Hinduism factshinduism facts revealing facts about hindu. Throughout its extensive history, there have been many key figures teaching different philosophies and writing innumerable holy books. Hindu scriptures and holy books hinduism facts hinduism facts. The puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india. There is something called pramana, authority, which our acharyas have recognised, and as per the acharyas a set of books are considered primary texts, whereas, other books based on these primary books can also be referred to. In fact they gave hinduism the name vaidika dharma, one of its old names. Under smriti, we have a vast collection of books namely manu smriti, the 18 puranas, epics such as ramayana and mahabharata and the long list of other sacred books of hinduism. Hinduism does not just have one sacred book but several scriptures. The name hindu is given by the people outside of india, especially greeks and arabs, to those living in the vicinity of the sindhu river.
The word hindu comes from the name of the river indus, which flows 1800 miles from. Nov 04, 2008 the aryans gave hinduism its priestly language, sanskrit. Hinduism does not have a single holy book, but many ancient texts and scriptures. Hinduism download books, sacred, spiritual texts and pdf. The term hinduism became familiar as a designator of religious ideas and practices distinctive to india with the publication of books such as hinduism 1877 by sir monier monierwilliams, the notable oxford scholar and author of an influential sanskrit dictionary. The veda is a rather unusual collection of literature. Hinduism includes a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but has no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, no prophets nor any binding holy book. List of world religions and founders, religious books, place. It was a lifestyle that flourished in ancient indian subcontinent thousands of years ago, which later took the form of what is known today as hinduism. Apr 03, 20 the puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india.
Holy books of islam the recognised holy books in islam. Hinduism is an ancient religion with diverse traditions such as vaishnavism, shaivism, shaktism and others. Yes, the vedas1 are the common holy scripture for the hindus. The rigveda is a collection of hymns dedicated to 33 gods especially to indri and agni. Hinduism is largely based on the teachings from vedas. For these reasons hinduism is referred as way of life or a family of religions. Dr zakir naik 7608 all the holy books of hinduism youtube. But the vedantic beliefs went under much transformation and became gradually polytheistic in character. The other hindu sacred texts include the puranas, which detail hindu cosmology, and the epic poems the ramayana and mahabharata.
Japanese religious life had received considerable input from buddhism and 23 jul 2015 the holy books of. What is the name of the holy book of hinduism answers. The word hinduism actually has no real meaning because hinduism was not founded as a religion. What name is given to the four holy books of the hindus. Many scholars liken hinduism to a family of religions, with all affiliated members bearing a family resemblance. Initially it was an outsiders term, building on centuries. What are the names of the holy books of worldwide religions. The vedas scriptures guide hindus in their daily life. There are a number of scriptures and holy books in hinduism. The different gods and goddesses in the hindu mythology are derived from these books. Mar 17, 2015 the sacred texts of hinduism fall into one of two categories. They differ from literary texts by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual practices, commandments or laws, ethical conduct, spiritual aspirations, and for creating or fostering a religious community. Unpanishads the upanishads are also called as vedantas or the end of the vedas.
However, smruti texts often carry almost as much authority as sruti. Christianity whose holy book is the holy bible and islam whose holy book is the quran. There are also other holy books like puranas, ramayana, mahabharta etc. We are trying to list out here as many hindu scriptures and books as possible. This sacred text is divided into two main sections, the old testament and the new testament which are then further divided into various books. The scriptures of the vedas are meant to guide hindu believers in their daily lives. Sruti literally means that what is revealed and smriti means that what is remembered. Buddhism is a religion known for its rich spiritual teachings, beliefs, practices and traditions. Vedas simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. List of holy books in hinduism the galaxy of hindu literature is very vast and voluminous. There are some other holy books revealed to different prophets. The vedas are the prime book of knowledge on which primary hindu beliefs stands. Yajus were mantras sung during religious activities. The concept of hinduism being a single monolithic religion is recent, dating back only to the 19th century.
However, the puranas are supposed to be complied by muni vyasa. Rather, there is a huge array of different sacred texts. Many of these names are the holy mantras that uplift the chanter. The vedas a collection of hymns praising the vedic gods. These books, written from around 1200 bce to 100 ce, began with four vedas, or mantras. Download the bible, the holy quran, the mahabharata and thousands of free pdf ebooks on buddhism, meditation etc. Most interesting facts about hinduism sanatana dharma. Sruti belongs to the vedic period while smriti belongs to. Hinduism is the oldest of the major world religions. The most holy of the hindu books is written in sanskrit and is referred to as the vedas. Hindu scriptures and holy books are divided mainly into two categories viz sruti and smriti.
In hindu belief it is the name of the sage vasishthas wife, who is identified with the star. I hope that from this short introduction to the holy books of hinduism it is apparent that hindus consider a great variety of literature important, and that this literature is as diverse and complex as it is beautiful. These expanded over time to include brahmanas, aranyakas and upanishads. The bible, specifically the new testament as the old testament is just taken from the torah. Introduction hinduism stands for the faith and the way of life most of the people who live in india. Hinduism holy book important books and writings of hinduism. People that practice hinduism read holy books called vedas, or the vedic texts. This holy book is written in the sanskrit language.
Hinduism is practised by more than 80% of indias population. This is the name of several minor characters in hindu texts, and is also another name of the hindu god krishna. Information on hinduism for kids primary homework help. The aryans gave hinduism its priestly language, sanskrit. Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, panentheistic, pandeistic, henotheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist. Sunita f hinduism, indian, hindi, marathi, nepali means well conducted, wise, derived from the sanskrit prefix su meaning good combined with. The quran also referred to as kuran, koran, quran, coran or alquran four books considered to be revealed and mentioned by name in the quran are the quran revealed to muhammad, tawrat revealed to musa, the zabur revealed to dawud and the injil revealed to isa. Early hinduism was founded over 5,000 years ago in the indus river valley in india. Hence, sruti is what ancient hindu saints heard during deep meditation. But we praise that nameless one with thousands and thousands of splendid names.
The upanishads are also called as vedantas or the end of the vedas. Located in amritsar, this gurudwar is popular by the name of golden temple. There is no single scripture as it is in other religions like christianity and islam. Of these, the first three books are considered the more ancient books, and the rig veda is the oldest of them. Download books, sacred, spiritual texts and pdf ebooks. The four vedas, upanishads, bhramanas, aranyakas and bhagavad gita make up the treasure of sruti literature. The most ancient sacred texts of the hindu religion are written in sanskrit and called the vedas.
The hebrew scriptures, referred to by christians as the old testament, are called the tanakh, which is the hebrew acronym for the three different parts. 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. They got their present form between 1200200 bce and were introduced to india by the aryans. Mar 17, 2008 the last one is a commentary on the vedas, but it is considered as a revealed book. The religion of hinduism originated in northern india, near the river indus, about 4000 years ago and is the worlds oldest existing religion. Hinduism does not possess a single holy book like bible in christianity and percolated through the word of mouth hence the name vedas spoken from the.
Hindu texts are manuscripts and historical literature related to any of the diverse traditions. Holy books of hinduism hinduism a perspective the religions founded by individuals have one book that summarizes the philosophies of the founder or the same from the disciples perspective and so on. They are rig veda, sama veda, yajur veda and atharva veda. Hinduism is such an ancient religion that it had many types of beliefs and religious practices. The holy book in the hindu religion is known as the vedas. They got their present form between 1200200 bce and were introduced to. One of the two major ancient sanskrit epics of india, the other being the ramayana. They also help to preserve the religious dimensions of family and society. The god being unique does not have name or form of its own. Thus any definition of hinduism is somewhat arbitrary and. Other holy scriptures in hinduism are called the upanisads, the smrutis, the puranas, the ramayana and the mahabharata.
The holy books of world religions sacred texts in world. But the most important holy books of hinduism are the vedas. Other holy scriptures in hinduism are called the upanisads, the smrutis, the puranas, the ramayana and the. The earliest texts from this region are extensive, but unfortunately, scholars have yet to find a way to translate the language of the texts.
Hinduism part 5 download books, sacred, spiritual texts. If you know the answer to this question, please register to join our limited beta. The last one is a commentary on the vedas, but it is considered as a revealed book. Religious texts are texts related to a religious tradition.
Hindu sacred texts the sacred texts of hinduism fall into one of two categories. Oct 01, 2017 this message of dr zakir naik, refers to speech similarities between hinduism and islam the identification of the videos that you will find in the channel are described as follows. Hindus believe that existence is a cycle of birth, death and rebirth governed by individuals karma. Vedas and upanishadas are the most authoritative amongst all hindu scriptures and holy books. For renouncients and cave dweller yogis i would say their holy book would be the astavakra samhita. As per the vedantic embodiments hinduism is monotheistic. The hindu group breaking news, india news, sports news. Zaboor, torat, injeel and quran are the four most famous holy books. How many holy books are in hinduism and what are their names. Smrtis consist of many writings including the puranas and itihaas. The next two largest world wide religions are hinduism whose sacred texts are several writings called the vedas. Hinduism download books, sacred, spiritual texts and pdf e. This performance arts related sutra text is mentioned in other late vedic texts, as are two scholars names shilalin iast. The belief system in the hindi religion is outlined from these scriptures.
Hinduism, as the worlds most ancient surviving religion, could have it no other way. The vedas are scriptures that the hindu people use as a guide to daily and religious life. Hindu sacred literature is the most ancient of the. By holy book i assume you mean the central texts which are. The vedas, upanishads, puranas, and brahmanas granth are the four sacred books in hindu religion. This religious book defines the boundary of the religion and the followers would be expected to strictly abide by that holy book. Each tradition has a long list of hindu texts, with subgenre based on syncretization of ideas from samkhya, nyaya, yoga, vedanta and other schools of hindu philosophy. However this might be a tad inaccurate because the quran is not the only holy book of islam.
The shruti refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts, believed to be eternal. These books are in sanskrit, the sacred language of the hindus. Hari mandir sahib is the most famous gurudwara in india. Jun 07, 2008 all hindus know that some books are considered holy by everyone, and not every book written by every author becomes holy. 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. Hinduism is the worlds third most popular religion, with around 750 million followers. What is the name of the holy book of the hindu religion. If you know the answer to this question, please register to join our limited beta program.
These texts are glorious tales of the hindu trinity brahma, vishnu and maheshwar shiva. Hindu religion has no founder or origin thats why it is known as sanatana dharma. Sruti scriptures are considered divinely inspired and fully authoritative for belief and practice, while smruti are recognized as the products of the minds of the great sages. The hindu holy scriptures are mainly comprised of the following works. In 1588, guru arjan laid the foundation stone of this sacred shrine and it was in 1604 that he placed the holy scripture called adi granth here. The vedas, or books of knowledge, are the foremost sacred texts in hinduism. Dec 19, 2018 believing in the holy books of islam is one of the key beliefs in islam and the islam holy book is widely recognised as the quran. It has been over 2500 years since buddhism emerged as a religion, and the unique holistic spiritual healing it gives has seen it getting popular in many other parts of the world. Around 1750 bc aryan invaders from central asia settled in north west india and introduced their own religious. The concluding portions of the vedas are called upanisads. These are the most ancient religious texts which define truth for hindus. The institutes of vishnu sbe 7 julius jolly, translator 1880 sacred books of the east, vol.
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