![]() ![]() The holy Vedas, man’s oldest scripture, dating back 6,000 to 8,000 years, are a collection of four books: the Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva. ![]() The Tirumantiram lauds, “Two are the scriptures that Lord Siva revealed–the primal Vedas and the perfect Agamas.” Aum Namah Sivaya. The Agamas center around a single Deity and His worship with water, flowers and lights in sanctified temples and shrines. ![]() The Vedas extol and invoke a multiplicity of Gods through elaborate fire rituals called yajna. In imparting religious practice, rules and doctrine, the Vedas are general and the Agamas specific. The subtly symbolic language of shruti, the cherished word of God, is lyrical and lofty. These psalms of wisdom were disclosed over many centuries, memorized and orally conveyed from generation to generation within priestly families, then finally written down in Sanskrit in the last few millennia. They are Hinduism’s primary and most authoritative scriptures, expounding life’s sacredness and man’s purpose on the planet. Veda, from vid, “to know, ” means “supreme” wisdom or science.” Similarly, Agama, which names the sacred sectarian revelations, means “descent of knowledge.” The Vedas and Agamas are eternal truths transmitted by God through great clairaudient and clairvoyant rishis. The Vedas and Agamas, revealed by God, are Hinduism’s sovereign scriptures, called shruti, “that which is heard.” Their timeless truths are expressed in the most extraordinarily profound mystical poetry known to man. Let the scriptures be, therefore, thy authority as to what is right and what is not right. The man who rejects the words of the scriptures and follows the impulse of desire attains neither his perfection, nor joy, nor the Path Supreme. In this Educational Insight, we offer a simple overview of Hindu scripture and an anthology of verses from this luminous library of dharma. The creation of Hindu scripture continues to this day, as contemporary masters reiterate the timeless truths to guide souls on the path to Divinity. Moreover, through the ages God-realized souls, sharing their experience, have poured forth volume upon volume that reveal the wonders of yoga and offer passionate hymns of devotion. The Vedic arts and sciences, including ayurveda, astrology, music, dance, architecture, statecraft, domestic duty and law, are reflected in an assembly of texts known as Vedangas and Upavedas. The array of works known as smriti (that which is “remembered “) is equally vast, the most prominent and widely celebrated of which are the Itihasas (epic dramas and history)–the Ramayana, Mahabharata–and the Puranas (mythology). The holiest and most revered are the Vedas and Agamas, two massive compendia of shruti (that which is “heard “), both revealed by God to illumined sages centuries and millennia ago. Hinduism proudly embraces an incredibly rich collection of scripture. PRESENTING A MOUNTAINTOP VIEW OF THE VAST LIBRARY OF WISDOM THAT MOLDS AND INFLUENCES HINDU LIFE The Principal Upanishads, Radhakrishnan, p. ![]() Krishna Yajur Veda, Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3.9, By Him, the Person, is this whole universe filled. Than whom there is naught else higher, than whom there is naught smaller, naught greater, the One stands like a tree established in heaven. The Word, in fact, makes known the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda, the Atharva Veda as the fourth, and the ancient lore as the fifth: the Veda of Vedas, the ritual for ancestors, calculus, the augural sciences, the knowledge of the signs of the times, ethics, political science, sacred knowledge, theology, knowledge of the spirits, military science, astrology, the science of snakes and of celestial beings. ![]()
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