The Vedas The Vedas are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.
Upanishads The Upanishads are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hinduism.
Ramayana The Ramayana is a smriti text from ancient India. The epic, ascribed to the Maharishi Valmiki, narrates the life of Rama, the prince of Ayodhya.
Mahabharata The Mahabharata is one of the two major Smriti texts and Sanskrit epics of ancient India. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas.