The Vedas

• Hinduism.
• Earliest surviving Indo-European compositions collectively known as shruti.
• Four collections: Rig, Sama, Yajur, Atharva which are each composed of four sections: hymns (Samhitas), directions for performance of sacred rituals (Brahmans), 'compositions for the forest' (Aranyakas) and philosophical works (Upanishads)

Vedic Hymns

• Hinduism.
• Most early hymns refer to gods who are not so familiar today, and ask not for salvation or eternal bliss, but for a good and happy life on this earth.
• Composed around 1000 BCE and include speculation on the origins of the universe and refer to a cosmic sacrifice that began creation.

Upanishads

• Hinduism.
• Rethink and reformulate the early hymns and sacrificial rituals.
• Most take form of conversations.
• Frequent theme is the quest for a unifying truth.
• Discusses relationship between Atman and Brahman.

Mahabharata

• Hinduism.
• 'Great Epic of India' or 'Great Sons of Bharata'
• Approximately 100,000 verses and is said to be the longest poem in the world.
• Story of the great (maha) struggle among the descendants of a king called Bharata. Main part concerns a war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas.
• They are cousins, but the Kauravas try to cheat the Pandavas out of their share of the kingdom and will not accept peace.

Bhagavad Gita

• Hinduism.
• The conversations between Arjuna and Krishna which unfolds across 18 chapters constitutes the Bhagavad Gita.
• One of the holiest books in the Hindu tradition which teaches loving devotion to the lord and the importance of selfless action as Krishna instructs Arjuna on the nature of God and the  human soul, and how to reach liberation.
• Krishna reveals himself as the ultimate diety and reveals himself in cosmic form the Arjuna.

Adi Granth

• Sikhism.
• Principle sacred text 'first book'.
• Consists of devotional poems by the first five Gurus along with similar verses by various other North Indian poet-saints.

Analects of Confucius

• Confucianism.
• The masters teachings as recalled by his students, probably compiled about a century after his death.

Things Fall Apart

• Indigenous.
• Igbo traditions.

Ramayana

• Hiduism.
• One of Hindu's two sacred books.
• 'The Story of Rama'

Puranas

• Hinduism.
• Ancient stories; one of three types of smrti.
• Retold the 'old tales' of the Hindu tradition, shifting emphasis away from the major Vedic gods and goddesses in favor of other dieties.

Tibetan Book of the Dead

• Buddhism.
• a.k.a. Bardo Thodol
• A set of written instructions concerning the afterlife.
• Meant to be read aloud to a dying persons in order to help them achieve liberation during the three stages of the bardo stage between death and subsequent rebirth.

I-Ching

• Confucianism.
• The Book of Changes: a divination manual attributed to the sages of old. Consists of short oracles arranged under 64 hexagrams (symbols made up of combinations of broken and unbroken lines in groups of six) with commentaries that reflect early cosmological and mataphysical speculation on concepts such as yin-yang.
• One of the Five Classics.

Rig Veda

• Hinduism.
• Sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit Hymns.

Laws of Manu

• Hinduism.
• 'Manava Dharmasastra'
• The most famous of Hindu laws which attributes to the prirmordial man that Vishnu saved from the flood.

Tipitaka

• Buddhism.
• 'Three Baskets'
• The collection of early sacred writings whose three sections consist of discourses attributed to the Buddha, rules of monastic discipline, and treatises on doctrine.

Daodejing

• Daoism.
• 'Classic of the Way and its Power'
• Foundation of Daoist philosophy, written by Laozi.
• Often favors the feminine over the masculine.
• Contains only about 5,000 words presented in poetic stanzas.