The best among the Puranas are the Srimad Bhagavata and the Vishnu Purana. The most popular is the Srimad Bhagavata Purana. Next comes Vishnu Purana. A portion of the Markandeya Purana is well known to all Hindus as Chandi, or Devimahatmya. Worship of God as the Divine Mother is its theme. Chandi is read widely by the Hindus on sacred days and Navaratri (Durga Puja) days.

Beginners in the spiritual path are puzzled when they go through Siva Purana and Vishnu Purana. In Siva Purana, Lord Siva is highly eulogised and an inferior position is given to Lord Vishnu. Sometimes Vishnu is belittled. In Vishnu Purana, Lord Hari is highly eulogised and an inferior status is given to Lord Siva. Sometimes Lord Siva is belittled. This is only to increase the faith of the devotees in their particular Ishta-Devata. Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu are one.

6 Sattvic Puranas - Praising Vishnu are :

1) Vishnu Purana
2) Naradiya Purana
3) Srimad Bhagavata Purana
4) Garuda (Suparna) Purana
5) Padma Purana
6) Varaha Purana

== Sashtras and Puranas ==

The Dharma Sashtras are the books that are expressly called Smritis.

The three great law-givers are:

1) Manu, who wrote the Manu Smriti or Manava Dharma-Sastra,

2) Yagnavalkya, who wrote the Yagnavalkya Smriti which is next in importance to Manu’s Smriti and

3) Parasara, who wrote the Parasara Smriti.

These are the three great law-givers and their Dharma-Sastras are still studied today to gather guidelines for social conduct.

In all, there are 18 Dharma Sashtras. The other 15 are those of Vishnu, Daksha, Samvarta, Vyasa, Harita, Satatapa, Vasishtha, Yama, Apastamba, Gautama, Devata, Sankhya-Likhita, Usana, Atri and Saunaka.

The Puranas and the Great Epics are expressly Itihases, historical works, but they also come under the broad range of the Smritis.

The Puranas are akin to the historical epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. There are five characteristics to the Puranas: history, cosmology: a combination of astrology and astronomy with symbolic illustrations chalking out philosophic concepts, creation after the original being came into existence, genealogy of Kings and Manvantaras – the period of Manu’s rule for 71 celestial yugas.

According to legend, Ved Vyasa is reputed to be the compiler of the Puranas in each age. In this Kaliyuga he is Krishna Dvaipayana.

More practically, since the Puranas were written for ordinary people the sages who wrote them avoided high philosophic thoughts and ideals and transplanted them with allegorical allusions that went down well with the people.Thus, the Puranas are a great and interesting potpourri of myths and legends involving the lives of Gods, Goddesses, kings, sages and others. Through these simple tales the sages have illustrated the eternal principles of religion to the common people.

In all there are 18 Puranas together with an equal number of Upa-Puranas or subsidiary Puranas. The 18 Puranas can be subdivided into

6 Rajasic Puranas praising Brahma,

6 Sattvic Puranas praising Vishnu and

6 Tamasic Puranas praising Shiva.

----------------Gita Saar -----------------

Gita is the divine voice of the God. One can be spiritually benefited by mediating and contemplating on the Gita. One's all doubts are removed and by following it, one can attain Him. This Celestial Song was sung by Lord Krishna (The eight incarnation of Lord Vishnu).

"Whatever happened, it happened for good.
Whatever is happening, is happening for good.
Whatever that will happen, it will be for good.
What have you lost for which you cry?
What did you bring with you, which you have lost?
What did you produce, which has destroyed?
You did not bring anything when you were born.
Whatever you have, you have received from Him.
Whatever you will give, you will give to Him.

You came empty handed and

you will go the same way.

Whatever is yours today was somebody else’s yesterday and will be somebody else’s tomorrow.

Change is the law of the universe."

Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is also called Gītopaniṣad, implying its having the status of an Upanishad, i.e. a Vedantic scripture.It is considered as one of the most important philosophical classics of the world.
The content of the Gita is the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra War.

Hindu Scriptures

Four main Hindu Scriptures are:

1. Rig Veda
2. Yajur Veda
3. Sam Veda
4. Atharva Veda

Others are:

Agama, Aranyaka
Bhagvad Geeta, Brahmana, Brahma Sutras
Devi Mahatmya, Devi Bhagvata, Divya Prabandha
Gheranda Samhita, Geeta (Bhagvad Geeta)
Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Itihaas
Jataka
Kamba Ramayana
Mahabhartha
Manu Smriti
Purana
Ramayana
Saharsnama
Shiv Samhita
Smriti
Sutra
Shikhapatri
Bhagvata Purana
Sutra
Tantras
Tevaram
Tirumantiram
Upanishad
Veda
Vachanamrut
Yoga Sutra

We Will Discuss the highlighted scriptures in brief in our next coming segments...

The Most Powerful Incarnation of Vishnu is - Krishna , Where God Strongly admitted the underlying statement..

"I am the conscience in the heart of all creatures
I am their beginning, their being, their end
I am the mind of the senses,
I am the radiant sun among lights
I am the song in sacred lore,
I am the king of deities
I am the priest of great seers…"

This is how Lord Krishna describes God in the Bhagavad Gita which is one of the most important Hindu scriptures.

The content of the Gita is the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra War. Responding to Arjuna's confusion and moral dilemma, Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince and elaborates on different Yogic and Vedantic philosophies, with examples and analogies. This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu Theology and also as a practical, self-contained guide to life.