriti was considered in ancient Hindu society as the
ultimate guide book for human conduct and social and religious behavior.
It provided guidelines for the Hindus to conduct themselves in line
with their social order and religious duties.

It is also said that these four works were supposed to provide
guidance to people during the four great ages called the Mahayugas:
the Manusmriti for the first great age called Satyug, the Yagnavalkya-smriti
for the second great age called Tretayug, the Sankha-smriti for
the third great epoch called Dvaparyug and the Parasara-smriti for
the present and the last great epoch called Kaliyug.

In recent times the Hindu law books have drawn widespread criticism
from many quarters because of their preferential treatment of certain
castes against the others and their narrow minded and one-sided
approach to such sensitive subjects as the status of women and the
process of creation. (For a detailed study of the Manusmriti please
go to our Sacred Scriptures section where you will find a complete
translation of this exhaustive scripture)

While we cannot deny the fact that the Law Books were particularly
unkind and insensitive to the lower castes and women, it is however
important to remember that the dharma shastras do not enjoy the
same status as the Vedas. They need not necessarily be accepted
as final authority on any issue, unless your own sense of justice
agrees with them. Unlike the Vedas they are neither eternal nor
fallible since they are products of human intellect and social and
political circumstances. They are not derived from the Divine directly.
They are produced in a particular age, according to the demands
and general awareness of that age. Because of this they are prone
to be defective and controversial even, Therefore in the event of
any doubt or dispute regarding any information contained in these
scriptures, one should check whether the information is line with
the tenets of the Vedas and if it is not we can safely set it aside.
The Vedas do not discriminate between man and woman. Not do they
suggest any caste discrimination. Out of the thousands of hymns
contained in the Vedas a few are quoted as the basis for caste systems.
These hymns are clever manipulations or inventions and should be
discarded.

The Itihasas:

Itihas means history. Generally the Ramayana and the Mahabharata
are included in this category. The Ramayana is the story of Rama
and his battle against the evil forces unleashed by Ravana, the
arch villain with a mixture of both good and bad qualities arising
out of egoism, who abducts Sita, wife of Rama and faces the inevitable.
In end Rama kills Ravana and rescues his wife.

The Mahabharata is the story of two brothers, Pandu and Dhritarashtra,
their children, namely Pandavas and the Kauravas and the recalcitrant
attitude between them for political power which leads to a great
war and mighty destruction of both families, resulting in the victory
of the righteous Pandavas. Lord Krishna gives his support to the
Pandavas and helps them defeat and destroy the Kauravas and their
great army.

The Mahabharata is an epic of grand proportions, rich in imagination
and human wisdom. At its core are religion and family values. It
is difficult to read the epic without realizing the destructive
nature of man and the possible dangers for the humanity because
of that. The Mahabharata is the longest epic ever written in human
history. It teaches us many moral and spiritual lessons and in terms
of appeal has a greater appeal than even the Vedas.

The Bhagavad gita is the message of Sri Krishna not just to Arjuna
on the battle field but to the entire humanity who have to fight
many battles both internally and externally while they live on earth.
The book contains great spiritual truths which are relevant even
today. It tells us how to conduct ourselves in this world with detachment
and freedom of the mind. It speaks about offering the fruit of ones
actions to God in order to become free from the cycle of births
and deaths. (The complete translation of the Bhagavad gita, and
the Ramayana are available from our Hinduism section.)

The Puranas

The Puranas describe the religious events that happened in the
remote past, sometimes starting with the story of creation itself.
They basically deal with the incarnations of God and the deeds of
God in various forms. In many ways they resemble the epics in describing
evens. But there is one basic difference. The epics deal with the
history of mankind and the events that happened on the earthly plane
in the past, while the Puranas deal with divine characters, and
events associated with them on different planes, not just on earth.

The emphasis in the Puranas is primarily on the divine. Through
inspiring stories and amusing anecdotes and the use of story and
drama, they intend to turn our attention towards the divine and
engage our minds in the contemplation of God. In a simple but very
effective way, they aim to strengthen our faith and lead us on the
path of righteous living.

The Puranas and the Itihasas are jointly referred as the Panchama
Veda or the fifth Veda. The Puranas have played a very significant
role in the past in keeping the religious fervor of the people high.
While as books of great antiquity they may not they may not throw
much light on the ancient history of Hinduism, it is difficult to
ignore their contribution to the gradual evolution of Hinduism into
of the most popular religions of the world.

Without them and the two great epics, Hinduism would not have
attained this status. What the Vedas could not accomplish, with
all their supposed wisdom and philosophy, thanks to a self absorbed
and self centered priesthood, that rarely bothered itself with the
initiation of the masses into religion, or concerned itself with
the spreading of religion, the puranas and the epics managed. They
instilled faith in the masses and brought them into the fold of
Hinduism.

The number of Puranas vary. But generally 18 main (maha) Purunas
and 18 secondary (upa) Puranas are accounted. The mahapuranas are
Brahmapurana, Padmapurana, Vishnupurana, Sivapurana, Bhagavatapurana,
Naradapurana, Markendeyapurana, Agnipurana, Bhavishyapurana, Brahmavaivartapurana,
Lingapurana, Varahapurana, Skandapurana, Vamanapurana, Kurmapurana,
Matsyapurana, Garudapurana and Brahmandapurana. Of these the most
popular are the Bhagavatapurana, the Sivapurana and Brahmapurana.

The Agamas

In Sanskrit ‘agama’ means acquisition of knowledge. In terms
of religious significance, the Agamas are as important as the Vedas.
They are also not derived from the Vedas. The Agamas are manuals
of divine worship. They deal with such topics as the codes of temple
building, image making, and the modes of worship. Saivism, Vaishnavism
and Shaktism have their own respective Agamas.

Saivism recognizes 28 principal Agamas and 150 sub agamas. Some
of them date back to 2nd Century AD. Various schools of Saivism
such as the the Saiva Siddhantha school, Tamil Saivism, Kashmiri
Saivism and Vira Saivism follow these texts and base their religious
activity upon them. The most prominent agama text in Saivism is
the Kamika. These texts consider Siva as the Supreme Ruler of the
Universe, the Highest Self, the Conscious Principle while Shakti
is regarded as the unconscious or the natural principle who is the
cause of bondage. The union of Shakti with Siva at the highest level
leads to the freedom of the soul (pasu) from the Pasa or the attachment.

The Followers of Shaktism follow 27 Agamas also called Tantras.
Shaktism considers the Mother Goddess as the Supreme Self and relegates
Iswara, the Divine Father, to a secondary position. In Shaktism
the Divine Mother is both the cause of delusion (maya) and the source
of liberation. Shaktism gave birth to the practice of Tantric forms
of worship which were not generally acceptable to the followers
of Vedic methods of worship. The Agamas of Shaktism deal with magical
and occult knowledge, besides mechanical, ritualistic, devotional
and spiritual aspects of Tantric forms of worship

The Vaishnava Agamas are grouped into four categories namely
the Vaikhanasa, Pancharatra, Pratishthasara and Vijnanalalita. Of
these, the Vaishanavites consider the Pancharatra Agama as the most
important (Swami Sivananda). These Agamas are believed to have been
revealed by Narayana Himself. The Pancharatra Agama is again subdivided
into seven sub agamas namely, the Brahma, Saiva, Kaumara, Vasishtha,
Kapila, Gautamiya and the Naradiya. The Pancharatra Agamas consider
Vishnu as the Supreme Lord of the Universe and devotion to Vishnu
as the sure path to liberation. According to another opinion, the
Vaikhanasagama is the most ancient and most important Agama and
all the Agamas practically and literally copied all their information
from this sacred Agama. It is believed that the Vaikhanasa Agama
was originally compiled under the guidance of sage Vaikhanasa during
the early Vedic period. Sri Madhavacharya held Pancharatra texts
in high esteem and equated them with the Vedas and the epics, while
Sri Shankaracharya had a different opinion.

According to another classification the Agamas are five types
namely:Sakta Agamas, Soura Agamas, Ganapatya Agamas, Saiva Agamas
and Vaikhanasa Agamas

The Darsanas

The Darsanas deal with the various schools of philosophical thought
that prevailed in ancient India. Darsana means vision or perception.
There are six darsanas grouped into three pairs based upon their
approach to the concept of the existence or non existence of Absolute
God. These are :

1.Nyaya and the Vaisheshika

2.The Sankhya and the Yoga

3. The Mimansa and the Vedanta

These six darsanas actually represent six different streams of
philosophical thought that prevailed in ancient India. Each school
had its own founder and a principal scripture as its original source.
Thus the Nyaya Sutras were written by Gautama, the Vaisheshika Sutras
by Kanada, the Sankhya Karika by Iswara Krishna, the Yoga Sutras
by Patanjali, Mimamsa Sutras by Jaimini and Vedanta Sutras by Badarayana.
In course of time a great deal of literature gathered around these
six schools of thought much of which was in the form of commentaries
(bhashyas) of the original six works.

Popular literature

The Popular literature consists of the works produced in the
vernacular languages, other than Sanskrit, such as Tamil, Telugu,
Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, and so on by eminent scholars over a period
of more than three thousand years. Included in this category are
both the translations from the Sanskrit and also original works.
Since it is not possible to deal with the entire list we are mentioning
a few important works. Tamil is the oldest of the Dravidian languages
and in terms of antiquity it may be as old as the Sanskrit itself.
A lot of devotional literature was composed in Tamil by the Nayanars
and Alvars in the early Christian era. The Sangam literature is
a true reflection of the greatness of Tamil as an excellent medium
of devotional literature. In Kannada, another Dravidian language,
the Virasaiva movement led to the composition of Vachakam containing
the sayings of Basava. In the north notable works in the vernacular
languages included the Ramacharitmanas of Tulisdas and the Sursagar
of Surdas, both in Hindi, Chatanyamrita of Sri Chaitanya and Mangal
kavyas in Bengali, the devotional compositions of Namdev in Marathi,
the poems of Mirabai in Gujrathi, the Gitagovinda of Jaidev and
so on. Both the epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata were translated
into many local languages.

Other literature

We may include in this categories specialized works such as commentaries
(bhashyas), dictionaries (nighantuvus), poetic works (kavyas and
prabandhas), moral litergies (niti satakas), Shastras, plays, etc.

Modern Period:

The period starting from the 17th Century till date also witnessed
the birth a great deal of religious literature, not only in Indian
Languages but in foreign languages, especially English. Worth mentioning
here are the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Swami
Dayananda Saraswathi, the great mass of literature generated by
Theosophical Society of India, the works and teachings of Sri Aurobindo,
Swami Shraddananda, Swami Sivananda, the works of Sri Prabhupada,
Sri Acharya Rajneesh, Sai Baba, J.Krishnamurhty and so on.

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