VEDAS

Vedas

Rigveda · Samaveda Yajurveda · Atharvaveda Divisions Samhita · Brahmana Aranyaka · Upanishad

Vedangas

Shiksha · Chandas Vyakarana · Nirukta Kalpa · Jyotisha

Upanishads

Rig vedic Aitareya Yajur vedic Brihadaranyaka · Isha Taittiriya · Katha Shvetashvatara Sama vedic Chandogya · Kena Atharva vedic Mundaka · Mandukya Prashna

Puranas

Brahma puranas Brahma · Brahmānda Brahmavaivarta Markandeya · Bhavishya Vaishnava puranas Vishnu · Bhagavata Naradeya · Garuda · Padma · Agni Shaiva puranas Shiva · Linga Skanda · Vayu

Itihasa

Ramayana Mahabharata (Bhagavad Gita)

Other scriptures

Manu Smriti Artha Shastra · Agama Tantra · Sūtra · Stotra Dharmashastra Divya Prabandha Tevaram Ramcharitmanas Yoga Vasistha

Scripture classification

Śruti · Smriti

Timeline

Hindu texts

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Hindu philosophy is divided into six āstika (Sanskrit: आस्तिक, "orthodox") schools of thought, or darshanas (literally, "views"), which accept the Vedas as supreme revealed scriptures. Three other nāstika (Sanskrit: नास्तिक, "heterodox") schools do not accept the Vedas as authoritative. The āstika schools are:

1. Samkhya, a strongly dualist theoretical exposition of mind and matter, that denies the existence of God.
2. Yoga, a school emphasizing meditation closely based on Samkhya
3. Nyaya or logics
4. Vaisheshika, an empiricist school of atomism
5. Mimamsa, an anti-ascetic and anti-mysticist school of orthopraxy
6. Vedanta, the logical conclusion to Vedic ritualism, focusing on mysticism. Vedanta came to be the dominant current of Hinduism in the post-medieval period
 

            The Vedas (Sanskrit वेद véda, "knowledge") are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.
             The Sanskrit word véda "knowledge, wisdom" is derived from the root vid- "to know". This is reconstructed as being derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *u̯eid-, meaning "see" or "know".


             The class of "Vedic texts" is aggregated around the four canonical Saṃhitās or Vedas proper (turīya), of which three (traya) are related to the performance of yajna (sacrifice) in historical (Iron Age) Vedic religion:

1. The Rigveda, containing hymns to be recited by the hotṛ;
2. The Yajurveda, containing formulas to be recited by the adhvaryu or officiating priest;
3. The Samaveda, containing formulas to be sung by the udgātṛ.

The fourth is the Atharvaveda, a collection of spells and incantations, apotropaic charms and speculative hymns.




                According to Hindu tradition, the Vedas are apauruṣeya "not of human agency", are supposed to have been directly revealed, and thus are called śruti ("what is heard").The four Saṃhitās are metrical (with the exception of prose commentary interspersed in the Black Yajurveda). The term saṃhitā literally means "composition, compilation". The individual verses contained in these compilations are known as mantras. Some selected Vedic mantras are still recited at prayers, religious functions and other auspicious occasions in contemporary Hinduism.
The Shrauta Sutras, regarded as belonging to the smriti, are late Vedic in language and content, thus forming part of the Vedic Sanskrit corpus. The composition of the Shrauta and Grhya Sutras (ca. 6th century BC) marks the end of the Vedic period , and at the same time the beginning of the flourishing of the "circum-Vedic" scholarship of Vedanga, introducing the early flowering of classical Sanskrit literature in the Mauryan and Gupta periods.
While production of Brahmanas and Aranyakas ceases with the end of the Vedic period, there is a large number of Upanishads composed after the end of the Vedic period. While most of the ten Mukhya Upanishads can be considered to date to the Vedic or Mahajanapada period, most of the 108 Upanishads of the full Muktika canon date to the Common Era.
The Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads often interpret the polytheistic and ritualistic Samhitas in philosophical and metaphorical ways to explore abstract concepts such as the Absolute (Brahman), and the soul or the self (Atman), introducing Vedanta philosophy, one of the major trends of later Hinduism.
The Vedic Sanskrit corpus is the scope of A Vedic Word Concordance (Vaidika-Padānukrama-Koṣa) prepared from 1930 under Vishva Bandhu, and published in five volumes in 1935-1965. Its scope extends to about 400 texts, including the entire Vedic Sanskrit corpus besides some "sub-Vedic" texts.

Volume I: Samhitas

Volume II: Brahmanas and Aranyakas

Volume III: Upanishads

Volume IV: Vedangas