Guides

• How the scriptures fit together: The Vedas, the Upaniṣads, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata and the Bhagavad Gītā are often named in one breath, but they are very different kinds of text. This guide is a map of the whole library.
• Reading a Sanskrit verse: You do not need to know Sanskrit to read a verse on Vedyatra. This guide walks through each part of a verse page, one step at a time.
• Hymns for daily life: The Atharvaveda is the Veda of ordinary life. Alongside hymns to the gods, it holds verses for healing, for a peaceful home, for a long life and for the land that feeds everyone.
• The four Vedas at a glance: Four collections, one tradition. What each Veda contains, how it was used, and how it has been kept alive by memory for more than three thousand years.
• Who speaks in the Gītā: The Bhagavad Gītā is a conversation inside a conversation. Knowing who is speaking, and to whom, makes it much easier to follow.
• Key words: dharma, karma, yoga: A handful of Sanskrit words carry much of the meaning of these texts. Translations can only approximate them, so it helps to know their range.