There is no one central book that you can confidently ascribe to the Hindu religion. The earliest texts included the Elements and the nature around the writers as gods. Some of these texts prescribe the methods of making an offering to these gods, while others talk about philosophy behind the rituals.
Some of these are said to originate from the Rishis as a result of rationalization of thought during their meditations and penance in the wild. Some later texts have supposedly been narrated by the gods to these meditators.
The Veds, the earliest texts that the Hindus have adopted (Hindu was not a word at the time these were written) have four Veds. Then there were the more popular poems or stories like Ramayana and Mahabharat. And the lesser known Purans and Darshans.
Sounds very confusing, right?Who wrote these? Which texts preceded which? These were the questions that popped up every time I tried to take up a book on Veds.
In Our Heritage Revisited : A glimpse into ancient Indian texts, Anju Saha aims to make things simple for those who wish to know the literature that can be said to be the building blocks of the Hindu religion.
Anju Shaha is a retired banker and now spends her time exploring various different paths. She is a regular visitor to groups that discuss the ancient scriptures and their applications in our daily life.
Our Heritage Revisited: A glimpse into ancient Indian texts
Paperback: 148 pages Publisher: Anju Saha; 1 edition (March 14, 2015) ISBN: 935235074X, 978-9352350742
The authors dives deep into each of the texts to give all the background information you need before you commit to reading these texts. As most of these were written in a language that very few can understand now, and translated many times over the years, the reader needs some context before they begin reading the texts.
The hierarchical diagram at the begining of the book gives the reader some orientation to the complex relationship between the text and what they talk about. But there are a lot of books, written over centuries and I would have loved to see the names of Rishis or the people who write these texts.
Anyone who wants to study these volumes have their task cut out. It is very important to first understand which of the texts you need to refer to get answers to your questions about Hindu philosophy or these ancient texts.
For example, if you want to know about what is written in Hidu philosophy about social and moral codes, there is no point in picking up the Veds as these are mainly about Hymns and rituls.
This is where the much needed Our Heritage Revisited book comes in. With the background information given in this book, you can identify the right texts that you want to read about or refer and make your task easy.