The modern word hinduism is a term developed approximately 700 years ago by the muslim invaders of india. However, the puranas are supposed to be complied by muni vyasa. The scriptures of the vedas are meant to guide hindu believers in their daily lives. Do hindus have a sacred text like bible to refer to as the canon. The most holy of the hindu books is written in sanskrit and is referred to as the vedas. The religion of hinduism originated in northern india, near the river indus, about 4000 years ago and is the worlds oldest existing religion. Hinduism is formed of diverse traditions and has no single founder. Even the authors who composed over 14,000 poems said that they are giving the vedas in.
Hindu religion has no founder or origin thats why it is known as sanatana dharma. Hinduism has neither a specific moment of origin nor a specific founder. The vedas are scriptures that the hindu people use as a guide to daily and religious life. Hence, it is considered an eternal religion sanatana dharma. As per the vedantic embodiments hinduism is monotheistic. Hinduism is widely practiced in south asia mainly in india and nepal. For these reasons hinduism is referred as way of life or a family of religions. These holy books have had an incredible influence on the history of the world, but. The tripitaka pali canon, mahayana sutras and the tibetan book of the dead are three major noncanonical buddhist texts. These books are in sanskrit, the sacred language of the hindus. List of holy books in hinduism the galaxy of hindu literature is very vast and voluminous.
Of these, the first three books are considered the more ancient books, and the rig veda is the oldest of them. Smriti literature is considered less authoritative than sruti. Hinduism is based on a set of scholarly views mentioned in hundreds of scriptures such as the vedas, the upanishads, the puranas, and the shastras. Hinduism is the worlds oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years. Hinduism has many sects, and is sometimes divided into the following. It was a culture basically flourished in india, which later took the form of a great religion. There was a river by the name sindhu, which was mispronounced by the invaders as hindu. Vedas are also called sruti what is heard literature, distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are.
Despite muslims being obliged to believe in the other holy books sent down to the other prophets besides prophet muhammad pbuh, due to the alterations to the other holy books of islam, the current versions of the torah, psalms and bible are not accepted. 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. Most interesting facts about hinduism sanatana dharma. This religious book defines the boundary of the religion and the followers would be expected to strictly abide by that holy book.
Hinduism is a collective term applied to the many philosophical and religious traditions native to india. Hinduism origins, hinduism history, hinduism beliefs. Sruti pronounced shroothee are the holy books within hinduism that are considered to be. What name is given to the four holy books of the hindus trivia. I can also understand that hinduism has more holy books, unlike other religions, but is there any holy book of the tamil s. The primary sacred texts, known as the vedas, were composed around 1500 b. The upanishads are also called as vedantas or the end of the vedas. Shaivism followers of shiva vaishnava followers of vishnu shaktism followers of devi smarta followers of brahman and all major deities. As for the name itself, hindu is a word first used by persians, dating back to. There are holy books like vedas, ramayan and bhagavad. The three holy books and the holy land geographically. The aryans gave hinduism its priestly language, sanskrit. What are the holy books of hinduism called answers. Why hindus worship so many gods and goddesses is a real mystery for most people.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Scholars regard hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various indian. 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. These texts are glorious tales of the hindu trinity brahma, vishnu and maheshwar shiva. Hinduism is an indian religion and dharma, or way of life, widely practiced in the indian subcontinent and parts of southeast asia. Also, while christianity has the holy bible, and islam has the holy koran, hinduism does not have a single religious scripture. For hundreds of years, many people have searched for some evidence of the founder of hinduism. Hinduism is the worlds third most popular religion, with around 750 million followers. What name is given to the four holy books of the hindus. These vedas contain knowledge and teachings which is in the purest form and directly revealed by the almighty to enlightened rishis. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world, and hindus refer to it as sanatana dharma, the eternal tradition, or the eternal way, beyond human history.
In this article, we detail the two different categories. Brahma, the creator god revealed the secret knowledge of the vedas to gods, humans and demons in the beginning of creation. The oldest religion hinduism is the oldest religion of all world religions. Hinduism is practised by more than 80% of indias population. Thus, hinduism is not founded by a person or a prophet. Because religion has no specific founder, its difficult to trace its origins and history. Hinduism simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Roughly 95 per cent of the worlds hindus live in india.
The holy books of world religions sacred texts in world. Hinduism holy book important books and writings of hinduism. For hundreds of years, it has been searched for some. Hindus believe that the vedas texts were received by scholars direct from.
The people in ancient india have followed hinduism. Hinduism does not have a single holy book, but many ancient texts and scriptures. This sacred text is divided into two main sections, the old testament and the new testament which are then further divided into various books. 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 sacred texts of hinduism fall into one of two categories. Central to the upanishads is the concept of brahman. The holy book in the hindu religion is known as the vedas. But the vedantic beliefs went under much transformation and became gradually polytheistic in character.
Unlike most other religions hinduism has no single founder, no single scripture and no commonly agreed set of teachings. In the west, where the mass majority of people are part of the abrahamic faith tradition with one god, the concept of polytheism is nothing more than fantasy or mythology worthy of comic book material. Information on hinduism for kids primary homework help. List of world religions and founders, religious books. We are trying to list out here as many hindu scriptures and books as possible. Scholars regard hinduism as a combination of different indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as sanatana dharma, the eternal tradition, or the eternal way, beyond human history. Ramakrishna, originally called gadadhar chatterji or gadadhar chattopadhyaya, born february 18, 1836, hooghly now hugli, bengal state, indiadied august 16, 1886, calcutta now kolkata, hindu religious leader, founder of the school of religious thought that became the ramakrishna order born into a poor brahman the highestranking social class family, ramakrishna had little formal. 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. Dasbodh devi mahatmya also known as durga saptashati 700 verses from markandeya purana giving an account of the glory of devi. This holy book is written in the sanskrit language. First, lets distinguish between two types of hindu literature.
The teachings of hinduism were passed down from generation to generation in the form of vedas. The last one is a commentary on the vedas, but it is considered as a revealed book. Hinduism does not have a single holy book that guides religious. All hindus know that some books are considered holy by everyone, and not every book written by every author becomes holy. Sruti consists of four vedas, upanishads, brahmanas, aranyakas, and bhagavadgita while smriti consists of manu smriti, 18 puranas, ramayana, and mahabharata and other hindu holy books. Five of the hindu holy books are the rig veda, bhagavad gita, sama veda, yajur veda, and.
Devi bhagavata one of the puranas which is one of the most important writings in shaktism. Hinduism is the oldest of the six major world religions. Here, i will give only a brief introduction to the holy books of hinduism. Which is the holy book or sacred scripture of hinduism. The veda is a rather unusual collection of literature. The belief system in the hindi religion is outlined from. The vedas a collection of hymns praising the vedic gods. However, smruti texts often carry almost as much authority as sruti. Five of the hindu holy books are the rig veda, bhagavad gita, sama veda, yajur veda, and athava veda. In the west, where the mass majority of people are part of the abrahamic faith tradition with one god, the concept of polytheism is nothing more than fantasy or. The vedas are the prime book of knowledge on which primary hindu beliefs stands. Other holy scriptures in hinduism are called the upanisads, the smrutis, the puranas, the ramayana and the mahabharata. Hinduism has over 1 billion followers worldwide, with about 95% of.
Hindus value many sacred writings as opposed to one holy book. Throughout its extensive history, there have been many key figures teaching different philosophies and writing innumerable holy books. So as hinduism is a religion, there must be some founder. It has no single founder but developed gradually over a period of time. The quran kareem is the only recognised holy book of islam now. The pali canon, which means the word of buddha, includes some of the buddhas discourse, but it also incorporates the teachings of his pupils. 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. The religion, which is open to interpretation, is a collection of paths to wisdom that is based on human reasoning rather than a divine authority and a finger cannot be pointed at a specific founder. Its godcentered approach 1 chapters updated feb 04, 2020 05. The primary sacred texts, known as the vedas, were. Rather, there is a huge array of different sacred texts.
Swami daya nand, founder of the arya samaj, holds the opinion that the. Its been followed by people from several generations. Hindu sacred literature is the most ancient of the living literatures of the world. Some of the other holy works and books of hinduism. Hinduism does not possess a single holy book like bible in christianity and quran in islamic dharma. Vedic texts are sometimes called shruti, which means hearing. The most ancient sacred texts of the hindu religion are written in sanskrit and called the vedas. Divya prabandha collection of 4000 verses in tamil. The answer to this question is that actually there is no single founder of hinduism as hinduism was not founded as a religion. Today, with about 900 million followers, hinduism is the thirdlargest religion behind christianity and islam.