Hindu Students: Are Hindu Scriptures Mythologies?

Namaste, Hari Om,

Great explanation on Hindu Scriptures, its just the tip of the ice-berg, but gives a great introduction in such a small amount of time.

Puranas contain links to other scriptures that are fact, therefore it would be misleading to call it a complete Myth. Furthermore there are factual representations heavily linked to historical Ittihas books i.e. The Ramayana, such as the fortelling of Ravanas kingdom and Rams coming. 18 major puranas are of true nature, but the points proven in the Puranas are built on examples to paint pictures of things that are linked to other great books.


Jai Shri Krishna
-SimpleHinduBhai


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Mythologies are stories regarding a person, a religion, or a culture which are exaggerated or fictitious. Young Hindu adults often ask: "Are Hindu scriptures merely mythologies?" Swami Sarveshananda enlightens us that if we take mythologies to mean, "fictitious" then Hindu scriptures are not just "mythologies."

Hindu Dharma has incredibly rich collection of texts. Hindu texts are categorized as, Shruti, that which is heard, and smriti, that which is remembered. Shruti consists of the four Vedas, Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva Veda (Veda comes from a sanskrit term Ved which means to know) which are the most authoritative texts for all Hindus. The Upanishads, are important part of the Vedas, which explains the core philosophy of Vedas, Upanishads are also known as Vedanta. Vedanta means the philosophical summary of the Vedas. 

The Smriti's are scriptures that the sage wrote from their experience. Smriti's usually deal with the history, ayurveda, astrology, music, dance, architecture, statecraft, domestic duty and law. Smritis consists of Puranas, Itihasas, Vedangas, and Upavedas. The Puranas are encyclopedic accounts of the forms and avatars of God.

When Shruti and Smirit conflict, the authority is always Shrutis.

The Ramayana and Mahabharata are two sacred epic histories of India. The Ramayana is the story of Lord Rama, who is the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and his divine wife Sita. This 24,000-verse poem describes Prince Rama's birth, His banishment to a forest for 14 years, the abduction of Sita by the demon Ravana and Rama's victory over Ravana. The Ramayana remains immensely popular to this day in India and Southeast Asia.

The Mahabharata, "Great India, " is a 78,000-verse story of a massive war that took place in ancient times between the Pandavas and their cousins, the Kauravas, for the throne of a great kingdom. It also describes the nature of self and the world, karma, important family lineages of India, human loyalties, saints and sages, devotion to God and the ideals of dharma. Lord Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, is a key figure in the epic. A central episode called the Bhagavad Gita narrates Krishna's dialogue with the Pandava archer, Arjuna, on the day of the battle.

For more information visit:

http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_3/vol_3_frame.htm

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/pdf_downloads/what_is_hinduism/Sec1/WIH_Sec1_Cha...

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1501