Hinduism is a special kind of religion from various types of possible perspectives. It is especially characterized by a wide variety of diverse practices and ideas. This lack of monotone makes the aspects of Hinduism an interesting subject of study at once and also very difficult to completely understand. To know about the fundamentals of this vast and “universal” religion, you have to go through some well-known and popular Hindu holy books.
Here is a list of the ten oldest Hindu holy books to help you out.
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The Puranas
The Puranas are one of the most important Hindu holy books, containing the post-Vedic texts, which mainly contain a compact and complete narrative of the history of the entire Universe along with the facts starting from its creation to destruction, heroes and demigods, genealogies of the various important kings and also the descriptions of the Hindu geography and cosmology. There are actually 17 or 18 canonical Puranas that are divided into three main categories, each named after a powerful deity of Hinduism, like Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.
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The Vedas
The Vedas contain religious hymns, incantations, and also important rituals from ancient India. Besides their strong spiritual value, they also offer a special view of the everyday life of the citizens of India of about four thousand years ago. The Vedas have four Vedas; here is an elaborate description of all those:
The four Vedas, Rig, Sama, Yajur, and the Atharva Veda, are the oldest holy books of Hinduism. These four priceless books are also known to have immense influence on other religions, namely Jainism, Buddhism, and also Sikhism.
Scholars have stated that the Rig Veda, being the oldest one, was composed near about the time 1500 B.C. and codified near about 600 B.C. Though it is unknown when it was finally being written, but the time was probably at some point after 300 B.C.
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The Upanishads
The Upanishads are the continuation of some of the Vedic philosophies and were being written between the time 800 and 400 B.C. They give a proper and elaborate idea on how the soul or Atman can be successfully united with the truth or the Brahman through some specific contemplation and meditation, along with the doctrine of Karma—which is the cumulative effects of the actions of a human being.
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The Ramayana
The Ramayana is the Hindu epic that follows the complete story of Prince Rama’s struggle to rescue his wife Sita. Devi Sita was imprisoned by King Ravana, and Prince Rama led an epic battle with the help of a big army of monkeys to defeat King Ravana and rescue Devi Sita. This is one of the most important Hindu holy books of ancient times.
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The Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is another very important epic of Hinduism. This unique text is full of the powerful and inspiring narratives of the epic battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, the two groups of cousins.
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The Holy Geeta
Srimad Bhagavad Gita or the holy Geeta is one of the most influential Hindu holy books. It is the collection of the motivating dialogues between Lord Krishna and Arjuna.
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The laws of Manu
It is another very important Hindu holy book, as Manu was regarded as the first man of the Hindus.
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The Vedanta
Vedanta is another very important name in the list of Hindu holy books.
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The Satapatha Brahmana
This book is a primary source for the mythology, philosophy, and some important magical practices of the Vedic-era.
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The select works of Swami Sankaracharya
It is a complete selection of the notable works of Swami Sankaracharya, a philosopher of Hinduism.
Hence, all the ten religious texts in Hinduism are well-known Hindu holy books that can tell you about Hinduism in an elaborate and inspiring way.