You may be able to read all the Hindu Scriptures from the following site:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm
Religions we have studied so far – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – have sacred writings that are “authoritative” for its adherents! Generally these writings are considered “revealed” and “sacred”.
Hindus also have a corpus of writings that they consider “sacred” and “authoritative”, which are also “revealed”. And an average Hindu may not have read any of these sacred writings, yet the Hindu will treat them with utmost respect.
A. Shurti
Hindus refer to the “revealed” character of these writings with the use of the term shruti, “that which was heard”! The ancient rishis, sages heard the “knowledge”; they saw the “eternal knowledge” that existed. The message, or the knowledge, in these writings is “trans-human”, not “authored” by any humans!
This is how Hindus speak of the Vedas, the primary Sacred Scriptures, which are four in number as we saw in the last lesson – Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda. Knowledge about the earliest form of Hindu religion is also derived from these four Vedas. And these four Vedas (from around 1500-600 BCE) contain the following four sections, (transmitted orally for centuries before they were committed to writing):
a. Samhitas – These are Vedic hymns praising the deity!
b. Brahmanas – They are Vedic instructions and rules to perform the sacred rituals in the right and appropriate way. They also provide meaning and purpose of these rituals.
c. Aranyakas – These are called “composition for the forests” or “Compostion of the forests”. These are actually additional explanatory materiel on Brahmanas, mainly written by ascetic sages who lived in forests.
d. Upanishads – Further philosophical comments to the Aranyakas that one learns by “sitting beside the teacher (Guru)”.
Here is a quote from Rig Veda 1:1 (Translated by Raimundo Panikkar:
“I magnify God, the Divine Fire,
the Priest, Minister of the sacrifice
the Offerer of oblation, supreme giver of treasure”
Commenting on this Panikkar says:
“This opening verse contains as in a nutshell he whole of Man’s sanātana dharma or primordial religiousness: praise, mediation, sacrifice, commerce with the divine, and also remuneration for Man, all caught up in an atmosphere of invocation”.
The Vedic Experience, 1983 edition of 1977, p. 37.
“The Gāyatrī” mantra, which every devout Hindu recites daily, is also from the Rig Veda that is translated thus:
“Om.
We meditate upon the glorious splendor
of the Vivifier divine.
May he himself illumine our minds!”
B. Smritis
There are more books that are considered as secondary scriptures in terms of authority. But these Sacred Scriptures probably are read more frequently and loved more dearly than the Vedas! These are known as Smritis as opposed to Srutis!
The Smritis are based on the teachings of the Vedas. They stand next in authority to the Sruti (Vedas). It explains and expands the Vedas to the adherents of the sanātana dharma. Some of this literature is known as Dharma Sastras that lay down the laws to regulate the Hindu national, community, family, and the individual’s obligations.
Sruti means what is heard, and Smriti means what is remembered. Sruti is revelation and Smriti is tradition. Upanishad is Sruti. Bhagavad-Gita, which we will discuss later is Smriti. But both Sruti and Smiriti are authoritative for Hindus.
The corpuses that make up the Smiriti are the following:
a. Puranas
b. Dharma Sastras
c. Ithihasas
d. Bhagavad-Gita
a. Puranas
Puranas, meaning old, were composed from around 300 BCE until a little after 1000 CE. They were “old tales” of the Hindu tradition, shifting the emphasis away from the Vedic gods! They are mixture of history and imaginative mythology. They tell stories of gods, sages, and kings of great repute, often describing a struggle between good and evil. There are many but 18 Puranas are very prominent among the Hindus – six about Vishnu, six about Brahma, and six about Siva. Puranas communicate values to the devotees.
For more detail read Fisher, p. 95f.
b. Dharma Sastras
They are 18 in number. The often-quoted one is the Manu’s known as Manu Dharma Sastra (also known as Manava Dharma Sastra). The lawgivers have somewhat codified the content and expectation of the Vedas considering the context in which they were living. And now they have become somewhat universal!
There are Hindus who are aware of the need to somewhat abandon at least the “letter” of the dharma sastras such as that of Manu and evolve a new dharma sastra for the present time! Swami Shivananda of the Divine Life Society, in Rishikesh, is one such person.
He says: “It is not possible to follow some of the laws of Manu at present time. We can follow their spirit and not the letter. Society is advancing. When it advances, it outgrows certain laws, which were valid and helpful at a particular stage of its growth. Many new things, which were not thought out by the old lawgivers have come into existence now. It is no use insisting people to follow now those old laws, which have become obsolete. … Time is ripe for a new Smriti.”
http://www.hinduism.co.za/vedas-.htm#The%20Smritis
Here in a 19th century English translation is a quote from Manu on “Re-birth” taken from his last chapter (chapter 12) verses 39 to 43:
“I will briefly declare in due order what transmigrations in this whole (world a man) obtains through each of these qualities. Those endowed with Goodness reach the state of gods, those endowed with Activity the state of men, and those endowed with Darkness ever sink to the condition of beasts; that is the threefold course of transmigrations. But know this threefold course of transmigrations that depends on the (three) qualities (to be again) threefold, low, middling, and high, according to the particular nature of the acts and of the knowledge (of each man). Immovable (beings), insects, both small and great, fishes, snakes, and tortoises, cattle and wild animals, are the lowest conditions to which (the quality of) Darkness leads. Elephants, horses, Sudras, and despicable barbarians, lions, tigers, and boars (are) the middling states, caused by (the quality of) Darkness.”
c. Ithihasas
Ithihasas, epics – Hindus refer sometimes to four epics. But the common ones are two: Ramayana and Maha Baharatha. Bhagavad-Gita, the most popular and the beloved scriptures of the Hindus, is somewhat an appendix to Maha Bharatha!
1. The Ramayana
Ramayana is the story of Sri Rama, an avatar of Vishnu. In Hindu religion Sri Rama is also the ideal man. Sita, the wife of Rama is depicted in this epic as the ideal woman. Please read the summary of this epic in Fisher, pages 92-94. Hanuman, the monkey god, is also connected with this epic about which you can read in the window in p. 93 of Fisher’s book. The epic conveys the Hindu ideals and values to the devotees who periodically turn to this epic. Valmiki, a sage wrote Ramayana in twenty-four thousand verses, which was later rendered into Tamil by the poet Kamban and is known as Kamba Ramayana.
2. The Mahabharata
Mahabharata is an epic that describes the Great War in a legendry place called Kurukshetra between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, cousins. Mahabharata also communicates the Hindu ideals and values. Hindus believe that this epic, sometimes known as fifth Veda discusses all the themes of religion, philosophy, mysticism and polity. This epic is connected with Lord Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu. Vyasa is the sage who wrote this epic with noble “moral teachings, useful lessons of all kinds, many beautiful stories and episodes, discourses, sermons, parables and dialogues”, which under girds Hindu faith and practices. Please read Fisher, p. 94f for more details.
d. The Bhagavad-Gita
It is a part of Mahabharata. The subject matter of this little book with 18 chapters is a dialogue between Lord Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, and Arjuna in the battlefield, before the commencement of the Great War between the forces of evil and good.
Sri Krishna, as the Lord Krishna is known among Hindus, became the charioteer of Arjuna and explained the essentials of Hindu religion, the need to keep ones own dharma, to Arjuna.
Hindus believe the Upanishads contain the cream of the Vedas while the Bhagavad-Gita contains the cream of the Upanishads.
Hindus sometimes consider the Upanishads as the cow and the Lord Krishna as the cowherd while Arjuna becomes the calf. Then Bhagavad-Gita is the milk. The wise are those who go straight to drink the milk in the Bhagavad-Gita.
Mahatma Gandhi read and reflected on the Bhagavad-Gita daily! It is a piece of literature that leads to self-knowledge!
Questions to Explore:
1. Clarify the Hindu concepts of Sruti and Smiriti.
2. Discuss the Sacred Scriptures of the Hindu community.
3. Why do you think the two epics, Ramayana and Mahabharatha are so important for Hindus? As you answer this question give a summary of the two epics.
4. How will you explain your Muslim friend the Hindu fascination with their Puranas?
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm
Religions we have studied so far – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – have sacred writings that are “authoritative” for its adherents! Generally these writings are considered “revealed” and “sacred”.
Hindus also have a corpus of writings that they consider “sacred” and “authoritative”, which are also “revealed”. And an average Hindu may not have read any of these sacred writings, yet the Hindu will treat them with utmost respect.
A. Shurti
Hindus refer to the “revealed” character of these writings with the use of the term shruti, “that which was heard”! The ancient rishis, sages heard the “knowledge”; they saw the “eternal knowledge” that existed. The message, or the knowledge, in these writings is “trans-human”, not “authored” by any humans!
This is how Hindus speak of the Vedas, the primary Sacred Scriptures, which are four in number as we saw in the last lesson – Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda. Knowledge about the earliest form of Hindu religion is also derived from these four Vedas. And these four Vedas (from around 1500-600 BCE) contain the following four sections, (transmitted orally for centuries before they were committed to writing):
a. Samhitas – These are Vedic hymns praising the deity!
b. Brahmanas – They are Vedic instructions and rules to perform the sacred rituals in the right and appropriate way. They also provide meaning and purpose of these rituals.
c. Aranyakas – These are called “composition for the forests” or “Compostion of the forests”. These are actually additional explanatory materiel on Brahmanas, mainly written by ascetic sages who lived in forests.
d. Upanishads – Further philosophical comments to the Aranyakas that one learns by “sitting beside the teacher (Guru)”.
Here is a quote from Rig Veda 1:1 (Translated by Raimundo Panikkar:
“I magnify God, the Divine Fire,
the Priest, Minister of the sacrifice
the Offerer of oblation, supreme giver of treasure”
Commenting on this Panikkar says:
“This opening verse contains as in a nutshell he whole of Man’s sanātana dharma or primordial religiousness: praise, mediation, sacrifice, commerce with the divine, and also remuneration for Man, all caught up in an atmosphere of invocation”.
The Vedic Experience, 1983 edition of 1977, p. 37.
“The Gāyatrī” mantra, which every devout Hindu recites daily, is also from the Rig Veda that is translated thus:
“Om.
We meditate upon the glorious splendor
of the Vivifier divine.
May he himself illumine our minds!”
B. Smritis
There are more books that are considered as secondary scriptures in terms of authority. But these Sacred Scriptures probably are read more frequently and loved more dearly than the Vedas! These are known as Smritis as opposed to Srutis!
The Smritis are based on the teachings of the Vedas. They stand next in authority to the Sruti (Vedas). It explains and expands the Vedas to the adherents of the sanātana dharma. Some of this literature is known as Dharma Sastras that lay down the laws to regulate the Hindu national, community, family, and the individual’s obligations.
Sruti means what is heard, and Smriti means what is remembered. Sruti is revelation and Smriti is tradition. Upanishad is Sruti. Bhagavad-Gita, which we will discuss later is Smriti. But both Sruti and Smiriti are authoritative for Hindus.
The corpuses that make up the Smiriti are the following:
a. Puranas
b. Dharma Sastras
c. Ithihasas
d. Bhagavad-Gita
a. Puranas
Puranas, meaning old, were composed from around 300 BCE until a little after 1000 CE. They were “old tales” of the Hindu tradition, shifting the emphasis away from the Vedic gods! They are mixture of history and imaginative mythology. They tell stories of gods, sages, and kings of great repute, often describing a struggle between good and evil. There are many but 18 Puranas are very prominent among the Hindus – six about Vishnu, six about Brahma, and six about Siva. Puranas communicate values to the devotees.
For more detail read Fisher, p. 95f.
b. Dharma Sastras
They are 18 in number. The often-quoted one is the Manu’s known as Manu Dharma Sastra (also known as Manava Dharma Sastra). The lawgivers have somewhat codified the content and expectation of the Vedas considering the context in which they were living. And now they have become somewhat universal!
There are Hindus who are aware of the need to somewhat abandon at least the “letter” of the dharma sastras such as that of Manu and evolve a new dharma sastra for the present time! Swami Shivananda of the Divine Life Society, in Rishikesh, is one such person.
He says: “It is not possible to follow some of the laws of Manu at present time. We can follow their spirit and not the letter. Society is advancing. When it advances, it outgrows certain laws, which were valid and helpful at a particular stage of its growth. Many new things, which were not thought out by the old lawgivers have come into existence now. It is no use insisting people to follow now those old laws, which have become obsolete. … Time is ripe for a new Smriti.”
http://www.hinduism.co.za/vedas-.htm#The%20Smritis
Here in a 19th century English translation is a quote from Manu on “Re-birth” taken from his last chapter (chapter 12) verses 39 to 43:
“I will briefly declare in due order what transmigrations in this whole (world a man) obtains through each of these qualities. Those endowed with Goodness reach the state of gods, those endowed with Activity the state of men, and those endowed with Darkness ever sink to the condition of beasts; that is the threefold course of transmigrations. But know this threefold course of transmigrations that depends on the (three) qualities (to be again) threefold, low, middling, and high, according to the particular nature of the acts and of the knowledge (of each man). Immovable (beings), insects, both small and great, fishes, snakes, and tortoises, cattle and wild animals, are the lowest conditions to which (the quality of) Darkness leads. Elephants, horses, Sudras, and despicable barbarians, lions, tigers, and boars (are) the middling states, caused by (the quality of) Darkness.”
c. Ithihasas
Ithihasas, epics – Hindus refer sometimes to four epics. But the common ones are two: Ramayana and Maha Baharatha. Bhagavad-Gita, the most popular and the beloved scriptures of the Hindus, is somewhat an appendix to Maha Bharatha!
1. The Ramayana
Ramayana is the story of Sri Rama, an avatar of Vishnu. In Hindu religion Sri Rama is also the ideal man. Sita, the wife of Rama is depicted in this epic as the ideal woman. Please read the summary of this epic in Fisher, pages 92-94. Hanuman, the monkey god, is also connected with this epic about which you can read in the window in p. 93 of Fisher’s book. The epic conveys the Hindu ideals and values to the devotees who periodically turn to this epic. Valmiki, a sage wrote Ramayana in twenty-four thousand verses, which was later rendered into Tamil by the poet Kamban and is known as Kamba Ramayana.
2. The Mahabharata
Mahabharata is an epic that describes the Great War in a legendry place called Kurukshetra between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, cousins. Mahabharata also communicates the Hindu ideals and values. Hindus believe that this epic, sometimes known as fifth Veda discusses all the themes of religion, philosophy, mysticism and polity. This epic is connected with Lord Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu. Vyasa is the sage who wrote this epic with noble “moral teachings, useful lessons of all kinds, many beautiful stories and episodes, discourses, sermons, parables and dialogues”, which under girds Hindu faith and practices. Please read Fisher, p. 94f for more details.
d. The Bhagavad-Gita
It is a part of Mahabharata. The subject matter of this little book with 18 chapters is a dialogue between Lord Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, and Arjuna in the battlefield, before the commencement of the Great War between the forces of evil and good.
Sri Krishna, as the Lord Krishna is known among Hindus, became the charioteer of Arjuna and explained the essentials of Hindu religion, the need to keep ones own dharma, to Arjuna.
Hindus believe the Upanishads contain the cream of the Vedas while the Bhagavad-Gita contains the cream of the Upanishads.
Hindus sometimes consider the Upanishads as the cow and the Lord Krishna as the cowherd while Arjuna becomes the calf. Then Bhagavad-Gita is the milk. The wise are those who go straight to drink the milk in the Bhagavad-Gita.
Mahatma Gandhi read and reflected on the Bhagavad-Gita daily! It is a piece of literature that leads to self-knowledge!
Questions to Explore:
1. Clarify the Hindu concepts of Sruti and Smiriti.
2. Discuss the Sacred Scriptures of the Hindu community.
3. Why do you think the two epics, Ramayana and Mahabharatha are so important for Hindus? As you answer this question give a summary of the two epics.
4. How will you explain your Muslim friend the Hindu fascination with their Puranas?
