The sacred texts of Hinduism

In Hinduism there are texts that are considered sacred. They are very old, and originated long before the religion of Hinduism even existed. As early as around 1500 BCE much of what eventually became these texts was passed on by word of mouth. Over several centuries, more and more was added. And eventually around the year 500 BCE it was written as texts.

Here is written: how priests - the brahmins - are to perform religious rituals; how ceremonies like weddings are performed, together with prayers; and philosophical discussions about spirituality and meditation. These collections of texts are called Veda - knowledge. And the period between 1500 and 500 when they were written down: the Vedic period. The Veda consists of four collections: Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda and Atharva-Veda. The Rig-veda is the oldest of these.

Each Veda-collection consists of four kinds of text: Songs to the gods: hymns and mantras. Texts about rituals, ceremonies, and offerings to the gods. Commentaries: descriptions of how to perform the rituals. And philosophical texts discussing concepts such as: the individual soul - atman, the world soul or highest reality – Brahman, Reincarnation – samsara, the idea that what you do in one life affects another – karma, and liberation from samsara - moksha. These Philosophical texts are called the Upanishads.

The Upanishads are very important to the development of Hinduism but also influence two other religions: Buddhism and Jainism. In addition to the Veda there are also other sacred texts. One is a story that is sometimes called “the longest poem ever written”: the Mahabharata. Large parts of the Mahabharata were probably being told as early as the ninth or eighth century BCE, but were written down around 400 BCE. The Mahabharata is sometimes called the fifth Veda.

In the Mahabharata there are many stories. The most important one is “God’s Song” The Bhagavad-Gita. In the Bhagavad-Gita the prince Arjuna is preparing for a big battle, but he is worried. He knows that his duty as a warrior is to battle, but at the same time he feels that it would be wrong to kill all the great men and spiritual leaders who are among his opponents. He doesn’t know what to do.

Luckily for him, the god Vishnu has caused himself to be born in human form - Krishna. Krishna is able to help Arjuna. He tells him of two possible paths. The first is the path of action. On this you unselfishly perform your duty - dharma – and do not listen to your personal opinion of what is right or wrong.

You understand that your actions are a part of a bigger whole. Reading religious scripts and meditating on the gods make it easier to follow the path of action. The other path is the path of knowledge. On this path, you ponder the message of the Upanishads, until you eventually realise that atman is the same as Brahman. Krishna also speaks of the path of loving devotion to God – bhakti.

It’s this message that has inspired groups like the Hare Krishna Movement. Another long poetic story came about during the third century BCE. The story of Rama – the Ramayana. In the Ramayana, Vishnu is in human form again, this time as Prince Rama. Vishnu’s wife, the goddess Lakshmi, has caused herself to be born as Sita, Rama’s beloved.

But Sita is abducted by a demon king, and Rama must rescue her. To help him he has, among others, his brother Prince Lakshmana and the Monkey God Hanuman. They succeed. The Veda collections, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana are written in the language Sanskrit. Sanskrit belongs to the same language family as most European languages – the Indo-European languages.

These texts are considered sacred because they are believed to have come from God. This is why some things in them can be interpreted as religious laws. For instance some texts have been interpreted to mean that people have different duties depending on which social group - caste – they belong to. And this has influenced the development of Indian society.