Hinduism is a very complex and intricate henotheistic religion. It is mainly practiced in India and came before all the other religions in India. The most important sacred text of Hinduism is called the Vedas. It consists of four Veda texts in which the other texts of Hinduism are based around. Hindus base their lives around the four goals.
Hindus divide their scripture into two categories: Shruti and Smriti. The Shruti is the primary revelation which has no human or divine author but has been passed on by Rishi's, which are ancient holy men that first heard the sound of truth (Van Voorst). They started to pass down these sounds of truths orally to the high and superior families. The Shruti consists of the Vedas which are four Veda texts, the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. The Shruti has been fixed for over two thousand years (Van Voorst). Smriti is not considered holy in the same way as the Shruti. The Smriti has a human origin. The Smirti is "what is remembered". The role of Smriti is to bring out the meaning of Shruti and apply it to the more modern times of Hinduism. It consists of the Sutras, the Epics, the Ramayana, the Puranas, and law codes. The canon of Smriti is still open and has a very strong influence on the Hindu Religion and Indian culture .
The four Veda texts are the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda (Van Voorst). The Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Sama Veda are used for sacrifices while the Atharva Veda is different from the first three in that it does not relate to the sacrifice. The first Veda has 1,028 hymns divided into ten books. The hymns are addressed to a single god or goddess (Van Voorst) which a priest will sing loudly during a sacrifice to attract that specific god's attention to the sacr ...