Helping Hands

The two well-known epics of Hinduism are Ramayana and Mahabharata . They are two very popular and useful Sastras of the Hindus. The Ramayana was written by the sage Valmiki, and the Mahabharata by Vyasa. The Ramayana   The Ramayana, the first epic poem, relates the story of Sri Rama, the ideal man. It is the history of the family of the solar race descended from Ikshvaku, in which was born Sri Ramachandra, the Avatara of Lord Vishnu, and his three brothers. The ideal characters like Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata and Sri Hanuman that we find in Ramayana firmly establish Hindu Dharma in our minds. The story of the birth of Rama and his brothers, their education and marriages, the exile of Sri Rama, the carrying off and recovery of Sita, his wife, the destruction of Ravana, the Rakshasa King of Lanka, and the reign of Sri Rama, are described in detail in Ramayana. How a man should behave towards his superiors, equals and inferiors, how a king ought to rule his kingdom,...

The Veda is divided into four great books:  The Rig-Veda,  The Yajur-Veda,   The Sama-Veda and   The Atharva-Veda.   The Yajur-Veda is again divided into two parts, the Sukla and the Krishna . The Krishna or the Taittiriya is the older book and the Sukla or the Vajasaneya is a later revelation to sage Yajnavalkya from the resplendent Sun-God.  The Rig-Veda is divided into twenty-one sections. The Yajur-Veda into one hundred and nine sections. The Sama-Veda into one thousand sections. The Atharva-Veda into fifty sections. In all, the whole Veda is thus divided into one thousand one hundred and eighty recensions.  Each Veda consists of four parts:  The Mantra-Samhitas or hymns,  The Brahmanas or explanations of Mantras or rituals,  The Aranyakas and The Upanishads The division of the Vedas into four parts is to suit the four stages in a man’s life.  ...