Thread by @wokiepedia

#Decolonise your minds!
#Thread

On the debate of Hindutva vs single book beleivers & scientologists, here is a small effort to bring clarity of what we believe in!
A synopsis of the #Sanskrit Scripture.If this doesn't motivate you to learn Sanskrit,nothing will.

#HareKrishna

There are in general 18 sources of knowledge that are considered very sacred. Hindu scriptures deal with every aspect of human life including music, dance, war, sex, economics, philosophy, logic and grammar.
The Sacred literature in the other Indian languages is not mentioned.

The most important 4 are the Vedas that contain ritual elements as well as a lot of contemplative philsophy (Upanishads)
Rig Veda (oldest, holiest, most influential and most sacred of all Hindu texts)–10 books & 10000+ verses marks the foundation work of Hinduism.

Yajur Veda (deals with how rituals are performed) — this has 2 key parts Shukla Yajur Veda and Krishna Yajur Veda. This is the second most holiest.

Sama Veda (the musical accompaniment of rituals), is the Veda of melodies and chants. One of the four Vedas, it is a liturgical text which consists of 1,875 verses. All but 75 verses have been taken from the Rigveda.

Atharva Veda (the scientific and esoteric aspects of rituals). As this Veda dealt with a lot of alchmey,magic and with a lot of dangerous tricks with the science of various weapon building,Sadhus in the fold relegated this Veda as lower one and practice of this is very limited.

To support the philosophical aspects of the 4 Vedas there are 6 books that deal with the material aspects & are called the Upavedas.
Dhanurveda (warfare)
Ayurveda (medicine)
Gandharvaveda (music,dance)
Arthasastra (economics and politics)

There are 200+ Upanishads (philophical treatises) under the Vedas.

To support the study of the 4 Vedas, the are ancillary disciplines that are grouped into 6 collections called the Vedangas.

Shiksha — phonology and pronunciation
Chandas — poetic meters
Vyakarna — linguistics and grammar
Nirkuta — etymology
Kalpa — ritual instructions
Jyotisha — atrology and astronomy

Then there are 4 collections of works that provide the everyday guidance:

Puranas — collections of stories and is a key way to connect with kings and gods. There are 18 major Puranas (some of them running to over a million words long) and 18 minor Puranas.

Each of them deal with the creation, running and dissolution of an empire or dynasty. Three of the famous ones include Bhagavata Purana (deals with many aspects of Vishnu), Siva Purana and Devi Mahatmaya (aspects of feminine godess).
Dharmasastras — religious law and customs.

There are many Dharmasastras, with the most popular ones being Manusmriti and Yajnavalkya Smriti. Each of these deal with 3 key aspects of Hindu life — achara (customs), vyavahara (disputes, legal issues), prayaschittam (atonement and fixing the wrong).

Mimasa-critical investigation,are a group of doctrines that investigates other religious works and try to make sense out of it.

Nyaya-logic and justice,a range of 18 vidyas/works on dealing with logic such as the right way to use inference,analogy,testimony & analyse causation.

There are 3 group of manuals that impact the daily life of Hindus.

Dharmasutras — legal manuals. These are key manuals on which the Dharmasastras were written which inturn influenced the writing of various Hindu legal codes that are present modern day.

Grihaysutras — domestic manuals. These are manuals for everday life that guides people on diet, proper cleaning, attire, rituals, ceremonies during key stages of life etc.
These also form the basis of all the sanskaras to be followed since the birth till death & beyond.

Agamas — this a group of a few dozen traditions that come from the Tantrism (mystical) school of Hinduism. This has a key influence of symbols and iconography of Hindu temples. These also form the basis of panths like Shaivism,Vaishnavism,Shakta sampraday etc.

Two great epic Itihasas.

Ramayana-The story of Prabhu Rama and Maa Sita is probably the most influential epic poetry in all of Human history. Ramayana plays an important role in the lives of 2 billion people across South and South East Asia in over a dozen nations.

Mahabharata — the massive story of justice, war and politics of ancient India.This is possibly the most discussed story line in the world.
Mahābhārata (महाभारत) refers to “epic describing the ancient history of the world leading up to the battle of Kurukṣetra.”

Besides these 2 epics, there are other important epics such as Megadootha and Rahuvamsa — written by Kalidasa that acts as a basis for modern Hindus to understand ancient epics better.

Post these are four influential works that impact the modern Hindus:

Patanjali Yoga Sutra — this is a eight-fold path of Raja Yoga as a path of liberation. This ancient work was enriched by medieval work — Hatha Yoga Pradipika — that is the source of much of modern Yoga asanas and ideas.

Bhagvad Gita-a part of the epic Mahabharata,but has risen to the top of Hindu canon. This is considered by many modern Hindus to be most important religious work.
According to the Nāṭyaśāstra 1.17-18, when Brahmā created the Nāṭyaveda he took Gīta (song) from the Sāmaveda.

Vedanta Sutras-a group of works done by medieval era philosophers such as Adi Shankara,Ramanuja and Madhwacharya.The conclusion of Vedic knowledge.Upaniṣads are the latter portion of the Vedas & the Vedānta-sūtra summarise the philosophy of the Upaniṣads in concise statements.

Thirukkural — unlike all the other works this one is in Tamil, rather than Sanskrit. This is a 2000 year old ancient work that covers various aspects of lifestyle.
It is authored by Thiruvalluvar, a poet who is said to have lived anytime between 2nd & 5th century BCE.

To connect with the common worshippers, a number of devotional texts were composed. Some of the famous ones are:

4000 Divya Prabhanda — these are a group of 4000 ancient Tamil songs that are written in praise of Vishnu by 12 saints named the Alwars.

Periyapuranam — this is the life accounts of 63 great Shivite saints in Tamil Nadu named Nayanmars and among the holiest in Tamil temples.

Dasabodh — this is a medieval era Marathi work written by Ramdas Swami that deals with devotion and right conduct.

Aathichudi — ancient Tamil song written by the female saint Avvayyar that lays out rules, especially aimed at children.

Poetry of Panchasakha — these are a group of 5 medieval era Odisha saints who brought a key revival of Vaishnavism and the culture of Jagannath.

Vanchana Sahitya — this is a famed Shivite scripture a famous 12th century Kannadiga saint named Basavanna.

Brajavali — this Bhakti era song comes from Assam, written in a combination of Mythili and Assamese by the medieval era scholar, Sankaradeva.

Hanuman Chalisa-a medieval era Awadhi hymn written in praise of Bhagwan Hanuman by Sant Tulsidas.This is arguably the most popular devotional hymn for modern day Hindus.

Bhaja Govindam-a popular philosophical song written by Adi Shankara and a very influential work across India

Sahasaranamam — this is a poetic enumeration of 1008 names of Vishnu or Lalita (and later other main gods) that is recited across India everyday.

Abhanga of Tukaram — these are devotional poetry written in Marathi from early modern era that inspires people across the country. This poetry is also adopted in Sikh culture.

Here are a few pictorial representations for a quick reference about our glorious past.

Do share and add more texts which you feel I might have left out.

#HareKrishna
#HarHarMahadev
#JaiShriRam

The two Upa Vedas which I missed in the below tweet are mentioned in the picture above i.e. Sthapatya Veda (Architecture) and Silpa Shastra (Fine Arts).

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