The Vedas Hymns, Incantations, Rituals, Views on everyday life.
by Nomadi Soul
1. UPANISHDAS: Continuation of Vedic Philosophy (written between 800 and 400 BC). *Elaborate on how the soul (Atman) can be united with the ultimate truth (Brahman) through contemplation & meditation. *Doctrine of Karma= cumulative effects of a person's actions.
2. PURANAS: *Post-Vedic texts *Contain complete narrative of the history of the universe from creation to destruction *Genealogies of the kings, heroes, demigods. *Descriptions of Hindus cosmology & geography. *17 canonical Puranas, divided into three categories named after a deity: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
2.1. Brahma
2.2. Vishnu
2.3. Shiva
3. THE EPICS: The Mahabarata and Ramayan are the national epics of India. Possibly the longest poems in any language.
3.1. MAHABARATA: Written down 540 to 300 BC. *Legends of the Bharatas, a Vedic Aryan group.
3.1.1. BHAGAVAD GITA: *Part of the sixth book of Mahabarata. *Central text of Hinduism, a philosophical dialogue between Krishna and the warrior Arjuna. *Discusses selflessness, duty, devotion, meditation and integrates many different threads of Hindu philosophy.