Chapter Three
Religious Books,
The Ramayana, And The Mahabharata
The Holy books deal with the purpose of religion, its subject-
matters, rituals and religious rites. The books which contain the
stories and episodes of Hindu religion are called Hindu religious
books.
There are many books of Hindu religion. These are the Vedas, the
Upanishada, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Puranas, the
Shrimadbhagabatgita, the Shirimadbhagabod, the Shrishrichandi etc.
Though the Hindus have different religious books, the Vedas are
their fundamental sacred scriptures. The Vedas are divided into four
parts - the Rigveda, the Samaveda, the Yagurveda and the
Atharbaveda. These four parts taken together are called the Vedas.
There are many mantras hymns in the Vedas. These mantras contain
reference to numerous deities and prayers to them. The Upanishada
is the book of knowledge among all the Vedas. Both Brahma and
soul are mentioned in the Upanishada. The Shrimadbhagabatgita is
the collection of the sayings of Shrikrishna. Shrikrishna is also
mentioned in the Shrimadbhagabod. In Shrishrichandi the
Shaktidevi or the mother power has been mentioned.
These Hindu religious books are written in the Sanskrit language.
However, the main religious books of Hindus are translated into
Bangla. For example saint Valmiki wrote the Ramayana in Sanskrit.
Poet Krittibas translated this Ramayana into Bangla.
Krishnadaipayana Vedavyasa wrote the Mahabharata in Sanskrit.
Kashiram Das translated the Mahabharata into Bangla. Let us first
learn the story of the Ramayana and after that the story of the
Mahabharata.