List of Hindu texts

Hinduism is an ancient religion with diverse traditions such as Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and others.[1][2] 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.[3][4][5] Of these some called Sruti are broadly considered as core scriptures of Hinduism, but beyond the Sruti, the list of scriptures vary by the scholar.[6]

Several lists include only the Vedas, the Principal Upanishads, the Agamas and the Bhagavad Gita as scriptures broadly accepted by Hindus.[6][7] Goodall adds regional texts such as Bhagavata Purana and Yajnavalkya Smriti to the list.[6] Beyond the Sruti, Hindu texts include Smritis, Shastras, Sutras, Tantras, Puranas, Itihasas, Stotras, Subhashitas and others.[8][9]

Most of these texts exist in Sanskrit, several others have been composed in regional languages such as Tamil.[10][11] In modern times, most have been translated into other Indian languages and some in Western languages.[12][13] This list includes major Hindu texts, along with the Hindu scriptures.

A

B

Brahma visfot written by pradeep mishra

C

  • Chhandas – (छंदः), the study of Vedic meter, is one of the six Vedanga disciplines, or "organs of the vedas.
  • Chandogya Upanishad – is associated with the Samaveda. It figures as number 9 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads. It is part of the Chandogya Brahmana, which has ten chapters.
  • Charaka Samhita: An early Ayurvedic text on internal medicine. It is believed to be the oldest of the three ancient treatises of Ayurveda.
  • Classics of Indian Mathematics: Algebra, with Arithmetic and Mensuration, from the Sanskrit of Brahmagupta and Bhāskara.
  • "'Code of Manu"' – is the most important and earliest metrical work of the Dharmaśāstra textual tradition of Hinduism

D

G

H

I

K

M

  • Mahabharata (महाभारत): One of the two major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the other being the Ramayana. The Mahabharata is of religious and philosophical importance in India; in particular, the Bhagavad Gita, which is one of its chapters (Bhishmaparva) and a sacred text of Hinduism.
  • Maitrayaniya Upanishada
  • Mandukya :One of Mukhya Upanishadas.
  • Manu Smriti (मनुस्मृति) : The Manusmriti translated "Laws of Manu" is as an important work of Hindu law and ancient Indian society. The revised text is largely doctored during the British rule to spread disharmony among the people.
  • Meghadūta
  • Mundaka (MuUp),Atharvaveda.

N

The Nalayira Divya Prabandham (Tamil: நாலாயிர திவ்ய பிரபந்தம்) is a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses (Naalayira in Tamil means 'four thousand') composed before 8th century AD,[1] by the 12 Alvars, and was compiled in its present form by Nathamuni during the 9th – 10th centuries. The work is the beginning of the canonization of the 12 Vaishnava poet saints, and these hymns are still sung extensively even today. The works were lost before they were collected and organized in the form of an anthology by Nathamuni.

Natyashastra

P

  • Purana (पुराण): Purana meaning "ancient" or "old" is the name of a genre (or a group of related genres) of Indian written literature (as distinct from oral literature). Its general themes are history, tradition and religion. It is usually written in the form of stories related by one person to another.
  • Periya Puranam (பெரியபுராணம்): The Periya Puranam (Tamil: பெரிய‌ புராண‌ம்), that is, the great puranam or epic, sometimes called Tiruttontarpuranam ("Tiru-Thondar-Puranam", the Purana of the Holy Devotees), is a Tamil poetic account depicting the legendary lives of the sixty-three Nayanars, the canonical poets of Tamil Shaivism. It was compiled during the 12th century by Sekkizhar. It provides evidence of trade with South Indian[1] The Periya Puranam is part of the corpus of Shaiva canonical works.
  • Prashna(PrUp), Atharvaveda.

R

  • Rāmāyaṇa (रामायण): Part of the Hindu smriti, written by Valmiki. This epic of 24,000 verses in seven kandas (chapters or books) tells of a Raghuvamsa prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife Sita is abducted by the rakshasa Ravana.
  • Rigveda (ऋग्वेद): The Rigveda is a collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns counted as the holiest of the four religious texts of Hindus, known as the Vedas.
  • Ramcharitmanas (रामचरितमानस) An Awadhi rendering of Ramayana by Tulsidas.

S

T

  • Tantras (तंत्र): The esoteric Hindu traditions of rituals and yoga. Tantra can be summarised as a family of voluntary rituals modeled on those of the Vedas, together with their attendant texts and lineages.
  • Taittiriya Upanishada (TaiUp),Black Yajurveda.
  • Thirumurai – an important Tamil twelve volumes compendium which consists of Ancient Tamil Saivite works.
  • Thiruvasagam –one of the most important Tamil Saivite scripture sung by the great saint 'Manikavasagar'. This work was written by God Siva himself.
  • Tirukovai – an important Tamil Saivite scripture sung by manicavasagar and again written by God Siva himself.
  • Thevaram – an important Tamil Saivite scripture.
  • Thiruvilayadal Puranam – an important Tamil Saivite scripture written by Paranjyothi munivar which describes the 64 divine plays of God Siva in "Madurai" as "Sokkanadhar"(spouse of Goddess Meenachi.
  • Tirukkural – an important Tamil scripture in Tamil Nadu written by Thrivalluvar.
  • Tirumantiram – an important Tamil Saivite work of religious poetry that written by last great siddha-saint Thrimular.
  • Thiruvarutpa – an important Tamil Saivite scripture written by last great siddha-saint Vallalar.
  • Thiruppugazh – an important Tamil Saivite scripture written by last great siddha-saint Arunagirinathar.

U

V

  • Veda (वेद): Vedas are texts without start and end, stated Swami Vivekananda, and they include "the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times."[17] Collectively refers to a corpus of ancient Indian religious literature that are considered by adherents of Hinduism to be Śruti (that which is heard).
  • Venvaroha
  • Vijnana Bhairava Tantra – a teaching where Bhairavi (Parvati) asks Bhairava (Lord Shiva) to reveal the essence of the way one has to tread on the path to the realization of the highest reality – the state of Bhairava.

Y

See also

References

  1. ↑ Flood 1996, pp. 113, 154.
  2. ↑ Michaels 2004, pp. 21-23.
  3. ↑ Mike Burley (2012), Classical Samkhya and Yoga - An Indian Metaphysics of Experience, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415648875, page 39-41;
    Lloyd Pflueger, Person Purity and Power in Yogasutra, in Theory and Practice of Yoga (Editor: Knut Jacobsen), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120832329, pages 38-39
  4. ↑ Knut Jacobsen (2008), Theory and Practice of Yoga : 'Essays in Honour of Gerald James Larson, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120832329, pages 77-78;
    Isaeva, Natalia (1993). Shankara and Indian Philosophy. State University of New York Press. pp. 79–80. ISBN 978-0-7914-1281-7. ;
    Natalia Isaeva (1995). From Early Vedanta to Kashmir Shaivism: Gaudapada, Bhartrhari, and Abhinavagupta. State University of New York Press. pp. 137, 163, 171–178. ISBN 978-1-4384-0761-6. ;
    C. J. Bartley (2013). The Theology of Ramanuja: Realism and Religion. Routledge. pp. 1–4, 52–53, 79. ISBN 978-1-136-85306-7.
  5. ↑ Matthew Clarke (2011). Development and Religion: Theology and Practice. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 28. ISBN 9780857930736.
  6. 1 2 3 Dominic Goodall (1996), Hindu Scriptures, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0520207783, page ix-xi, xx-xxi
  7. ↑ RC Zaehner (1992), Hindu Scriptures, Penguin Random House, ISBN 978-0679410782, pages 1-11 and Preface
  8. ↑ Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3-447-02522-5
  9. ↑ Moriz Winternitz (1996). A History of Indian Literature. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. xv–xvi. ISBN 978-81-208-0264-3.
  10. ↑ "Indian languages and the classical status".
  11. ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28755509
  12. ↑ Sargeant, Winthrop, Introduction to The Bhagavad Gita at 3 (New York, 1984) ISBN 0-87395-831-4
  13. ↑ Swami Nikhilananda, The Upanishads: A New Translation Vol. I, at 3 (5th Ed. 1990) ISBN 0-911206-15-9
  14. ↑ Swarupananda, Swami (1909). "Foreword". Bhagavad Gita. Advaita Ashrama. pp. i–ii.
  15. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanisads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195352429, page 3; Quote: "Even though theoretically the whole of vedic corpus is accepted as revealed truth [shruti], in reality it is the Upanishads that have continued to influence the life and thought of the various religious traditions that we have come to call Hindu. Upanishads are the scriptures par excellence of Hinduism".
  16. ↑ Wendy Doniger (1990), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0226618470, pages 2-3; Quote: "The Upanishads supply the basis of later Hindu philosophy; they alone of the Vedic corpus are widely known and quoted by most well-educated Hindus, and their central ideas have also become a part of the spiritual arsenal of rank-and-file Hindus."
  17. ↑ Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Vol III. 118–120; Vol. I. 6–7.

Bibliography

  • Flood, Gavin D. (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press
  • Michaels, Axel (2004), Hinduism. Past and present, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press
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