Hindu texts |
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Śruti
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The Vedas are the four holiest books of the Hindu religion.
Each book has four major kinds of text – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge). The Vedas are written in Vedic Sanskrit.
Later types of Hinduism that are very different from the types of Hinduism that follow the Vedas.
The four Vedas are: