Timeline of Hindu texts
Encyclopedia
Hindu scriptures are classified into two parts: Shruti and Smriti
. The Vedas
are classified under Shruti. Unlike other religions which claim authority of their scriptures as being delivered by a personal God or special messengers of God, Hindus claim that the Vedas do not owe their authority to anybody, rather the Vedas themselves are the authority, being eternal - the knowledge of God. According to Hindu tradition, the mass of knowledge called the Vedanta
was discovered by persons called Rishi
s, seers of thought. This mass of knowledge was recorded in the written form. The written forms of texts do not reveal any information about the dates of discovery. The Hindu tradition of preserving Vedas is mainly carried on an oral fashion. The written forms are somewhat more recent compared to the original oral tradition. Moreover, many modern historians do not have undisputed artifacts to prove exact dates of the written forms of the texts.
Below is a chronological list of (groups of) Hindu texts. All dates refer to the written forms of the texts, and are approximate.
Smriti
Smriti literally "that which is remembered," refers to a specific body of Hindu religious scripture, and is a codified component of Hindu customary law. Smṛti also denotes non-Śruti texts and is generally seen as secondary in authority to Śruti. The literature which comprises the Smrti was...
. The Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
are classified under Shruti. Unlike other religions which claim authority of their scriptures as being delivered by a personal God or special messengers of God, Hindus claim that the Vedas do not owe their authority to anybody, rather the Vedas themselves are the authority, being eternal - the knowledge of God. According to Hindu tradition, the mass of knowledge called the Vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
was discovered by persons called Rishi
Rishi
Rishi denotes the composers of Vedic hymns. However, according to post-Vedic tradition, the rishi is a "seer" to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed" through states of higher consciousness. The rishis were prominent when Vedic Hinduism took shape, as far back as some three thousand years...
s, seers of thought. This mass of knowledge was recorded in the written form. The written forms of texts do not reveal any information about the dates of discovery. The Hindu tradition of preserving Vedas is mainly carried on an oral fashion. The written forms are somewhat more recent compared to the original oral tradition. Moreover, many modern historians do not have undisputed artifacts to prove exact dates of the written forms of the texts.
Below is a chronological list of (groups of) Hindu texts. All dates refer to the written forms of the texts, and are approximate.
- RigvedaRigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
, 1700 – 1100 BC - SamavedaSamavedaThe Sama veda , is second of the four Vedas, the ancient core Hindu scriptures. Its earliest parts are believed to date from 1700 BC and it ranks next in sanctity and liturgical importance to the Rigveda...
, 1700 BC and later - YajurvedaYajurvedaThe Yajurveda, a tatpurusha compound of "sacrificial formula', + ) is the third of the four canonical texts of Hinduism, the Vedas. By some, it is estimated to have been composed between 1400 and 1000 BC, the Yajurveda 'Samhita', or 'compilation', contains the liturgy needed to perform the...
, 1400 - 1000 BC - AtharvavedaAtharvavedaThe Atharvaveda is a sacred text of Hinduism and one of the four Vedas, often called the "fourth Veda"....
, 1200 - 1000 BC - Upanishads, 1200 - 500 BC
- RamayanaRamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
, 5th - 4th century BC - MahabharataMahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, 5th - 4th century BC - Bhagavad GitaBhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
, 100 BC - 300 AD - Yoga Sutras of PatanjaliYoga Sutras of PatanjaliThe Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali are 194 Indian sūtras that constitute the foundational text of Rāja Yoga. Yoga is one of the six orthodox āstika schools of Hindu philosophy, and Rāja Yoga is the highest practice....
, 100 BC - 500 AD - PuranasPuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
, 3rd - 16th century AD - Yoga VasisthaYoga VasisthaYoga Vasistha is a Hindu spiritual text traditionally attributed to Valmiki. It recounts a discourse of the sage Vasistha to a young Prince Rama, during a period when the latter is in a dejected state...
, 10th - 14th century AD