Basic Religious Books of The Hindus

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Hinduism has an extraordinary wealth of scriptures but people have no time to read the religious books like Vedas, Puranas. Upanishads etc. Therefore, an attempt has been made to have a single volume that forms the foundation of our civilisation's heritage to seek inspiration and a sense of direction in our lives.
The Vedas prescribe some regulations and if someone follows them, one will be free from material entanglement. The Puranas, each named after a deity Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, are the post vedic texts which contain a complete narrative of the history on the Universe from creation to destruction. The Upanishads represent the essence of the Vedas. The Smritis explain and elaborate the Vedas, making them understandable and more meaningful to the general population. The Bhagwad Gita is in the form of a dialogue between Arjuna and Lord Krishna who teaches him to do his duty. The Mahabharata is not only an epic but tells the tale of heroic people, containing a code of life, a philosophy of social and ethical relations. The Ramcharitamanas provides the guidelines for an ideal family, an ideal king and an ideal mother.
This book gives a brief about holy books of Hinduism- a must read for every Hindu and Bharatiya.

Manju Sehgal, a student of history served Department of Culture, National Archives of India. Being the student of history, she has written several articles which were published in leading journals. She studied about Mahatma Gandhi and his political and social activities. She compiled several books-one on the life of Bhagat Singh & another one on Proscribed publication- Dharti ki Pukaar-which contained material banned by the British Raj. Her other books are-Timir se Prakash ki Ore-Anand Sagar & Hinduon ke Adhar Granth. Spiritualism inspires her from her very childhood.

Hindustan has an extraordinary an unique wealth of scriputres, not only because they go far back at least 5000 years in time, but also because of the sheer size of the scriptural corpus. It is amazing that most of this has come down for centuries through sheer memory, and was only reduced to writing in the last couple of centuries. So large and rich are the foundational books of Hinduism that people are often bewildered by its sheer immensity and diversity, It is, therefore, useful to have a single volume introduction to help in identify in those texts that form the foundation of our civilizational heritage: We live in time so great stress and conflict, when old structures are breaking and new ones are still struggling to be born. At such a juncture we look into our scriptures, not in order to go back in time but to seek inspiration and a sense of direction in our lives.
Our religious texts fall into two main divisions: Shruti which consists of direct utterances of inspired rishis. These include the Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and, above all, the Upanishads. The Upanishads are in fat the master texts of Hinduism, and contain a wealth of knowledge and inspiration which in fact becomes increasingly relevant as we move forward into the nuclear age.

The growing complexity of life has changed the simple life patterns of early home life. Mythology is an integral part of religion. It is necessary for any great culture to rest on stable spiritual foundation and function as a life giving inspiration and guidance. There are still few who know the literature written by Ved Vyas, Valmiki or Tulsidas. I believe today everyone is so busy in their lives that they do not have the time to read the religious books like Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, Smirits, Mahabharata, Bhagvad Gita and Ram Charita Manas. In fact, it is also a difficult task to collect these books and read them. For the last few years, I have been contemplating writing a book of such kind which would reflect Indian culture, religion, literature, induce people to do good karmas and to look forward in life. With God as my guide and the religious sentiments of my parents, I have been inspired to write this book Basic Religious Books of the Hindus. My father late Shri Kishan Kumar Mehrotra devoted his whole life for the service of others and giving love to everyone who came in his contact. He felt sad and happy after seeing the miseries and happiness of others. He was a complete spiritual personality and had complete faith in God. When he used to sit in meditation, people made use of his presence. His main aim of life was to do good to others, love them and help them.