Hinduism is an ancient religion, with denominations such asShaivism,Vaishnavism,Shaktism, among others.[1][2] Each tradition has a long list of Hindu texts, with subgenre based on syncretization of ideas fromSamkhya,Nyaya,Yoga,Vedanta and other schools ofHindu philosophy.[3][4][5] Of these some calledSruti are broadly considered as core scriptures ofHinduism, but beyond theSruti, the list of scriptures vary by the scholar.[6]
Most of these texts exist inSanskrit,[10][11] andOld Tamil, and also later in otherIndic languages. In modern times, most have been translated into otherIndian languages and some in Western languages.[12][13] This list includes major Hindu texts, along with the Hindu scriptures.
Amuktamalyada (Telugu:ఆముక్తమాల్యద): ATelugu epic poem composed by Krishnadevaraya, the ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire, in the early 16th century. It describes the legendary wedding of the Hindu deity Ranganayaka, an avatar of Vishnu, and Andal, one of the poet-saints called the Alvars, at Srirangam.
Andhra Mahabharatam (Telugu:ఆంధ్ర మహాభారతం): TheTelugu version of Mahabharatha written by theKavitrayam (Trinity of poets), consisting ofNannayya,Tikkana andYerrapragada (also known as Errana). The three poets translated the Mahabharata from Sanskrit into Telugu over the period of the 11–14th centuries CE.
Aranyaka (आरण्यक): Part of the Vedas, the third layer embedded inside them.
Arthashastra: Ancient treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy written byChanakya (Vishnugupta).
Arpudha Tiruvandhaadi __ A Tamil devotional collection byKaraikal Ammaiyar
Arunaachala Aksharamanamaalai __ Composed byRamana Maharishi (Tamil) on plea of devotee ..
Arunaachala Patikam __ Composed by TiruRamana Munigal (Tamil) ..
Ashtavakra Gita: text of conversation betweenAshtavakra andKing Janaka.Anugita: A Sanskrit text that contains a second discourse of Krishna to Arjuna, following the Kurukshetra war.
Basava Purana (Telugu:బసవ పురాణం) : A 13th-century Telugu epic poem written by Palkuriki Somanatha. It is a sacred text of Lingayat. The epic poem narrates the life story of philosopher and social reformer Basava (1134–1196 CE), the founder of Lingayat.
Bījagaṇita: Ancient Indian mathematics, algebra textbook by Indian mathematicianBhāskara II
Brahmana: one of the parts into which theVedas are divided, and are its second layer.
Brahmasphuṭasiddhanta: written by ancient mathematicianBrahmagupta in which hindu number system, zero, Brahmagupta's Bijganit, algebra with arithmetic is mentioned.
Brihat Samhita: An encyclopedic work byVarāhamihira on architecture, temples, planetary motions, eclipses, timekeeping, astrology, seasons, cloud formation, rainfall, agriculture, mathematics, gemology, perfumes and many other topics.
Gopalavimshati: A Sanskrit hymn by Vedanta Desika in praise of Krishna.
Gunamala (Assamese: গুণমালা) is a scripture written by 15th–16th centuryAssamese polymath: a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, social-religious reformerSankardev within one night at the request ofKoch kingNara Narayan in 1552.
Itihasas – meaning history. In Hindu religious context this term refers to theMahabharata and theRamayana because writer of the story has themselves witnessed the stories of both epics.
Khaṇḍakhādyaka (meaning "edible bite; morsel of food") is anastronomical treatise written by Indian mathematician and astronomerBrahmagupta in 665 A.D.
Kirtan Ghosha (কীৰ্ত্তন) It is a collection of poetical works, primarily composed by the medieval saintSrimanta Sankardev meant for community singing in theEkasarana religion.
Malla Purana: An ancient text onMalla-yuddha, an ancient form of Indian combat wrestling, which describes techniques of wrestling, types of exercises etc.
Meghadūta: Poem by Classical Sanskrit author, playwright and dramatistKālidāsa.
Naalayira Divya Prabhandham (Tamil: நாலாயிர திவ்ய பிரபந்தம்) is a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses (Naalayiram in Tamil means 'four thousand') composed before 8th century AD,[1] by the 12 Alvars, and was compiled in its present form by Nathamuni during the 9th – 10th centuries. The work is the beginning of the canonization of the 12 Vaishnava poet saints, and these hymns are still sung extensively even today. The works were lost before they were collected and organized in the form of an anthology byNathamuni.
Natyashastra: Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts, attributed to ancient Indian theatrologist and musicologist sageBharata Muni. It consists of 36 chapters with a cumulative total of 6000 poetic verses describing performance arts.
Padma Purana: Sanskrit scripture, One of the 18 major Puranas.
Paduka Sahasra: A Sanskrit hymn by Vedanta Desika in praise of the sandals ofRama.
Pañcāmirutha Vaṇṇam : Tamil work attributed toPamban Swamigal.
Paraaparakkanni __ A collection of 389 hymns in (Kanni manner) sung byTaayumanavar.( Tamil)
Paripūraṇāṉantha Bōtham _ Tamil Hindu work attributed to the works of Pamban Swamigal.
Patthu Pirapantham _ A Tamil Hindu work composed by Pamban Swamigal.
Purana (पुराण): Purana meaning "ancient" or "old" is the name of a genre (or a group of related genres) of Indian written literature (as distinct from oral literature). Its general themes are history, tradition and religion. It is usually written in the form of stories related by one person to another.
Periya Puranam (பெரியபுராணம்): The Periya Puranam (Tamil: பெரிய புராணம்), that is, the great puranam or epic, sometimes called Tiruttontarpuranam ("Tiru-Thondar-Puranam", the Purana of the Holy Devotees), is a Tamil poetic account depicting the legendary lives of the sixty-three Nayanars, the canonical poets of Tamil Shaivism. It was compiled during the 12th century by Sekkizhar. It provides evidence of trade with South Indian. The Periya Puranam is part of the corpus of Shaiva canonical works.
Parasurama Kalpasutra (परशुरामकल्पसूत्रम्)): Parashurama Kalpasutra is authored byParasurama, the fifth avatar ofLord Vishnu and a disciple of GuruDattatreya. It is a sacred text for the Shri Vidya worshippers of Goddess Lalita Devi, who is considered to be a manifestation of the Divine Mother (Shakti), and the text is therefore used in the worship of Ganesha, Bala Tripurasundari, Raja Shyamala, Varahi as well. This text has its origins in the Dattatreya Samhita and is compiled by Sumedha, a disciple of Guru Dattatreya.
Ranganatha Ramayanamu (Telugu: శ్రీ రంగనాథ రామాయణము): A rendition of Valmiki's Rāmāyaṇa in Telugu language. It was written by the poet Ranganatha—also known as Gona Budda Reddy—between 1300 and 1310 CE.
Shanmuga Kavacham : Attributed to the works of Pamban Swamigal for Lord Muruga in Tamil.
Shanmuga Sahasra Nāmārcchaṉai _ Composed by Pamban Swamigal.
Shiva Sutras of Vasugupta – a collection of seventy seven aphorisms that form the foundation of Kashmir Shaivism, attributed to the sageVasugupta of the 9th century C.E.
Sri Navnath Bhaktisar: The "Navnath Bhaktisar" also known as the"Navnath pothi" narrates theNavnaths' births, their lives and deeds.
Śruti (श्रुति): A canon ofHinduscriptures. Shruti is believed to have no author; rather adivine recording of the "cosmic sounds of truth", heard byrishis.
Sūtra (सूत्र): Sūtra refers to an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a book or text. 'Sutras' form a school of Vedic study, related to and somewhat later than theUpanishads.
Swara yoga: An ancient science of pranic body rhythms. It explores how prana can be controlled through the breath.
Tantras (तंत्र): The esoteric Hindu traditions ofrituals andyoga. Tantra can be summarised as a family of voluntary rituals modeled on those of the Vedas, together with their attendant texts and lineages.
Tiruppaadal Tirattu __ A compendium of 1452 songs in 52 headings (titles), byTaayumanavar .
Tirumurai – an important Tamil twelve volumes compendium that consists of Shaivite hymns.
Tevaram – An important Tamil Shaivite scripture and devotional poetry.
Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam – a Tamil Shaivite scripture written byParanjothi that describes the 64 divine plays of Shiva in Madurai as the spouse of the goddess Meenakshi.
Vasishtha Samhita: Yoga text, one of the first to describe non-seated hatha yoga asanas ascribed to the sageVasishtha.
Veda (वेद): Vedas are texts without start and end, statedSwami Vivekananda, and they include "the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times."[18] Collectively refers to a corpus of ancientIndian religious literature that are considered by adherents ofHinduism to beŚruti (that which is heard).
Vachanamrut: (IAST:Vacanāmṛta, lit. "immortalising ambrosia in the form of words") is a sacred Hindu text consisting of 273 religious discourses delivered bySwaminarayan from 1819 to 1829 CE and is considered the principal theological text within theSwaminarayan Sampradaya. Compiled by five of his senior disciples, Swaminarayan edited and approved the scripture
Vinaayagar Agaval _ A Tamil work in praise of Lord Ganesha (Vinaayakan).
Yoga Vasistha, the discourse of sageVasistha to princeRama. It is an important text ofYoga as well asAdvaita Vedanta. The book consists of around thirty thousand slokas as well as numerous short stories and anecdotes.
^Mikel Burley (2012), Classical Samkhya and Yoga - An Indian Metaphysics of Experience, Routledge,ISBN978-0415648875, page 39-41; Lloyd Pflueger, Person Purity and Power in Yogasutra, in Theory and Practice of Yoga (Editor: Knut Jacobsen), Motilal Banarsidass,ISBN978-8120832329, pages 38-39
^Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanisads, Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0195352429, page 3; Quote: "Even though theoretically the whole of vedic corpus is accepted as revealed truth [shruti], in reality it is the Upanishads that have continued to influence the life and thought of the various religious traditions that we have come to call Hindu.Upanishads are the scriptures par excellence of Hinduism".
^Wendy Doniger (1990), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press,ISBN978-0226618470, pages 2-3; Quote: "The Upanishads supply the basis of later Hindu philosophy; they alone of the Vedic corpus are widely known and quoted by most well-educated Hindus, and their central ideas have also become a part of the spiritual arsenal of rank-and-file Hindus."
