Sanātana, or the Hindu Vedic Dharma, is the beginning of civilization on the Earth — and its first and foremost Dharma. For the modern student who trusts only in documented proofs, the śāstric pramāṇa of our tradition, the itihāsa of Hindu civilization is itself the document. The trouble is its vastness: it is nearly impossible, even for a śāstric scholar, to study every section of the Vedic literature in detail. As Swami Dayānanda Sarasvatī famously said, 'We Sanātanis do not own a single book — we welcome the interested to our library.' Like the oceans, that library is famous as much for its depth as for its vastness.
The Sanātana Vedic Library is primarily divided into three sections — Śruti, Smṛti, and Itihāsa.
Śruti Grantha. Śruti, as the name suggests, means 'that which is heard, recited and remembered'. This section holds the Vedas, each of which further branches into Saṁhitā, Brāhmaṇa, Āraṇyaka and Upaniṣad. The four Vedas are considered apauruṣeya — without human author — and each contains four kinds of grantha suited to a different stage of a student's life.
Saṁhitā. The Saṁhitā of each Veda holds the mantras and stutis recited in homam, rudrābhiṣekam and other Vedic rites. The Ṛgveda Saṁhitā contains about 10,552 mantras across ten Maṇḍalas, each subdivided into Anuvākas and Sūktas of ṛks. The Yajurveda Saṁhitā holds 3,988 mantras and splits into Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda (Taittirīya, Kāṭhaka, Kapiṣṭhala, Maitrāyaṇī) and Śukla Yajurveda — also called Vājasaneyī Saṁhitā — with 1,600 mantras across 40 Anuvākas. The Sāmaveda Saṁhitā contains 1,549 mantras, of which 1,474 are drawn from the Ṛgveda; its centre of gravity is worship and devotion. The Atharvaveda Saṁhitā collects 730 sūktas on marriage, cremation, chants, magical rites, spells and prayers; Arthaśāstra is its upaveda.
Brāhmaṇa Grantha. The Brāhmaṇas are prose works that lay out the procedures and prerequisites of Vedic ritual, together with stutis to Prakṛti and Bhagavān. They were the practical companion of the gṛhastha. Among them stand the Aitareya and Kauṣītaki of the Ṛgveda; the Taittirīya, Maitrāyaṇī and Śatapatha of the Yajurveda; the Tāṇḍya, Ṣaḍviṁśa and Jaiminīya of the Sāmaveda; and the Gopatha of the Atharvaveda.
Āraṇyaka Grantha. The Āraṇyakas turn from rite to knowledge. Recommended to those entering vānaprastha, they pose philosophical questions and loosen the grip of the material world. Major Āraṇyakas include the Aitareya, Śāṅkhāyana, Bṛhad-, Taittirīya and Talavakāra.
Upaniṣads. The fourth and final śruti is the Upaniṣad — guru-śiṣya dialogues on spirituality and the return to the Source. The tradition counts 108 Upaniṣads in all: 10 in the Ṛgveda, 32 in Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda, 19 in Śukla Yajurveda, 16 in Sāmaveda, and 31 in Atharvaveda. The thirteen principal Upaniṣads include Aitareya, Kauṣītaki, Bṛhadāraṇyaka, Īśa, Taittirīya, Kaṭha, Śvetāśvatara, Maitrāyaṇīya, Chāndogya, Kena, Muṇḍaka, Māṇḍūkya and Praśna.
Gītā. Within the larger Upaniṣadic field stands a special sub-library — the Gītās. A Gītā is the record of a dialogue or debate, often between a ṛṣi, a muni, or Bhagavān himself, on the nature of life, the body, duty, and the path to mokṣa. The tradition names forty in all, among them the Bhagavad Gītā, Aṣṭāvakra Gītā, Avadhūta Gītā, Anu Gītā, Bhikṣu Gītā, Brāhmaṇa Gītā, Gaṇeśa Gītā, Hari Gītā, Haṁsa Gītā, Īśvara Gītā, Rāma Gītā, Rudra Gītā, Ribhu Gītā, Śiva Gītā, Sūrya Gītā, Uddhava Gītā, Uttara Gītā, Viṣṇu Gītā and Vyādha Gītā.
Smṛti Grantha. The second section of the library is Smṛti — 'that which is remembered'. It houses the law-books and the Purāṇas. The Sanātanic tradition counts twenty-nine Smṛtis, each laying down conduct for the four āśramas through the voice of a ṛṣi. Among them: Manu, Āpastamba, Aṅgiras, Atri, Bṛhaspati, Dakṣa, Devala, Gautama, Hārīta, Kātyāyana, Parāśara, Viṣṇu, Śaṅkha, Saṁvarta, Vasiṣṭha, Vyāsa, Yama and Yājñavalkya Smṛti.
Purāṇas. The Purāṇas tell the life-stories of the avatāras of the Tridev, hold incidents whose lessons remain useful for the present audience, and preserve ritual procedures and cosmic secrets. The eighteen Mahāpurāṇas are: Śiva, Agni, Bhaviṣya, Brahma, Brahmāṇḍa, Brahma-Vaivarta, Garuḍa, Kūrma, Liṅga, Matsya, Mārkaṇḍeya, Nārada, Padma, Skanda, Vāyu, Varāha, Vāmana and Viṣṇu Purāṇa.
Itihāsa. The third and final section is Itihāsa — the historical documents of the Dharma, including the līlā of Bhagavān Rāma and Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. A clarification first: Itihāsa is not the same as 'history' in the modern sense. Itihāsa means 'that which is presented as it is' — preserved untampered. The Rāmāyaṇa is the documented life of the seventh and pūrṇa avatāra of Viṣṇu, Maryādā Puruṣottama Śrī Rāma. There are fourteen Rāmāyaṇas in the library, the first being Vālmīki's, compiled in seven kāṇḍas and 24,000 ślokas. The others include Rāmacaritamānasa, Adhyātma, Ānanda, Adbhuta, Brahma, Bhuśuṇḍi, Ghaṭa, Giridhara, Kamba, Mantra, Raṅganātha, Yoga-Vāsiṣṭha Rāmāyaṇa and Satyopākhyāna.
Mahābhārata. The other great work of the Itihāsa is the Mahābhārata — eighteen parvas, the Viṣṇu Sahasranāma and the Bhagavad Gītā contained within it.
After all this, if anyone still says Sanātana Dharma has no holy book and is disaggregated, one can only borrow my Guru's phrase: 'Namaskāram to their brains and their extra-cultivated thought processes.' Jay Siyārām!