What sacred texts form the core of Hinduism?

Bible is to Christianity, Koran is to Islam, Dhammapada is to Buddhism, Zend Avesta is to Parsee but what sacred text is to Hinduism? The authoritative text of Hinduism is the Vedas. The four Vedas, Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva, are the solid foundation upon which Hinduism is built. They provide the supreme guidelines for living the life to the fullest in harmony with nature and the Creator.

Vedas were passed down through generations from time immemorial through a very structured oral tradition. Such is the rigidity of this structure that there exists a set of supplementary texts that must be adhered to while learning and understanding the Vedas. These texts are called the “Vedanga”. “Anga” means ‘limb’ and “Vedanga” means ‘limb of the Veda”. There are six Vedangas as listed below

1. Siksha – Text that deals with euphony and pronunciation of Vedic mantras. This is the first and most important limb of the Vedas and rightly considered to be ‘nose’ of the Vedas that carries the life breath.

2. Vyākarna – Text that deals with vedic grammar. This is the second limb and is the ‘mouth’ of the Vedas

3. Chandas – Text dealing with meter or rhythmic structure of vedic mantra composition. This is considered to be the ‘feet’ of the Vedas

4. Niruktha – Text dealing with etymology or origin of words. Considered to be ‘ear’ of the Veda

5. Jyotisha – This is the ‘eyes’ of the Vedas and deals with astronomy

6. Kalpa – Text dealing with the vedic procedures of performing rituals. This is the ‘hands’ of the Vedas

There is no other ancient religious text in the world that has such a comprehensive auxiliary texts as the Vedas. This is the most significant reason why Vedas have not undergone any change inspite of being in existence for several millennia – it is recited and practiced the same way today as it was 3500 years ago when it was first written down by Sri Veda Vyasa!!

The other significant sacred texts like the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Brahma Sutra, Ramayana and Mahabharata are derived from the Vedas. See picture below for more information

Summary: Vedas are the authoritative text on Hindhu Dharma and in turn, Hinduism. All other sacred texts including Bhagavad Gita that is said to be the 'Fifth Veda' is an offshoot from the Vedas