Hindu Scriptures — Shruti and Smriti: Vedas, Upanishads, Gita, Epics and Puranas

Shruti — "what is heard"

The most authoritative texts are shruti, revelation heard by the rishis: the four Vedas. Each Veda has four layers — the Samhitas (hymns and mantras), Brahmanas (ritual explanations), Aranyakas ("forest texts" on the inner meaning of ritual) and Upanishads (philosophy), which are also called Vedanta, "the end of the Vedas".

Smriti — "what is remembered"

• Itihasa (epics) — the Ramayana and Mahabharata; the Bhagavad Gita is part of the Mahabharata.
• Puranas — eighteen Mahapuranas and many Upapuranas with stories of creation, the gods, avatars, kings and sages.
• Dharma Shastras — texts on law and conduct such as the Manusmriti and Yajnavalkya Smriti, read today as historical guides rather than rules.
• Vedangas — six "limbs" for understanding the Vedas: phonetics, ritual, grammar, etymology, metre and jyotisha (astronomy and calendar).
• Agamas and Tantras — texts on temple building, worship and practice in the Shaiva, Vaishnava and Shakta traditions.
• Darshanas — the sutras of the six schools of philosophy.

The prasthana traya

Vedanta rests on three foundational texts: the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. The great acharyas — Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva — each wrote commentaries on all three.

Devotional literature

Saints wrote in every Indian language: Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas, the Tamil Tevaram and Divya Prabandham, Kabir, Surdas, Mirabai, Tukaram, Jnaneshwar and many more — sung daily in homes and temples. Find aartis, chalisas and mantras on MyPujaWorld.