When studying the scriptures of Hinduism, it is important to keep in mind it is not like any other western religion that most Americans are used to. In western scriptures, Christianity for example, eternity is based off the life God gives them. Whether they go to heaven or hell is all based on the one life God has given them. On the other hand, the Hindu religion sees life as a repetition and reincarnation until they are in complete peacefulness so they can travel to the next higher realm of consciousness. So there are obviously huge differences on the outlooks of life between these two religions. Unlike Christianity, Hinduism’ main goal isn’t to worship their God or goddesses but to instead use these Gods and Goddesses to show the path to enlightenment scriptures are broken into sections Shruti and Smriti. …show more content…
Having no human or divine author its literature is considered to be nearly 2000 years old and unchanged, unlike Smriti which has changed a lot. Since it was passed down by communication instead of writing it causes a lot of questioning on whether it should be considered a scripture after all sincse scripture means “sacred writing”. Shruti scriptures include the four Vedas, the Brahmans (Brahmin books), the Aranyakas (Jungle/wilderness books), and the Upanishads (a more philosophical outlook on life. Attracted most of the western scholars.). It is important to keep in mind that although Shruti is considered to be the more respected literature, it is Smriti literature that is far more influential in modern Hinduism. Most scholars would say that all of Hinduism is based off