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All Hindu scriptures were considered as revealed truths of God. In fact Hindu scriptures say that ALL HINDU SCRIPTURES WERE WRITTEN BY GOD. According Christian theologians Holy Bible is considered to be HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRED BOOK. According to Mimamsa school of thought, all sruti literature existed all through eternity in the form of sounds. Therefore those sounds of words of Vedas and Upanishads are very important to Hindus. Since "UTMOST FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND ACTION" is the cardinal principle of Hinduism, almost all Hindu saints have written scriptures and they never ever attach their names to the scriptures. All of them wrote whatever they understood telepathically after deep meditation. Most of the Hindu scriptures were written as "THIRD PARTY DISCUSSING WITH FOURTH PARTY". For example, Bhagavad Gita is a narration of truths from Lord Krishna [FIRST PERSON] to warrior prince [SECOND PERSON] Arjuna, seen and heard telepathically by Sanjaya[THIRD PERSON] and telling that to blind king Dhartharashtra [FOURTH PERSON] and of course, FIFTH PERSON, Veda Vyasa [nobody knows whether that name is a nickname!] writing the whole narration. Hindu epic Ramayana was written as a story told my bird who just lost her mate to the vicious arrow of a hunter. So much so, Hindus have thousands of scriptures, from extreme atheistic nature as well as extreme devotional nature. Once again, nobody knows who wrote all those scriptures and how much time they took to write all those scriptures. WHAT ARE THE SACRED BOOKS OF HINDUISM? The very first sacred books of Hinduism is called VEDAS. VEDAS means KNOWLEDGE. There are four VEDAS and they claim to teach men the highest aspects of truths which can lead them to God. Vedas and Upanishads are SRUTI scriptures. The word VEDA came from the root word "vid" meaning "to know". Vedas are the very first scriptures of Hinduism. Vedas as per scriptures was written by God. Vedas state "SELF REALIZATION" is one and the goal of human life. Vedas also discuss in detail rituals and ceremonies to attain self-realization. There are 4 Vedas. The first Vedas are known as the TRIPLE VEDAS. They are: RIG VEDA--KNOWLEDGE OF HYMNS 10552 verses YAJUR VEDA-KNOWLEDGE OF LITURGY 3988 verses SAMA VEDA-KNOWLEDGE OF MUSIC --1549 verses ATHARVA VEDA-KNOWLEDGE GIVEN BY SAGE ATHARVA 6000 verses Rigveda is the oldest Veda. It comprises of 10 Mandals, 102 Suktas and containing 10,552 mantras. (font color="green")(b) WHAT EACH VEDA CONSISTS OF? (/font) (/b) (b) A---SAMHITAS (/b) ----basic texts for hymns to deities, formulas and chants. The Sankrit word SAMHITA means "put togther". (b) B---BRAHMANAS (/b) --description as well as directions for performance of rituals. The word originated from the word Brahmins. Brahmins are the original Hindu priests and they follow Brahmans to conduct rituals. (b) C---ARYANAKAS (/b) -- contain Mantras and interpretations of rituals--This book also known as "the forest books" since book is used by saints who meditate in the forests. (b) D---UPANISHADS (/b) --texts revealing ultimate truths by different saints. Upanishads teach men that there is ONE AND ONLY thing and that is BRAHMAN. You and I just reflections of Brahman. Or we are indeed God... Upanishads teach us "Tat tvam Asi" —— THAT THOU ART. In fact, the word UPANISHAD can be broken down as UPA [near] NI [down] SHAD [sit] meaning that teachings of Upanishads were conveyed from masters to students when students sat very next to masters and nobody overheard those teachings. (b) TOTAL 108 UPANISHADS .(/b) Principle ones 13. Some of the Upanishads are named after the sages who answered all questions. Some as per the first word in the Upanishad. [ I shall write details separately] (b) 1. ISA UPANISHAD- 2. KENA UPANISHAD 3. KATHA UPANISHAD 4. PRASNA UPANISHAD 5. MUNDAKA UPANISHAD 6. MANDUKYA UPANISHAD 7. AITAREYA UPANISHAD 8. TAITTIRYA UPANISHAD 9. CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD 10. BRIHAD-ARANYAKA UPANISHAD 11 KAUSHITAKI UPANISHAD 12. SHVETASHVATARA UPANISHAD 13 MAITRI UPANISHAD (/b) So let us study facts and figures as written in the scriptures and as recorded in the pages of world history. (font color="green")(b) Hinduism is the true culture of Indians in India. Hinduism is a culture with hundreds of religions in it. (/font) (/b) Many call it A WAY OF LIFE. It is not an organized religion like Christianity or Islam. It has no founder.It has no Pope. It has no hierarchy. Just a lot of scriptures. In Hindu scriptures, you are actually studying about the HISTORY AND CULTURE OF INDIA, like in 66 books of the Holy Bible you are actually studying about the CULTURE AND HISTORY OF JEWS. (font color="red")(b) HINDUISM AND JUDAISM are mothers of all modern religions in the world.(/font) (/b) BUDDHISM, SIKHISM and to some extent ZOROASTRIANISM etc came from Hinduism. Jainism co-existed with Hinduism during Vedic Period. Years later Jainism absorbed many aspects of Hinduism.

Posted by: Mr. Ed Viswanathan Viswanathan At: 22, Sep 2002 9:50:08 PM IST

WHAT ARE THE SACRED BOOKS OF HINDUISM? The very first sacred books of Hinduism is called VEDAS. VEDAS means KNOWLEDGE. There are four VEDAS and they claim to teach men the highest aspects of truths which can lead them to God. They are: RIG VEDA------- KNOWLEDGE OF HYMNS YAJUR VEDA----- KNOWLEDGE OF LITURGY SAMA VEDA------ KNOWLEDGE OF MUSIC ATHARVA VEDA--- KNOWLEDGE GIVEN BY SAGE ATHARVA NEXT important Hindu scriptures ar called UPANISHADS.. There are 108 Upanishads but 13 are most important.

Posted by: Mr. Ed Viswanathan Viswanathan At: 22, Sep 2002 9:45:05 PM IST

HOW WAS HINDUISM STARTED? According to Hindu scriptures it started as SRUTI---THAT WHICH IS HEARD. The great seers of ancient times called RISHIS who had perfected themselves have heard in their hearts, eternal truths and they taught those truths to disciples by telepathy and later they wrote them in books. VEDAS and UPANISHADS are known as SRUTI literature rest is called SMRITI [ THAT WHAT IS REMEMBERED ] literature.

Posted by: Mr. Ed Viswanathan Viswanathan At: 22, Sep 2002 9:43:58 PM IST

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