Sacred Texts Compared: Vedas, Bible, Quran, Tripitaka, Jain Agamas and Guru Granth Sahib

Quick answer: Each faith understands its scripture differently. Hindus distinguish revealed shruti (the Vedas and Upanishads) from remembered smriti (epics, Gita, Puranas), long preserved orally in Sanskrit. Christians read the Bible, Old and New Testaments, as inspired Scripture, with slightly different canons among Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants. Muslims regard the Quran as God's word revealed in Arabic, guided in practice also by the Hadith. Buddhists preserve the Buddha's teaching in the Tripitaka and Mahayana sutras; Jains revere the Agamas of Mahavira; and Sikhs honour the Guru Granth Sahib as their living Guru.

Why compare sacred texts?

For NRI families, scripture comes up in everyday life, from a friend's church wedding to a school project on world religions. This introductory guide describes each tradition's scripture as its own mainstream followers and scholars describe it, paraphrases texts rather than quoting them, and does not rank them. Each tradition is internally diverse, and readings differ between, for example, Vaishnava and Shaiva Hindus, Catholic and Protestant Christians, or Sunni and Shia Muslims.

Hindu scriptures: shruti and smriti

The Vedas are four: the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. Each contains layers: hymns (Samhitas), ritual explanations (Brahmanas), forest texts (Aranyakas) and philosophical teachings (Upanishads). Many Hindu schools, notably Mimamsa and Vedanta, regard the Vedas as apaurusheya, not composed by any human author but "heard" by ancient rishis. Scholars generally date the earliest Rig Vedic hymns to the second millennium BCE; many Hindus hold that the Vedas are eternal or far older. Both views are widely held and are best stated with care.

For centuries the Vedas were transmitted orally, with remarkable precision. Recitation patterns such as pada-patha and ghana-patha rearrange words so that any error would be noticed. UNESCO recognises the tradition of Vedic chanting as part of humanity's intangible cultural heritage. The Gayatri Mantra from the Rig Veda remains one of the most widely recited Vedic verses.

Smriti includes the two great Itihasas, the Ramayana of Valmiki and the Mahabharata attributed to Vyasa, which contains the Bhagavad Gita in 18 chapters; the 18 major Puranas; and the Dharmashastras on conduct. Temple worship also draws on the Hindu Agamas and Tantras of Shaiva, Vaishnava (Pancharatra and Vaikhanasa) and Shakta traditions, which should not be confused with the Jain Agamas discussed below. Regional canons matter too, such as the Tamil Divya Prabandham and Tirumurai.

How authority works: Vedanta teachers base their philosophy on the Prasthana Trayi, the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, and Advaita, Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita commentators interpret them differently. No single council defines Hindu scripture; authority flows through texts, living teachers (guru parampara) and community practice. In worship, Vedic mantras are chanted by priests, while families recite stotras, read the Gita or Ramayana, or listen to Purana katha.

The Bible: Old and New Testaments

Christians call their scripture the Bible and believe it is inspired by God. The first part, the Old Testament, corresponds to the Hebrew Bible, which Jews call the Tanakh, written mostly in Hebrew with some Aramaic. The second part, the New Testament, written in Greek, contains 27 books: the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the Acts of the Apostles, letters (epistles) such as those of Paul, and the book of Revelation. Scholars generally date the New Testament writings to the first century CE and early second century.

Canon differences: Protestant Bibles usually contain 39 Old Testament books, 66 books in all. Catholic Bibles have 46 Old Testament books, 73 in all, including the deuterocanonical books. Orthodox churches accept these and some further texts, and some ancient churches, such as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, have a broader canon still. Christians also differ on how scripture relates to church tradition: Catholic and Orthodox Christians read the Bible together with Sacred Tradition and the teaching of the church, while many Protestants emphasise scripture as the final authority.

In worship, readings from both Testaments are proclaimed at Mass or the Divine Liturgy, Psalms are sung, and sermons explain the text. Christians encourage reading the Bible in one's own language. They also describe Jesus Christ himself as the Word of God, so for them scripture points beyond the book to a person.

The Quran and the Hadith

Muslims believe the Quran is the literal word of God (Allah), revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel (Jibril) over roughly 23 years in the early seventh century CE. It has 114 chapters (surahs) made up of verses (ayat). The name means "recitation", and from the beginning it was memorised and recited aloud; a person who memorises the whole text is honoured as a hafiz. Sunni and Shia Muslims use the same Quranic text.

Because Muslims believe the Arabic wording itself is revealed, translations are regarded as interpretations of its meaning, and the Quran is recited in Arabic in the five daily prayers (salah), with the opening chapter, Al-Fatiha, recited in every unit of prayer. Rules of recitation (tajwid) are taught from childhood, and many Muslims perform ablution before handling a printed copy (mushaf).

The Hadith are reports of the Prophet's sayings and actions. Together they record his Sunnah (example), which guides prayer, law and daily life. Hadith are not considered part of the Quran, and scholars grade them by the reliability of their chains of narrators. Sunni Muslims rely especially on collections such as Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, while Shia Muslims have their own collections, such as al-Kafi, which include teachings of the Imams.

Buddhist scriptures: Tripitaka and Mahayana sutras

Buddhists do not regard their scriptures as revealed by a creator God; they preserve the teaching (Dhamma or Dharma) of the Buddha and his disciples. The Pali Canon, used by Theravada Buddhists in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and elsewhere, is called the Tipitaka (Sanskrit Tripitaka), the "three baskets": the Vinaya Pitaka (monastic discipline), the Sutta Pitaka (discourses) and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (systematic analysis). It was transmitted orally for centuries and, according to Sri Lankan tradition, written down in the first century BCE. The much-loved Dhammapada is part of the Sutta Pitaka.

Mahayana Buddhists of East Asia and Vajrayana Buddhists of the Himalayan region also revere many sutras, such as the Lotus Sutra, the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra, together with large canons preserved in Chinese and in Tibetan (the Kangyur and Tengyur). In worship, Theravada communities chant protective paritta verses and many Mahayana temples chant the Heart Sutra. See also Hinduism and Buddhism: a comparative guide.

Jain Agamas and the Tattvartha Sutra

Jains revere the teachings of the 24 Tirthankaras, most recently Mahavira. Jain tradition holds that his chief disciples (ganadharas) arranged his teaching into the Agamas, in the Ardhamagadhi Prakrit language. Of the original twelve Angas, the twelfth is regarded as lost by all Jains.

• Svetambara Jains hold that much of the canon survived and was written down at a council at Valabhi in Gujarat, traditionally dated to the fifth century CE. Murtipujaka Svetambaras accept 45 Agamas; Sthanakvasi and Terapanthi Svetambaras accept 32. The Kalpa Sutra is read aloud during Paryushana.
• Digambara Jains hold that the original Agamas were gradually lost. They revere later works by their acharyas, such as the Shatkhandagama and the Samayasara of Kundakunda, and read the Tattvartha Sutra during Das Lakshana Parva.

The Tattvartha Sutra of Umaswati (Umasvami), a concise summary of Jain philosophy, is accepted by both traditions. Daily Jain worship often begins with the Navkar (Namokar) Mantra, which salutes the liberated and the spiritual teachers rather than any creator. See also Hinduism and Jainism compared.

The Guru Granth Sahib: the living Guru

The Guru Granth Sahib is unique among scriptures in being honoured as the eternal Guru of the Sikhs. The fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev, compiled the Adi Granth and installed it at Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar in 1604. Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, added the hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur and, before his death in 1708, declared that the scripture would be the Guru after him.

Written in the Gurmukhi script, the standard edition runs to 1,430 pages (angs). Its hymns, arranged by musical raga, include the compositions of six Sikh Gurus and of saints from Hindu and Muslim backgrounds, such as Kabir, Namdev, Ravidas and Sheikh Farid. In a gurdwara the Guru Granth Sahib is placed on a raised platform under a canopy, ceremonially opened each morning and laid to rest each night, and a passage read at random (the hukamnama) is taken as the day's guidance. Hymns are sung as kirtan, and a continuous complete reading (Akhand Path) marks important occasions. See also Hinduism and Sikhism.

Comparison table

Common ground and genuine differences

There is real common ground. Every tradition here treats its scripture with deep reverence, preserves it with great care (often first by memory), and teaches that reading is meant to transform life, not merely inform it.

The differences are equally real and worth naming honestly. Hindus and Muslims both place great weight on exact sacred sound, Sanskrit and Arabic respectively, while Christians and Buddhists have long encouraged translation. Some traditions have a closed, clearly defined canon (the Quran, the Guru Granth Sahib), others have canons that differ between branches (the Bible, the Jain Agamas), and Hinduism has an open, layered body of texts without a single list. The source of authority also differs: revelation from God, the realised teaching of an enlightened human, or a scripture that is itself the Guru.

For families and friends: interfaith respect

• If a friend asks "What is the Hindu Bible?", you might say: "We don't have just one book. The Vedas are our oldest scriptures, and many families read the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana at home."
• Handle others' scriptures as their communities do: many Muslims prefer that the Quran is not placed on the floor, and in a gurdwara everyone covers their head and removes shoes in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib.
• Avoid quoting another faith's scripture against it. Paraphrase gently and ask friends what a text means to them.
• When attending a church service, a Quran recitation, a Buddhist chanting session or a Jain pravachan, listen quietly; joining in is by invitation.

For more comparisons, see Hinduism and Christianity, Hinduism and Islam and worship compared.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between shruti and smriti?

Shruti means "that which is heard" and refers to the Vedas, including the Upanishads, which many Hindu schools regard as revealed and not composed by any human author. Smriti means "that which is remembered" and includes the Ramayana, the Mahabharata (with the Bhagavad Gita), the Puranas and the Dharmashastras. Smriti is traditionally understood to explain and apply shruti.

Why do Catholic and Protestant Bibles have different numbers of books?

Catholic Bibles include seven Old Testament books, such as Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach and 1 and 2 Maccabees, that Catholics call deuterocanonical; most Protestant Bibles omit them or print them separately as the Apocrypha. Orthodox churches accept these and a few more. The 27 books of the New Testament are shared by Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians.

Is a translation of the Quran still the Quran?

Muslims believe the Quran is the word of God in its original Arabic. Translations are valued as renderings of its meanings and are widely read, but they are not treated as the Quran itself, which is why ritual prayer is recited in Arabic everywhere in the world.

Do Buddhists have one Bible-like book?

No. Theravada Buddhists use the Pali Canon, called the Tipitaka or Tripitaka (three baskets). Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists also revere many further sutras, such as the Lotus Sutra and the Heart Sutra, preserved in large Chinese and Tibetan canons. The Dhammapada, a short collection of verses from the Pali Canon, is often the first Buddhist text people read.

Why do Digambara and Svetambara Jains differ on the Agamas?

Svetambara Jains hold that the teachings of Mahavira were preserved and written down at the council of Valabhi, and accept a canon of Agamas (45 texts for Murtipujaka Svetambaras, 32 for Sthanakvasi and Terapanthi). Digambara Jains hold that the original Agamas were gradually lost, and instead revere later texts by their own acharyas, such as the Shatkhandagama and the works of Kundakunda. Both accept the Tattvartha Sutra.

Which scripture is the oldest or most authoritative?

This page does not rank scriptures. Dating ancient texts involves scholarly debate, and each community regards its own scripture as authoritative for its own reasons.

Editor's note (9 October 2026)

This page is an introductory comparison for general readers. It summarises vast scriptural traditions briefly, describes each as its mainstream followers and scholars do, and paraphrases texts rather than quoting them. Canon lists and dates are given as commonly stated. For deeper study or personal guidance, please consult qualified teachers of each tradition.

Related guides

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• Life after death in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity and Islam
• Meditation and prayer compared: dhyana, vipassana, samayika, contemplation and dhikr
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• Karma and rebirth in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism
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