Hindu texts
[7] Of the Shrutis, the Upanishads alone are widely influential among Hindus, considered scriptures par excellence of Hinduism, and their central ideas have continued to influence its thoughts and traditions.
[5] The Smriti literature is a vast corpus of diverse texts, and includes but is not limited to Vedāngas, the Hindu epics (such as the Mahabharat and Ramayan), the Sutras and Shastras, the texts of Hindu philosophies, the Puranas, the Kāvya or poetical literature, the Bhasyas, and numerous Nibandhas (digests) covering politics, ethics, culture, arts and society.
[17][18][19] Hindus consider the Vedas to be timeless revelation,[16] apauruṣeya, which means "not of a man, superhuman"[20] and "impersonal, authorless".
[21][22][23] The knowledge in the Vedas is believed in Hinduism to be eternal, uncreated, neither authored by human nor by divine source, but seen, heard and transmitted by sages.
[34][35] The ten mukhya Upanishads are: Isha, Kena, Katha, Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Chandogya, and Brihadaranyaka.
[36] The mukhya Upanishads are found mostly in the concluding part of the Brahmanas and Aranyakas[37] and were, for centuries, memorized by each generation and passed down verbally.
[40][41] Smriti is the classification of literature which includes various scriptures and Itihasas (epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata), Harivamsa Puranas, Agamas and Darshanas.
This genre of texts includes the Sutras and Shastras of the six schools of Hindu philosophy: Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta.
[46] The Puranas are a vast genre of Hindu texts that encyclopedically cover a wide range of topics, particularly legends and other traditional lore.
[47] Composed primarily in Sanskrit, but also in regional languages,[48][49] several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Shiva, and Devi.
[50][51] The Puranic literature is encyclopedic,[52] and it includes diverse topics such as cosmogony, cosmology, genealogies of gods, goddesses, kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, folk tales, pilgrimages, temples, medicine, astronomy, grammar, mineralogy, humor, love stories, as well as theology and philosophy.
[63] The Mahabharata also teaches about dharma (duty), the stories of many key figures in Hinduism, and includes the Bhagavad Gita.
[64] The Ramayana, an ancient Sanskrit text with the earliest part believed to have been composed in the 5th century BCE, is attributed to the sage Valmiki and contains over 24,000 verses.
[65] The epic covers the life journey of Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, along with his wife Sita, and brother Lakshmana.
[15] Hindu texts for specific fields, in Sanskrit and other regional languages, have been reviewed as follows: The Hindu scriptures provide the early documented history of arts and science forms in India such as music, dance, sculptures, architecture, astronomy, science, mathematics, medicine and wellness.
