Scriptures
The Vedas, Upanishads, Gita, epics and Puranas: what they contain and where to begin.
The Bhagavad Gita
Seven hundred verses spoken on a battlefield, read for two thousand years as a guide to living
The Bhagavad Gita, 'the Song of the Lord', is a 700-verse dialogue between Prince Arjuna and Shri Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, set in the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata. In 18 chapters it teaches how to act without attachment, how to know the eternal Self, and how to surrender in devotion to God. It is formally smriti, yet it is revered almost as shruti and is one of the three foundational texts of Vedanta.
The Mahabharata
The great epic of the Bharatas: a war, a family, and the subtle nature of dharma
The Mahabharata is the vast Sanskrit epic of the struggle between the Pandavas and their cousins the Kauravas, ending in the war at Kurukshetra. Tradition attributes it to Veda Vyasa and calls it the 'fifth Veda'; with about 100,000 shlokas in 18 parvas, it is among the longest poems ever composed and contains the Bhagavad Gita. Scholars date its growth to roughly the 4th century BCE to the 4th century CE.
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The Puranas
The 'ancient stories' that carry the Vedas into every home: gods, avatars, tirthas and vratas
The Puranas are vast Sanskrit collections of sacred history, telling of creation, the gods and their avatars, sages and kings, holy places, fasts and festivals. Tradition counts eighteen Mahapuranas, attributed to Veda Vyasa and said to total 400,000 verses, alongside eighteen Upapuranas. They are smriti, and most of the stories Hindus know about Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Ganesha and Krishna come from them. Scholars date the surviving texts mainly between about the 3rd and 10th centuries CE, with later additions.
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Shri Ramcharitmanas
Goswami Tulsidas's 'lake of Rama's deeds', the Rama story of North India's homes
Shri Ramcharitmanas is the epic retelling of Shri Rama's life in Awadhi by the 16th-century saint-poet Goswami Tulsidas, begun in Ayodhya in 1574 CE (Vikram Samvat 1631) on Ram Navami. Written in seven kands of chaupais and dohas, it is the most widely read and recited Rama story in the Hindi-speaking world and the source of the Ramlila tradition. It is a devotional work rather than a Sanskrit scripture, but for millions it is the scripture they live by.
The Upanishads
Vedanta, the end of the Veda: the dialogues where the rishis asked who we really are
The Upanishads are the philosophical texts that close each Veda, which is why they are called Vedanta, 'the end of the Veda'. They are shruti, part of revealed scripture, and teach that the innermost Self (Atman) is one with the ultimate reality (Brahman). The Muktika Upanishad lists 108 Upanishads; ten to thirteen 'principal' ones are the oldest and most studied, and scholars date the earliest to around the 7th–6th centuries BCE.
The Ramayana of Valmiki
The adi-kavya, the first poem: the story of Rama, Sita and the ideal of dharma
The Ramayana, 'Rama's journey', is the Sanskrit epic of Shri Rama, prince of Ayodhya, attributed to the sage Valmiki, whom tradition honours as the adi-kavi, the first poet. In about 24,000 verses and seven kandas it tells of Rama's exile, Sita's abduction by Ravana, and her rescue with the help of Hanuman. It is classed as itihasa and smriti, and scholars date its core to roughly the 7th–5th centuries BCE, with the first and last books added later.
The Vedas
The oldest scriptures of Sanatana Dharma, heard by the rishis and carried by voice for over three thousand years
The Vedas are four collections of sacred Sanskrit texts: the Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. Hindu tradition regards them as shruti, 'that which was heard', eternal knowledge revealed to the rishis rather than composed by any person. Scholars date the oldest of them, the Rigveda, to roughly 1500–1000 BCE, and the Vedas were preserved for centuries entirely by oral recitation.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
195 terse aphorisms that map the path from a restless mind to inner freedom
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are the foundational text of the Yoga darshana, one of the six classical schools of Hindu philosophy. In about 195 short sutras across four padas, they define yoga as the stilling of the mind's fluctuations and set out the eight limbs (ashtanga) that lead to samadhi and kaivalya, liberation. Tradition reveres Patanjali as an incarnation of Adishesha; scholars date the text roughly between the 2nd century BCE and the 5th century CE, many favouring a date around the 4th–5th century CE.