The Holy Book for the religion of Hinduism is called: Vedas. The Vedas has 4 parts: 1) samhita 2) brAhmaNa 3) Aranyaka 4) upanishat

The religions founded by individuals have one book that summarizes the philosophies of the founder or the same from the disciple's perspective and so on. This religious book defines the boundary of the religion and the followers would be expected to strictly abide by that holy book. In Hinduism there is not exactly a text that is a must for the follower. Even without reading the sacred texts one can get to the Eternal Bliss and also just reading the holy scriptures alone will not lead to the great liberation, as per Hinduism ! The Puranas say that the four Vedas - Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharvana Veda - were written at the begining of Kritha Yuga some 4 billions of years ago. Western scholars also accept that the Rg Veda is the oldest religious text of the world. According to Hindu tradition, the Vedas are Apauruṣeya "not human compositions", being supposed to have been directly revealed, and thus are called śruti ("what is heard"). Vedic mantras are recited at Hindu prayers, religious functions and other auspicious occasions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas The Vedic religion of Varuna and Indra is so old that it is no longer followed in India. The ritual content of the Vedas is adopted for gods of post-vedic period. Agamas are the engineering documents, if vedas are considered as science. They describe both on the individual level as well as for the community, how the knowledge has to be implemented to get the ultimate benefits. These are the tantra text that complement the mantra of vedas. These provide guidelines as to in what ways the worship of God can be performed, temples built etc. They have great amount of details on yoga also. They cover the paths in four titles charya, kriya, yoga, GYAna (service, worship, union and wisdom). There are 28 shivAgamas. Each religion in Hinduism has its own set of Agamas. vaiShNava has two Agamas, shakta has the tantras and so on. puraNa, itihasas are the tales of the ancient times. There are 18 purANas that describe the glorious acts of God, describe the creation, give an elaboration of the geography of the world and some of the lineages of kings are mentioned. In contrast two itihAsas (rAmAyaNa & mahAbhArata) deal with two lineages of kings (sUrya & chandra vamsa respectively) and they also talk about the glorious acts of God. Being in the form of stories these are taken to each of the villages and houses of ancient and modern times, by paurANikas or history tellers, that there would be people who do not know about the vedas, but hard to find one who does not know any of the purANic stories. Some of the more popular Hindu scriptures are Bhagavad Gita, yogasutras and there are scriptures available for each set of philosophical paths in Hinduism like siddhanta shastras, spandha kArikas etc. The stotras (hailing) bring out the excellence of Hindu devotion. The stotra literature is very vast in all the languages of people practicing widely Hinduism. They cover the complete range of the religion from hailing the names of God to putting the essence of a complex philosophy in a simple language of four line verse ! Like the pollen as digested by the bees bring out the honey, the spiritual experience of the saints pour out as the rich stotras for the rest of the world to benefit. Hinduism is poly-theism. All rivers finally join the one ocean. In the same way, worship of any god will finally reach Almighty. In India, we are free to choose a god of our liking. This is what it keeps our individuality and spiritual freedom . We can make religion our way of life, and live a very lively life. Hinduism shows the unity in diversity among Indians.

Read Bhagvad Gita as it is for www.topshareware.com/Bhagavad-gita-As-It-Is-(pdf)-download-43025.htm ------------------------------------------------ This is beautiful story - if inspired please forward, else keep it can’t say when it might inspire you! An old Farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavat Geeta. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could. One day the grandson asked, ‘Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagavat Geeta just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bhagavat Geeta do?’ The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, ‘Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.’ The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, ‘You’ll have to move a little faster next time,’ and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, ‘I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough,’ and he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house. The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, ‘See Grandpa, it’s useless!’ ‘So you think it is useless?’ The old man said, ‘Look at the basket.’ The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out. ‘Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bhagavat Geeta. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Lord Krishna in our lives.‘