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by Jayaram V
Hindu
scriptures can be grouped into the following categories:
The
Vedas: 
The Vedas
are part of the Shruti literature. Shruti means that which is heard. The
Vedas are considered to be divine in origin and not man made. No one truly
knows how old they are. Some of the Rigvedic verses were perhaps composed
in the early phases of human civilization. For centuries they were
passed down from one generation to another through oral tradition. They
were probably rendered into written form during the epic period, around
1500 BC.
The Vedas
are eternal (nitya) and out of this world (apauruseya).
Hindus believe that God brings the Vedas into this world at the beginning
of every cycle of creation for the welfare of the mankind and withdraws them again at the
end of it. The
Vedas are revealed to the mankind through rishis (rsi) or great
seers. The rsis were
considered to be the mind born children of Brahma, who were created solely
for the purpose of introducing the Vedas to the mankind. The
word rsi means he who had seen (drs) the Truth.
The
Mystery of the Vedas : The
Vedas are considered to be very holy, Brahman Himself in the form of words
and sounds. Beneath the layers of poetic imagery, colorful visions and
seemingly superstitious ritual prayers practices, The Vedas said to
contain profound secrets of the worlds, their origins and knowledge of the
spiritual realms into which man can ascend by the exercise of his will and
transformation of his consciousness. They speak not just of various gods
and divine powers of the external world for the purpose of bringing
down rains, drive away of the scourge or assuage our fear of storms and
tempests, but of various divinities and spiritual entities that exist in
our psychic awareness and arise and awake as we progress through various
stages of spiritual advancement in our quest for Self Realization.
Although on
the surface, the Vedic hymns appear to be mere ritualistic invocations
addressed to various gods and goddesses, in reality they are addressed to
acknowledge the arrival or descent of specific forces or energies of the
higher worlds into our individual consciousness or to invoke their
presence. Unfortunately we are no more conversant with the hidden meaning,
although we have some vague idea about it, because of the revelations of
Sri Aurobindo, in his famous work, the Secret of the Vedas.( To know more about Sri Aurobindo please to
the section on
Masters).
For
centuries the Vedas were kept as a closely guarded secret by the Brahmin
Caste and taught only to a select few. (Something like the Microsoft not wanting to share its programming
secrets with others!). While this might have enabled the Vedas to survive
the ravages of time in their most unadulterated form, and enabled the priestly
order to maintain their sway, it also contributed to the decline of the
Vedic religion and the conversion of many lower caste people into other
religions and sectarian movements. It was after the arrival of the
Europeans to the Indian subcontinent that an organized and sincere effort
was made to introduce the Vedas to the academic circles of the West in the
form of translations and commentaries.
The
Vedas are four in number, namely the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda, of
which the Rigveda is the oldest
and probably composed at a time when the Vedic Aryans were not yet fully
settled and were wandering around either in the Indian subcontinent or
elsewhere in search of a suitable homeland. The word 'veda'
means knowledge or wisdom and from the word veda are
derived the words vid
(to know), vidya
(study or education), vidvan
(the scholar) and vedavid
(the knower of the Vedas). (For more details about the four vedas
and their translations, readers are requested to visit our section on the
Vedas.)
The
Divisions of the Vedas: Each
Veda is divided into four parts, namely the Mantra, Brahmana, Aranyaka and
Upanishad. The
Mantra part contains mantras or hymns addressed to various gods and
goddesses, which are chanted during ritualistic prayers or invocations according to a particular
rhythm. The Mantra part is concerned mostly with the pronunciation
of the words and the vibrations they create in the minds of the invokers
and in the physical atmosphere that surround them so as to render the
descent of the divine forces easier and swifter. The
Brahmana part contains information about rites and
rituals and serves as a
kind of guide book
that explains the method and the manner in which the rituals are to be
conducted. The Aranyakas, or the forest books
deal with the significance and philosophical back ground of
various rituals. The fourth part of the Veda is called the Upanishad.
The Upanishads are books of deep spiritual knowledge known as Vedanta. There are
hundreds of Upanishads ascribed to the four Vedas of which 12 are
considered to be the most important. (To know more about the Upanishads
and the list of 108 principal Upanishads please visit our comprehensive
section on the Upanishads.)
Symbolism
of the Vedas: The four
parts of the Vedas have significance and relevance to the four stages (ashramas)
of human life, namely brahmacharya, grihastashrama, vanaprastha
and sanyasashrama
respectively. How this is so is explained below.
1. Brahmacharya
: Brahmacharya is the phase of studentship. During this phase
a student of
the Vedas is expected to memorize the mantras completely and recite them with utmost accuracy. At this stage in life for a man, the
mantra part of the Vedas are important.
2. Grihasthashrama:
This is the
stage of the householder. During this phase each adult is expected to lead
a righteous life and live like Lord Vishnu on earth working for the
preservation of his family and society through righteous deeds. For him at
this stage, knowledge of Brahmanas carry importance, because they deal
with the techniques of karmakanda.
3. Vanaprastha: This is the stage of forest dwelling. During
this phase a person leaves his house and properties to the care of his
children and retires into the solitude of the forest
with his wife, to lead a spiritual life. The knowledge contained in the Aranyakas
is useful to him during this phase..
(Interested readers may visit our sacred scriptures section and read the Aitareya
Aranyaka available there under the heading the Upanishads.)
4. Sanyasashrama:
This is final stage of renunciation in the life of an individual during
which he renounces the worldly life completely and spends the rest of his
life in the contemplation
of God and Self. During this stage the knowledge of the Upanishads
is very useful to him.
According
to another classification the contents of the Vedas are divided into three
parts instead of four. These are the first part known as karmakanda or the procedural part comprising of
the Mantras and the Brahmanas, the second part known as upsanakanda
or the contemplative part consisting of the Aranyakas and the third part known as
Jnanakanda or the knowledge part comprising of the Upanishads.
The
Smritis
In contrast
to the Shruti literature, which contains revelations, the Smriti
literature is a product of human intellect. It contains the works
of various individuals who base their information and interpretations upon
the Vedas. Smriti means that which is based upon memory. It is the
literature produced out of human intellect. It is a sacred
literature that is intellectual in origin and meant for the purpose
of human welfare. Strictly speaking all scriptures which are not shruti or
divine in origin come under this classification.
However,
standard classification includes only those works
that are based upon the knowledge contained in the Vedas. These are the law books known as dharma shastras.
They deal with various aspects of human life and social organization. They
instruct how an individual should conduct himself or herself in society in
the light of the caste to which the individual belongs. The define the
rules and roles for various groups of individuals in the
society. The topics range from such issues as the status, duties and
responsibilities prescribed for the four main castes, remedies against possible
transgression of the prescribed laws and also remedies for divine
retribution.
Among the available dharmashastras four are considered to be very important: They
are the works Manu, Yagjnavalkya, Sankha, and Parasara. Of these
the first one known as Manusmriti
is the most popular. Known as Manavadharma shastra, or the scripture of
human laws, Manusmriti
was considered in ancient Hindu society as the ultimate guide book for human
conduct and social and religious behavior. It provided guidelines for the
Hindus to conduct themselves in line with their social order and religious
duties.
It is also
said that these four works were supposed to provide guidance to people
during the four great ages called the Mahayugas: the Manusmriti
for the first
great age called Satyug, the Yagnavalkya-smriti for the second
great age called Tretayug, the Sankha-smriti for the third great
epoch called Dvaparyug and the Parasara-smriti for the present and
the last great epoch called Kaliyug.
In recent
times the Hindu law books have drawn widespread criticism from many
quarters because of their preferential treatment of certain castes against
the others and their narrow minded and one-sided approach to
such sensitive subjects as the status of women and the process of
creation. (For a detailed study of the Manusmriti please go to our Sacred
Scriptures section where you will find a complete translation of this
exhaustive scripture)
While we
cannot deny the fact that the Law Books were particularly unkind and
insensitive to the lower castes and women, it is however important to
remember that the dharma shastras do not enjoy the same status as the
Vedas. They need not necessarily be accepted as final authority on
any issue, unless your own sense of justice agrees with them. Unlike the Vedas they are neither eternal nor fallible
since they are products of human intellect and social and political circumstances.
They are not derived from the Divine directly. They are produced in a
particular age, according to the demands and general awareness of that
age. Because of this they are prone to be defective and
controversial even, Therefore in the event of any doubt or dispute
regarding any information contained in these scriptures, one should check
whether the information is line with the tenets of the Vedas and if it is
not we can safely set it aside. The Vedas do not discriminate between man
and woman. Not do they suggest any caste discrimination. Out of the
thousands of hymns contained in the Vedas a few are quoted as the basis
for caste systems. These hymns are clever manipulations or inventions and
should be discarded.
The Itihasas:
Itihas
means history. Generally the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are
included in this category. The Ramayana is the story of Rama and his
battle against the evil forces unleashed by Ravana, the arch villain with
a mixture of both good and bad qualities arising out of egoism, who abducts Sita, wife of
Rama and faces the inevitable. In end Rama kills Ravana and rescues his wife.
The
Mahabharata is the story of two brothers, Pandu
and Dhritarashtra,
their
children, namely Pandavas
and the Kauravas
and the recalcitrant attitude between them for political power which leads
to a great war and mighty destruction of both families, resulting in the
victory of the righteous Pandavas. Lord Krishna gives his support to the Pandavas
and helps them defeat and destroy the Kauravas and their
great army.
The
Mahabharata is an epic of grand proportions, rich in imagination and
human
wisdom. At its core are religion and family values. It is difficult to
read the epic without realizing the destructive nature of man and the
possible dangers for the humanity because of that. The Mahabharata is the longest epic ever written in human history.
It teaches us many moral and spiritual lessons and in terms of appeal has
a greater appeal than even the Vedas.
The Bhagavad gita is
the message of Sri Krishna not just to
Arjuna on the battle field but to the entire humanity who have to fight
many battles both internally and externally while they live on earth. The book
contains great spiritual truths which are relevant even today. It tells us
how to conduct ourselves in this world with detachment and freedom of the mind. It speaks about
offering the fruit of ones actions to God in order to become
free from the cycle of births and deaths. (The complete translation of the
Bhagavad gita, and the Ramayana are available from our Hinduism section.)
The
Puranas
The Puranas
describe the religious events that happened in the remote past,
sometimes starting with the story of creation itself. They basically deal
with the incarnations of God and the deeds of God in various forms. In
many ways they resemble the epics in describing evens. But there is one basic difference. The epics deal with the history
of mankind and the events that happened on the earthly plane in the past,
while the Puranas deal with divine characters, and events associated with
them on different planes, not just on earth.
The
emphasis in the Puranas is primarily on the divine. Through inspiring
stories and amusing anecdotes and the use of story and drama, they intend to turn our attention towards the divine and engage our minds
in the contemplation of God. In a simple but very effective way, they aim
to strengthen our
faith and lead us on the path of righteous living.
The Puranas
and the Itihasas are jointly referred as the Panchama Veda or the
fifth Veda. The Puranas have played a very significant role in the
past in keeping the religious fervor of the people high. While as books of
great antiquity they may not they may not throw much light on the ancient
history of Hinduism, it
is difficult to ignore their contribution to the gradual evolution of
Hinduism into of the most popular religions of the world.
Without them
and the two great epics, Hinduism would not have attained this status. What the
Vedas could not accomplish, with all their supposed wisdom and philosophy,
thanks to a self absorbed and self centered priesthood, that rarely
bothered itself with the initiation of the masses into religion, or
concerned itself with the spreading of religion, the puranas and the epics managed.
They instilled faith in the masses and brought them into the fold of
Hinduism.
The number
of Puranas vary. But generally 18 main (maha) Purunas and 18 secondary
(upa) Puranas are accounted. The
mahapuranas are Brahmapurana, Padmapurana,
Vishnupurana,
Sivapurana, Bhagavatapurana,
Naradapurana,
Markendeyapurana,
Agnipurana, Bhavishyapurana, Brahmavaivartapurana, Lingapurana, Varahapurana,
Skandapurana,
Vamanapurana, Kurmapurana, Matsyapurana, Garudapurana and
Brahmandapurana. Of these the most popular are
the Bhagavatapurana, the Sivapurana and Brahmapurana.
The
Agamas
In Sanskrit
'agama' means acquisition of knowledge. In terms of religious
significance, the Agamas are as important as the Vedas. They are also not derived from the Vedas. The Agamas are
manuals
of divine worship. They deal with such topics as the codes of temple
building, image making, and the modes of worship. Saivism, Vaishnavism
and Shaktism have their own respective Agamas.
Saivism
recognizes 28 principal Agamas and 150 sub agamas. Some of them date back
to 2nd Century AD. Various schools of Saivism such as the the Saiva Siddhantha
school, Tamil Saivism, Kashmiri Saivism and Vira Saivism
follow these texts and base their religious activity upon them. The most prominent
agama text in Saivism is the Kamika. These
texts consider Siva as the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, the Highest
Self, the Conscious Principle while Shakti is regarded as the unconscious
or the natural principle who is the cause of bondage. The union of Shakti
with Siva at the highest level leads to the freedom of the soul (pasu)
from the Pasa or the attachment.
The
Followers of Shaktism follow 27 Agamas also called Tantras. Shaktism
considers the Mother Goddess as the Supreme Self and relegates Iswara, the
Divine Father, to a secondary position. In Shaktism the
Divine Mother is both the cause of delusion (maya)
and the source of
liberation. Shaktism gave birth to the practice of Tantric forms of
worship which were not generally acceptable to the followers of Vedic
methods of worship. The Agamas of Shaktism deal with magical and occult
knowledge, besides mechanical, ritualistic, devotional and spiritual
aspects of Tantric
forms of worship
The
Vaishnava Agamas are grouped into four categories namely the Vaikhanasa, Pancharatra, Pratishthasara and
Vijnanalalita. Of these, the
Vaishanavites consider the Pancharatra Agama as the most important (Swami Sivananda). These Agamas are believed to have been revealed by Narayana Himself. The Pancharatra Agama is again subdivided into seven sub agamas namely, the
Brahma, Saiva, Kaumara, Vasishtha, Kapila, Gautamiya and the Naradiya. The
Pancharatra Agamas consider Vishnu as the Supreme Lord of the Universe and
devotion to Vishnu as the sure path to liberation. According to another opinion, the Vaikhanasagama is the most ancient and most important Agama and all the Agamas practically and literally copied all their information from this sacred Agama. It is believed that the Vaikhanasa Agama was originally compiled under the guidance of sage Vaikhanasa during the early Vedic period. Sri Madhavacharya held Pancharatra texts in high esteem and equated them with the Vedas and the epics, while Sri Shankaracharya had a different opinion.
According
to another classification the Agamas are five types namely:Sakta Agamas,
Soura Agamas, Ganapatya Agamas, Saiva Agamas and Vaikhanasa Agamas
The
Darsanas
The
Darsanas deal with the various schools of philosophical thought that
prevailed in ancient India. Darsana means vision or perception. There are
six darsanas grouped into three pairs based upon their approach to the
concept of the existence or non existence of Absolute God. These are :
1.Nyaya and the Vaisheshika
2.The Sankhya and the Yoga
3. The Mimansa and the Vedanta
These six
darsanas actually represent six different streams of philosophical
thought that prevailed in ancient India. Each school had its own
founder and a principal scripture as its original source. Thus the Nyaya
Sutras were written by Gautama, the Vaisheshika Sutras by Kanada, the Sankhya Karika by Iswara
Krishna, the Yoga Sutras
by Patanjali, Mimamsa Sutras by Jaimini and Vedanta Sutras
by Badarayana. In course of time a great deal of literature gathered
around these six schools of thought much of which was in the form of
commentaries (bhashyas) of the original six works.
Popular
literature
The
Popular literature consists of the works produced in the vernacular
languages, other than Sanskrit, such as Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada,
Bengali, and so on by eminent scholars over a period of more than three
thousand years. Included in this category are both the translations
from the Sanskrit and also original works. Since it is not possible to
deal with the entire list we are mentioning a few important works. Tamil
is the oldest of the Dravidian languages and in terms of antiquity it may
be as old as the Sanskrit itself. A lot of devotional literature was
composed in Tamil by the Nayanars and Alvars in the early
Christian era. The Sangam literature is a true reflection of the
greatness of Tamil as an excellent medium of devotional literature. In
Kannada, another Dravidian language, the Virasaiva movement led to the
composition of Vachakam containing the sayings of Basava. In the
north notable works in the vernacular languages included the Ramacharitmanas
of Tulisdas and the Sursagar of Surdas, both in Hindi, Chatanyamrita
of Sri Chaitanya and Mangal kavyas in Bengali, the devotional
compositions of Namdev in Marathi, the
poems of Mirabai in Gujrathi,
the Gitagovinda of Jaidev and so on. Both the epics, the Ramayana
and the Mahabharata were translated into many local languages.
Modern
Period:
The period
starting from the 17th Century till date also witnessed the birth a
great deal of religious literature, not only in Indian Languages but in
foreign languages, especially English. Worth mentioning here are the teachings
of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayananda
Saraswathi, the
great mass of literature generated by Theosophical Society of India, the
works and teachings of Sri Aurobindo, Swami Shraddananda, Swami
Sivananda, the works of Sri Prabhupada, Sri Acharya Rajneesh, Sai Baba,
J.Krishnamurhty and so on.
Suggested Further Reading
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