Hindu Scriptures - Hinduism Today Magazine

What AreHindu RevealedScriptures?The Vedas and Agamas, revealedby God, are Hinduism’s sovereignscriptures, called shruti, “thatwhich is heard.” Their timelesstruths are expressed in the mostextraordinarily profound mysticalpoetry known to man. Aum.art by s. rajam background photo, thomas kellyWhat Is theNature of theVeda Texts?The holy Vedas, man’s oldestscripture, dating back 6,000 to8,000 years, are a collection of fourbooks: the Rig, Sama, Yajur andAtharva. Each has four sections:hymns, rites, interpretation andphilosophical instruction. Aum.art by s. rajam background photo, hinduism todaydinodiaAbove, God holds the holiest of scriptures, the Vedas andAgamas. Around these are an array of other scriptures,enscribed on stone, wood, pillars and scrolls. At left, wesee a copy of the Rig Veda Samhita. In the dimmed background,lamps are offered, as prescribed in the Agamas,by priests at Nallur Kandaswamy Temple in Sri Lanka.thomas kellyAbove, using the traditional elutani, stylus, a panditscribes memorized Vedic verses on dried palm leaves.For centuries the Vedas were passed on orally, thenfinally transcribed. Left, a devotee leafs through hisholy text as he performs his morning sadhana.Veda, from vid, “to know,” means “supremewisdom or science.” Similarly, Agama, whichnames the sacred sectarian revelations, means“descent of knowledge.” The Vedas and Agamas areeternal truths transmitted by God through great clairaudientand clairvoyant rishis. They are Hinduism’sprimary and most authoritative scriptures, expoundinglife’s sacredness and man’s purpose on the planet.These psalms of wisdom were disclosed over manycenturies, memorized and orally conveyed from generationto generation within priestly families, then finallywritten down in Sanskrit in the last few millennia.The subtly symbolic language of shruti, the cherishedword of God, is lyrical and lofty. In imparting religiouspractice, rules and doctrine, the Vedas are general andthe Agamas specific. The Vedas extol and invoke a multiplicityof Gods through elaborate fire rituals calledyajna. The Agamas center around a single Deity andHis worship with water, flowers and lights in sanctifiedtemples and shrines. The Tirumantiram lauds, “Twoare the scriptures that Lord Siva revealed—the primalVedas and the perfect Agamas.” Aum Namah Sivaya.The oldest and core portions of the vedasare the four Samhitas, “hymn collections.” Theyconsist of invocations to the One Divine and theDivinities of nature—such as the Sun, the Rain, theWind, the Fire and the Dawn—as well as prayers formatrimony, progeny, prosperity, concord, domestic rites,formulas for magic, and more. They are composed inbeautiful metrical verses, generally of three or fourlines. The heart of the entire Veda is the 10,552-verseRig Samhita. The Sama and Yajur Samhitas, each withabout 2,000 verses, are mainly liturgical selectionsfrom the Rig, whereas most of the Atharva Samhita’snearly 6,000 verses of prayers, charms and rites areunique. The Sama is arranged for melodious chanting,the Yajur for cadenced intonation. Besides its Samhita,each Veda includes one or two Brahmanas, ceremonialhandbooks, and Aranyakas, ritual interpretations, plusmany inestimable Upanishads, metaphysical dialogs. Inall there are over 100,000 Vedic verses, and some prose,in dozens of texts. The Tirumantiram confirms, “Thereis no dharma other than what the Vedas say. Dharma’scentral core the Vedas proclaim.” Aum Namah Sivaya.68 what is hinduism?chapter 7: hindu scriptures 69