Scriptures (Mindmap)

Manava Dharma Shastra - (Ancient Hindu Code of Conduct for Domestic, Social, and Religious Life)

Traditionally accepted as one of the supplementary arms of the Vedas, Laws of Manu or Manava Dharma Shastra is one of the standard books in the Hindu canon, and a basic text for all gurus to base their teachings on. This 'revealed scripture' comprises 2684 verses, divided into twelve chapters presenting the norms of domestic, social, and religious life in India (circa 500 BC) under the Brahmin influence, and is fundamental to the understanding of ancient Indian society

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The ancient Vedic society had a structured social order where the Brahmins were esteemed as a highest and the most revered sect and assigned the holy task of acquiring ancient knowledge and learning. The teachers of each Vedic schools composed manuals in Sanskrit, known as 'sutras', pertaining to their respective schools for the guidance of their pupils, which were highly venerated by the Brahmins and memorized by each Brahmin student.

The most common of these were the 'Grihya-sutras', dealing with domestic ceremonies, and the 'Dharma-sutras', treating of the sacred customs and laws. These extremely complicated bulk of ancient rules and regulations, customs, laws and rites were gradually enlarged in scope, written aphoristically and set to musical cadence and systematically arranged to constitute the 'Dharma-shastras'. Of these the most ancient and most famous is the Laws of Manu, the Manava Dharma-shastra, a 'Dharma-sutra' belonging to the ancient Manava Vedic school.

This article was taken from (http://hinduism.about.com/od/scripturesepics/a/laws_of_manu.htm)

The Nayanmars

The Nayanars of southern India were poet saints who played an instrumental role between 6th and 8th century AD in popularizing the devotional worship of  Siva among the rural people. Through devotional singing and public display of religious fervor, they preached the path of devotion (bhaktimarg) to Siva as an effective means to spread their message of divine love and surrender to God and inculcate among people the habit of religious worship and ethical living. Their activities also helped in containing the influence of Jainism and Buddhism in southern India and reviving the Vedic tradition. The Saiva tradition lists 63 Nayanars. Prominent among them were Kannappa, Karaikkal, Sundarar, Manikkavachakar, Nambi Andar Nambi, Sekkilar, Appar and Sundarar. Their compositions are preserved in such works as Tirumurai and Tevaram. Apart from them, Lakulisa, Vasugupta, Gorakshanath and Basavanna were some of the religious teachers, who played a prominent role in ensuring the continuation of Saivism as a major religious sect in the Indian subcontinent.

The 12 Jyotirlinga temples

The 12 Jyotirlinga temples mentioned in the Sivapurana are:

1. The Somnath temple,

1. The Mallikarjuna temple at Srisailam,

1. The Mahakaleswar temple at Ujjain,

1. The Omkareshwar temple at Omkareshwar,

1. The Kedarnath temple in the Himalayas,

1. The Bhimashankar temple in Maharashtra,

1. The Kashivishwanath temple at Varanasi,

1. The Triambakeshwar temple at Naski,

1. The Baidyanath temple at Deogarh,

1. The Nageshwar temple in Dwaraka,

1. The Ramalingeshwar temple at Rameswaram 

1. Grishneshwar temple near Ellora caves

Shaiva Puranas

By the time the Puranas were composed, Lord Siva was recognized as a part of Hindu Trinity and His worship became popular in many parts of the Indian subcontinent. Both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata mention Lord Siva as a prominent Hindu god. Credit goes to the Saiva Puranas, which were composed mostly in the early Christian era, in making Saivism a popular religious sect. Of the 18 Puranas originally composed, six were Shaiva Puranas, namely Siva Purana, Linga Purana, Matsya Purana, Kurma Purana, Skanda Purana and Agni Purana. The Agamas are the most authoritative works on Saivism. They deal with the methods of ritual worship and contemplation of Lord Siva

Origin of Sanskrit

Sanskrit (meaning 'perfected', 'refined', or 'polished') is the ancient sacred language of India. An official language of India, it is believed to be the oldest language of the world.

By 400BC a Hindu Indian grammarian by the name of Pāṇini had formally recorded rules of Sanskrit grammar. This is known as the Ashtadhyayi.

The Ashtadhyayi consists of eight chapters, each divided into four sections, or ‘padas’. It characterises the difference between the language of the sacred texts and that of common street language. 3,959 rules of Sanskrit morphology have been set out, much in the way of a mathematical function, to define the basic elements of the language including sentence structure, vowels, consonants, nouns, and verbs. Pāṇini’s work is still used in the teaching of Sanskrit today.

Classical Sanskrit, as opposed to its more archaic ancestor Vedic Sanskrit, was in its height in the centuries AD. From it came a vast body of philosophical, scientific and religious knowledge, as well as Hindu scriptures and classical literature. These include works such as the Gita and Ramayana.

Ramayana - The Epic

The Sacred Texts of the Hindus

According to Swami Vivekananda, "the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times" constitutes the sacred Hindu texts. Collectively referred to as the Shastras, there are two types of sacred writings in the Hindu scriptures: Shruti (heard) and Smriti (memorized).

Sruti literature refers to the habit of ancient Hindu saints who led a solitary life in the woods, where they developed a consciousness that enabled them to 'hear' or cognize the truths of the universe. Sruti  literatures are of two parts: the Vedas and the Upanishads.

There are four Vedas:

• The Rig Veda -"Royal Knowledge"
• The Sama Veda - "Knowledge of Chants"
• The Yajur Veda - "Knowledge of Sacrificial Rituals"
• The Atharva Veda - "Knowledge of Incarnations"

 There are 108 extant Upanishads, of which 10 are most important: Isa, Kena, Katha, Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Taitiriya, Aitareya, Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka.

Smriti Literature refers to 'memorized' or 'remembered' poetry and epics. They are more popular with Hindus, because they are easy to understand, explains universal truths through symbolism and mythology, and contain some of the most beautiful and exciting stories in the history of religion world literature.

The three most important of Smriti literature are:

• The Bhagavad Gita - The most well known of the Hindu scriptures, called the "Song of the Adorable One", written about the 2nd century BC and forms the sixth part of Mahabharata. It contains some of the most brilliant theological lessons about the nature of God and of life ever written.
• The Mahabharata - The world's longest epic poem written about 9th century BC, and deals with the power struggle between the Pandava and the Kaurava families, with an intertwining of numerous episodes that make up life.
• The Ramayana - The most popular of Hindu epics, composed by Valmiki around 4th or 2nd centuries BC with later additions up to about 300 CE. It depicts the story of the royal couple of Ayodha - Ram and Sita and a host of other characters and their exploits.