Hindu texts

A 17th-century Devimahatmya manuscript.

Sanskrit Literature

Sanskrit Literature Sanskrit literature refers to texts composed in Sanskrit language since the 2nd-millennium BCE. Many of the prominent texts are associated with Indian religions, i.e., Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and were composed in ancient India. However, others were composed central, East or Southeast Asia and the canon includes works...

The Pandavas and Krishna in an act of the Javanese wayang wong performance

Mahabharata

What Is Mahabharata? The Mahabharata or Mahābhārata (महाभारतम्, Mahābhāratam) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. The title may be translated as “the great tale of the Bhārata dynasty”. The Mahābhārata is an epic legendary narrative of the Kurukṣetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the...

Purana Manuscripts from 15th- to 18th-century

List Of Hindu Texts

List Of Hindu Texts Hinduism is an ancient religion with diverse traditions such as Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and others. 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. Of these some called Sruti are broadly considered...

Two folios from a palm leaf manuscript of the Kamasutra text (Sanskrit, Devanagari script).

Kama Sutra

What Is Kama Sutra? The Kama sutra (कामसूत्र, Kāmasūtra) is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the Kama Sutra is neither exclusively nor predominantly a sex manual on sex positions, but written as a guide to the “art-of-living” well, the nature of love, finding...

A drop merging in the Ocean, an analogy for the Atman merging into the Brahman

Brahman

Brahman Brahman (ब्रह्म) is the material, efficient, formal and final cause of all that exists and the highest Universal Principle, the Ultimate Reality in the universe in Hindu philosophy. These schools of thought also consider Brahman to be the pervasive, genderless, infinite, eternal truth and bliss which does not change, yet...

Varuna, Vedic god associated with water, is 10 times glorified as 'asura' in Rigveda (image from between 1675 and 1700)

Asura

Asura Asura (असुर) is a class of beings or power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. The asuras battle constantly with the devas. Asuras are described in Indian texts as powerful superhuman demigods with good or bad qualities. The good Asuras are called Adityas and are led by Varuna,...

A page from the Taittiriya Samhita, a layer of text within the Yajurveda

Shastra

What Is Shastra? Shastra (शास्त्र) is a Sanskrit word that means “precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise” in a general sense. The word is generally used as a suffix in the Indian literature context, for technical or specialized knowledge in a defined area of practice. Shastra has a similar meaning to English -logy, e.g. ecology, psychology,...

Modern depiction of Vyasa narrating the Mahābhārata to Ganeshaat the Murudeshwara temple, Karnataka.

Indian Epic Poetry

Indian Epic Poetry Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called Kavya (or Kāvya; काव्य, kāvyá). The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which were originally composed in Sanskrit and later translated into many other Indian languages, and The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature and Sangam literature are...

Vedas

Vedas

Vedas The Vedas (वेद veda, “knowledge”) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. Hindus consider the Vedas to be apauruṣeya, which means “not of a man, superhuman” and “impersonal,...

A page of Isha Upanishad manuscript

Upanishads

Upanishads The Upanishads (उपनिषद् , Upaniṣad), a part of the Vedas, are ancient Sanskrit texts that contain some of the central philosophical concepts and ideas of Hinduism, some of which are shared with religious traditions like Buddhism and Jainism. Among the most important literature in the history of Indian religions and...

Purana Manuscripts from 15th- to 18th-century

Puranas

Puranas The word Puranas (पुराण, purāṇa) literally means “ancient, old”, and it is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly myths, legends and other traditional lore. Composed primarily in Sanskrit, but also in regional languages, several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as...

Gita_Govinda

Hinduism’s Sacred Texts

Hinduism’s Sacred Texts Hindu texts are manuscripts and historical literature related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few texts are shared resources across these traditions and broadly considered as Hindu scriptures. These include the Vedas and the Upanishads. Scholars hesitate in defining the term “Hindu scripture” given the diverse...

Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita “The Song of God”, often referred to as the Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture in Sanskrit that is part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata (chapters 23–40 of the 6th book of Mahabharata). The Gita is set in a narrative framework of a dialogue between Pandava prince Arjuna and his guide and charioteer Krishna. At...

A 17th-century manuscript page of Sadvimsha Brahmana, a Pañcaviṃśa-Brāhmaṇa supplement (Sanskrit, Devanagari). It is found embedded in the Samaveda.

Brahmanas

Brahmanas The Brahmanas (ब्राह्मणम्, Brāhmaṇam) are a collection of ancient Indian texts with commentaries on the hymns of the four Vedas. They are a layer or category of Vedic Sanskrit texts embedded within each Veda, and form a part of the Hindu śruti literature. They are primarily a digest incorporating myths, legends,...