Hinduism: Classification of scriptures

Whereas most major religions of the world base their beliefs on certain books which adherents believe are the words of God or other supernatural beings, Hinduism is based on "the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times."

The earliest records of these laws are called the Vedas. Hindus do not claim that God or any person created the Vedas; the Vedas are said to be without beginning and without end.



The Vedas have therefore been called apaurusheya ("not man-made").The ancient sages who first discovered the spiritual knowledge known as the Vedas are called rishis.

The Vedas were transmitted orally, in verse form to aid memorization, for many years before they were written down. The earliest hymns (mantras) of the Vedas, contained in the Rig Veda, date back to at least 1000 BC.

Over many centuries, the teachings of the Vedas were expanded upon by other sages, and other scriptures were written. Some of the most prominent of these scriptures are the Bhagavad Gita, the Brahma Sutras, and the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Most Hindu scriptures were written in the Sanskrit language, which is widely used even today in religious and literary settings.

In contrast to the Biblical canon in mainstream Christianity, the Hindu scriptural canon is not closed; Hindus believe that since the spiritual truths of the Vedas are eternal, they may continue to be expressed in new ways in the future.

A sage today can realize the same truths that the ancient rishis realized. New scriptures may continue to be written to express the truths of the Vedas in ways that will be accessible to the people of different times and places.

For this reason, Hindus may venerate the words of a modern saint--Sri Ramakrishna, Sai Baba, or Sri Ramana Maharshi, for example--as much as those of the ancient rishis. There is a special veneration for ancient scriptures since they have been validated by many sages and thinkers over the course of many years.
Many Hindus may even venerate the scriptures of other religions, since liberal Hinduism teaches that the one divinity can reveal itself in innumerable ways. A much-quoted pada (verse) from the Rigveda that emphasizes the diversity of paths to the one goal is:




Thus, Hinduism accepts a large number of scriptures, and remains open to any new revelations. Because the same eternal spiritual truths can be viewed from innumerable perspectives, there is relatively little theological quarrel among Hindu denominations.

Note, however, that some denominations may be more inclined toward this all-inclusive attitude than others. For instance, although followers of Advaita Vedanta and Smartism often place heavy emphasis on the view that God can be worshipped in any form, many members of the Vaishnava sect believe that spiritual liberation can be attained only through submission to God in the form of Vishnu.

Hindus do not focus on whether the stories found in the scriptures are accurate from a historicaly accurate; they are more concerned with the spiritual lessons found in the scriptures.

Hindus readily admit that their scriptures contain a mix of historical fact, myth, and spiritual truths; their main concern is the deeper spiritual meaning of the various stories and teachings. Hinduism exegesis often leans toward figurative interpretations of scriptures rather than literal ones.

Hindu sages (rishis)--in contrast with Judeo-Christian and Muslim prophets--do not focus on predicting the future or warning of the judgment of God; they are more concerned with two things: (1) teaching mystical truths, and (2) providing guidance regarding how one can become morally, spiritually, and physically pure.




The overwhelming majority of Hindu sacred texts are composed in the Sanskrit language. Indeed, much of the morphology and linguistic philosophy inherent in the learning of Sanskrit is sometimes claimed to be inextricably linked to study of the Vedas and relevant Hindu scriptures. Hindu scripture is called Shāstra. The scriptures may be divided into two parts: Shruti and Smriti.


Shruti (Vedic literature)

The Rig Veda is one of the world's oldest religious texts. Shown here is a Rig Veda manuscript in Devanagari, early 19th century.The Hindus refer to the Vedas (वेद, literally, "Knowledge") as Shruti (literally, "that which has been heard"), since they were handed down orally from teacher to disciple throughout many generations.

The Vedas are said to have been eternal truths originally realized in deep meditation by the ancient sages called rishis . Scholars have not been able to date the written form of the Vedas with much certainty, but even the most conservative scholars place them at 1200 B.C. or earlier.

While many modern Hindus may never read the Vedas, they revere the Vedas as the spiritual foundation out of which later, more widely-read scriptures (smriti) developed.

The Vedas have been divided in various ways. One simple way is to divide the Vedas into two sections according to their subject matter:

The Karma Kānda ("the action part"), deals with karma, rituals, and sacrifices the purpose of which is to attain material prosperity on earth and the benefits of heaven after death.

The Jnāna Kānda ("the knowledge part"), is concerned with the spiritual Knowledge that brings liberation from ignorance and realization of the Ultimate Truth. The Upanishads constitute a major portion of the Jnāna Kānda.

The Upaninshads contain the bulk of the Vedas' philosophical and mystical teachings. The teachings of the Upanishads emphasize several key points (which are interpreted variously by various schools of thought):

The deepest source of all reality, called Brahman, is identical with the innermost self of man (ātman).

As long as one does not realize this relationship, one is subject to a seemingly endless round of rebirths (sansāra).
A conscious realization of the essential identity of the ātman and Brahman leads to liberation from sansāra.



Smriti

The Hindu texts other than the Shrutis are called, as a group, the Smnitis (lit., "memory"). All of them laud the Vedas. The most notable of the Smritis are the Itihāsas (epics), such as the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa, considered sacred by almost all Hindus.

Also widely known are the eighteen Purānas ("ancient histories"). The Purānas (not historical in the usual Western sense) impart Vedic ideas through vivid narratives concerning various stories and adventures of various deities, and their interactions with humans. Prominent Purānas include the Srīmad Bhāgavatam, the Devī Mahātmya(an ode to God as the Divine Mother), the Yoga Sūtras (a key meditative yoga text by the sage Patañjali), the Tantras, and the Manusmniti, as well as the Mahanirvāna Tantra, Tirumantiram and Shiva Sūtras.

The Rāmāyan, the Mahābhārat and many Purānas, which today's Hindus read far more widely than the Vedas, do much to inspire the temple and icon worship of modern Hinduism. Many Hindus attach more importance to the ethics and the metaphorical meanings derived from these texts than to the literal narratives themselves.

Other important scriptures are the sectarian Hindu Āgamas, which are texts related to rituals and worship dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva and Devī. The Shruti is generally held to take precedence over the Smriti in any apparent dispute.


Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gītā (भगवद् गीता), often referred to as the Gītā, is one of the most popular sacred texts of Hinduism. It is an integral part of the epic Mahābhārata and contains philosophical sermons taught by Shri Krishna, an incarnation of Visihnu, to the Pāndav prince Arjuna just before a great war. The Bhagavad Gītā is described as the essence of the Vedas.