Ramakrishna, originally called gadadhar chatterji or gadadhar chattopadhyaya, born february 18, 1836, hooghly now hugli, bengal state, indiadied august 16, 1886, calcutta now kolkata, hindu religious leader, founder of the school of religious thought that became the ramakrishna order born into a poor brahman the highestranking social class family, ramakrishna had little formal. It has no single founder but developed gradually over a period of time. The belief system in the hindi religion is outlined from. Sruti pronounced shroothee are the holy books within hinduism that are considered to be. The holy books of world religions sacred texts in world. The answer to this question is that actually there is no single founder of hinduism as hinduism was not founded as a religion. Hinduism is the worlds oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years. Most interesting facts about hinduism sanatana dharma. As per the vedantic embodiments hinduism is monotheistic. This holy book is written in the sanskrit language.
But the vedantic beliefs went under much transformation and became gradually polytheistic in character. The veda is a rather unusual collection of literature. Five of the hindu holy books are the rig veda, bhagavad gita, sama veda, yajur veda, and. Hinduism is widely practiced in south asia mainly in india and nepal. The people in ancient india have followed hinduism. Its godcentered approach 1 chapters updated feb 04, 2020 05. What name is given to the four holy books of the hindus trivia. For hundreds of years, it has been searched for some. Sruti scriptures are considered divinely inspired and fully authoritative for belief and practice, while smruti are recognized as the products of the minds of the great sages. This religious book defines the boundary of the religion and the followers would be expected to strictly abide by that holy book.
Roughly 95 per cent of the worlds hindus live in india. The most ancient sacred texts of the hindu religion are written in sanskrit and called the vedas. Scholars regard hinduism as a combination of different indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots. The religion of hinduism originated in northern india, near the river indus, about 4000 years ago and is the worlds oldest existing religion. Unlike most other religions hinduism has no single founder, no single scripture and no commonly agreed set of teachings. Five of the hindu holy books are the rig veda, bhagavad gita, sama veda, yajur veda, and athava veda. Devi bhagavata one of the puranas which is one of the most important writings in shaktism. Hinduism is formed of diverse traditions and has no single founder. I can also understand that hinduism has more holy books, unlike other religions, but is there any holy book of the tamil s. The teachings of hinduism were passed down from generation to generation in the form of vedas. The primary sacred texts, known as the vedas, were. Which is the holy book or sacred scripture of hinduism. Because religion has no specific founder, its difficult to trace its origins and history. Do hindus have a sacred text like bible to refer to as the canon.
However, smruti texts often carry almost as much authority as sruti. Hinduism is the oldest of the six major world religions. Central to the upanishads is the concept of brahman. The scriptures of the vedas are meant to guide hindu believers in their daily lives. The holy book in the hindu religion is known as the vedas. Vedic texts are sometimes called shruti, which means hearing. The vedas a collection of hymns praising the vedic gods. List of holy books in hinduism the galaxy of hindu literature is very vast and voluminous. Hinduism has neither a specific moment of origin nor a specific founder. Holy books of islam the recognised holy books in islam. In the west, where the mass majority of people are part of the abrahamic faith tradition with one god, the concept of polytheism is nothing more than fantasy or. Scholars regard hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various indian. Hinduism is an indian religion and dharma, or way of life, widely practiced in the indian subcontinent and parts of southeast asia.
For hundreds of years, many people have searched for some evidence of the founder of hinduism. Some of the other holy works and books of hinduism. Information on hinduism for kids primary homework help. The puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india. The aryans gave hinduism its priestly language, sanskrit. There is something called pramana, authority, which our acharyas have recognised, and as per the acharyas a set of books are considered primary texts, whereas, other books based on these primary books can also be referred to. The most holy of the hindu books is written in sanskrit and is referred to as the vedas. For these reasons hinduism is referred as way of life or a family of religions. Smriti literature is considered less authoritative than sruti. Hinduism is practised by more than 80% of indias population.
Shaivism followers of shiva vaishnava followers of vishnu shaktism followers of devi smarta followers of brahman and all major deities. The quran kareem is the only recognised holy book of islam now. What are the holy books of hinduism called answers. Hinduism does not have a single holy book that guides religious. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as sanatana dharma, the eternal tradition, or the eternal way, beyond human history. Hinduism is the worlds third most popular religion, with around 750 million followers. Hindus believe that the vedas texts were received by scholars direct from.
Vedas are also called sruti what is heard literature, distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are. Throughout its extensive history, there have been many key figures teaching different philosophies and writing innumerable holy books. The primary sacred texts, known as the vedas, were composed around 1500 b. Hindu religion has no founder or origin thats why it is known as sanatana dharma. Why hindus worship so many gods and goddesses is a real mystery for most people. The pali canon, which means the word of buddha, includes some of the buddhas discourse, but it also incorporates the teachings of his pupils. However, the puranas are supposed to be complied by muni vyasa.
The religion, which is open to interpretation, is a collection of paths to wisdom that is based on human reasoning rather than a divine authority and a finger cannot be pointed at a specific founder. Aholy books for the tamils are thevaramtiruvasagam and divya prabandham. It was a culture basically flourished in india, which later took the form of a great religion. There was a river by the name sindhu, which was mispronounced by the invaders as hindu. The vedas are the prime book of knowledge on which primary hindu beliefs stands. The tripitaka pali canon, mahayana sutras and the tibetan book of the dead are three major noncanonical buddhist texts. Hindus value many sacred writings as opposed to one holy book.
These holy books have had an incredible influence on the history of the world, but. Hinduism does not possess a single holy book like bible in christianity and quran in islamic dharma. The vedas are scriptures that the hindu people use as a guide to daily and religious life. Hinduism is a collective term applied to the many philosophical and religious traditions native to india. Hinduism has many sects, and is sometimes divided into the following. Hinduism has over 1 billion followers worldwide, with about 95% of. Holy books of hinduism hinduism a perspective the religions founded by individuals have one book that summarizes the philosophies of the founder or the same from the disciples perspective and so on. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The sacred texts of hinduism fall into one of two categories. It was a lifestyle that flourished in ancient indian subcontinent thousands of years ago, which later took the form of what is known today as hinduism. Today, with about 900 million followers, hinduism is the thirdlargest religion behind christianity and islam.
Even the authors who composed over 14,000 poems said that they are giving the vedas in. Its been followed by people from several generations. The modern word hinduism is a term developed approximately 700 years ago by the muslim invaders of india. The upanishads are also called as vedantas or the end of the vedas. First, lets distinguish between two types of hindu literature.
As for the name itself, hindu is a word first used by persians, dating back to. These books are in sanskrit, the sacred language of the hindus. The three holy books and the holy land geographically. Also, while christianity has the holy bible, and islam has the holy koran, hinduism does not have a single religious scripture. These texts are glorious tales of the hindu trinity brahma, vishnu and maheshwar shiva.
Divya prabandha collection of 4000 verses in tamil. Download the bible, the holy quran, the mahabharata, and thousands of free pdf ebooks on buddhism, meditation, etc. Of these, the first three books are considered the more ancient books, and the rig veda is the oldest of them. In this article, we detail the two different categories. All hindus know that some books are considered holy by everyone, and not every book written by every author becomes holy. The oldest religion hinduism is the oldest religion of all world religions. Brahma, the creator god revealed the secret knowledge of the vedas to gods, humans and demons in the beginning of creation. Hence, it is considered an eternal religion sanatana dharma.
Here, i will give only a brief introduction to the holy books of hinduism. There are holy books like vedas, ramayan and bhagavad. So as hinduism is a religion, there must be some founder. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world, and hindus refer to it as sanatana dharma, the eternal tradition, or the eternal way, beyond human history. Other holy scriptures in hinduism are called the upanisads, the smrutis, the puranas, the ramayana and the mahabharata. Hinduism is based on a set of scholarly views mentioned in hundreds of scriptures such as the vedas, the upanishads, the puranas, and the shastras. We are trying to list out here as many hindu scriptures and books as possible. List of world religions and founders, religious books.
This sacred text is divided into two main sections, the old testament and the new testament which are then further divided into various books. What name is given to the four holy books of the hindus. Hinduism simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Hinduism origins, hinduism history, hinduism beliefs. Hinduism holy book important books and writings of hinduism. Despite muslims being obliged to believe in the other holy books sent down to the other prophets besides prophet muhammad pbuh, due to the alterations to the other holy books of islam, the current versions of the torah, psalms and bible are not accepted. Swami daya nand, founder of the arya samaj, holds the opinion that the. Thus, hinduism is not founded by a person or a prophet.
These vedas contain knowledge and teachings which is in the purest form and directly revealed by the almighty to enlightened rishis. Hindu scriptures can be broadly grouped under two principal. Rather, there is a huge array of different sacred texts. Hinduism does not have a single holy book, but many ancient texts and scriptures. In the west, where the mass majority of people are part of the abrahamic faith tradition with one god, the concept of polytheism is nothing more than fantasy or mythology worthy of comic book material. Hindu sacred literature is the most ancient of the living literatures of the world. The last one is a commentary on the vedas, but it is considered as a revealed book.