The Mahabharata
(composed between 300 BC and 300 AD) has the honor of being the longest epic in
world literature, 100,000 2-line stanzas (although the most recent critical
edition edits this down to about 88,000), making it eight times as long as
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey together, and over 3 times as long as
the Bible .The
Mahabharata was written by Vyasa with the help of Lord Vinagar.
Historically speaking, Sri
Krishna told The Gita to Arjuna at the beginning of the War of Mahabharata, or
The War of Kurukshetra as it is known. The period can be put at 3200 BCE. Later
Vyasa Rishi compiled these immortal words of 'perennial philosophy' into 700
verses grouped in eighteen chapters. Along with the Vedas, Upanishads, and the
Brahma Sutras, the Gita is adored as the most important scripture of ancient
India. We should not call it Hindu scripture because at the time of its birth
there was no Hinduism, no Islam, no Christianity, no Buddhism, no Jainism, and
no Sikhism!Therefore, it can be truly said to have universal relevance.
http://www.telugutoranam.com/gita/index.php3
(full gita content and easier to
understand)
The
story of Rama and Seeta is a part of India.It was first set down by the sage
Valmiki in his epic poem in Sanskrit, Ramayana.Valmiki was the Adikavi
,the first poet and his Ramayana the Adikavya,the first poem.It is written that
he began written the Ramayana under the instruction of Lord Brahma.The lord
advised that whatever knowledge
that he does not possess shall be revealed to Valmiki to write the Ramayana.
Thus,he started to write the glorious
epic,in verse.The structure of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana is arranged into
six Kaandas or Books, and they are:
Bala Kanda ( Book of Youth) [77 chapters]
Ayodhya Kanda (Book of Ayodhya) [119 chapters]
Aranya Kanda (Book of Forest )[75 chapters]
Kishkindha Kanda (The Empire of Holy Monkey)[67 chapters]
Sundara Kanda ( Book of Beauty )[68 chapters]
Yuddha Kanda ( Book of War)[131 chapters]
Of course the epic of Mahabharata and
Ramayana consists of so many incidents that I cannot cover all.Have inserted a
few stories from this important epics for your readings.
For
more detailed text on epics browse in
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm#
There
are full text on Vedas,Upanishads,Puranas , Ramayana, Mahabharatam,Bhagavad Gita
and Vedanta in English translation.
The Vedas were
compiled around the time of Krishna (c. 3500 B.C.), and even at that time were
hardly understood. Hence they are very ancient and only in recent times has
their spiritual import, like that of the other mystery teachings of the ancient
world, begun to be rediscovered or appreciated even in India.
The word
"Upanishad" consists of three words"Upa" means
"near", "ni" means "down" and "shad"
means "be seated".
So, "Upanishad"
means, "be seated at the feet of the Guru to receive the teaching."
The Upanishads constitute
what we call the Vedanta (Veda-anta), the end of the Vedas, not merely because
they constitute the last part of them, but above all because they are their
ultimate teachings, reaching to the highest metaphysical state, beyond which is
the realm of Silence.
The most ancient
Upanishads are, in fact, part of the Vedas, and are therefore a part of the
Shruti. So they constitute the fundamentals, the essence of the Hindu
philosophy. They are connected to the whole of Knowledge and contain within them
the exposition of the origin of the Universe.The Upanishads are the first
scriptures where the law of Karma first appeared as taught by Yajnavalkya (Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad).
There
are Katha Upanishad, Isa Upanishad, Kena Upanishad,Mundaka
Upanishad,Syetasvatara Upanishad,Prasna Upanishad,Aitareya
Upanishad,Chhandogya Upanishad to name a few.
There
is an English translation of The Holy Upanishads by Swami Nikhilananda in
http://sanatan.intnet.mu/.There
you can find text on the above written Upanishads and more.
For parents who wants to introduce Ramayana and Mahabharatam
to their young kidz , check out Dadazi.Net
for free e-book downloads full version
in simple english .
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