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The Vedas are in sanskrit. Are there any scriptures which are considered equivalent(i.e as respected) as the Vedas? They do not necessarily have to be in sanskrit.

In Tamil, the Divya Prabandham is considered as Dravida Veda and conferred as fifth Veda. Does any other indic language have a scripture that merits being recognized as a fifth Veda? I do not mean translation of Vedas into other languages but original works which are considered equivalent to Vedas.

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  • [not much related] Mahabharatha is considered equivalent of Vedas.
    – Mr_Green
    Commented Jun 27, 2014 at 19:24
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    No, Mahabharatha is not veda it is history @Mr_Green. There are no scriptures which are equivalent to vedas. Vedas are superiors. Vedas are also called as shruthis which means we can learn only from gurus through reciting them. Even small pronounciation mistake gives different meaning. Thats why they are called as Shruthis.All other scriptures are just called as smruthis. Commented Jun 27, 2014 at 19:29
  • @sainathsagar I mean it is known as fifth Veda but not exactly equivalent.
    – Mr_Green
    Commented Jun 27, 2014 at 19:38
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    @sainathsagar "Even small pronounciation mistake gives different meaning. Thats why they are called as Shruthis" - Interesting definition of Shruti. :-)
    – Prakash K
    Commented Dec 2, 2019 at 17:22
  • 5th veda mahabharatha.. in it contains bhagavad gita, ansuhana parva, moksha dharma.. vishnushasranama every thing towards dharama is told in mahabharat that is why its called panchama veda.. Veda is not specific to one community or one language people like tamils.. so only mahabharata is regarded pachama veda that is why there Gayatri devi is described having 5 heads..
    – Prasanna R
    Commented Oct 6, 2020 at 7:54

1 Answer 1

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The Vedas occupy the highest pinnacle point of all the sum total scriptures in Hinduism. No other Hindu scripture can be accorded that position. So the answer to that question would be: "no - there are no equivalents to the Vedas."

The reason being all other scriptures derive their principles from the Vedas but the Vedas are independent. Every great acharya who has to establish their final unquestionable fundamental philosophy has to write a Prasthantrayi which is based on the Upanishads, the Brahma-Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita.

The Upanishads are the essence of the Vedas but not its equivalent.

The Brahma sūtra is an early exposition of the Vedanta-interpretation of the Upanishads. It is also called Uttara-Mimāṃsā or the investigation of the later part of the Vedas. It is intended to be a summary of the teaching of the Upanishads. Since, the Upanishads, themselves come from Vedas, the Brahma-Sutra are a part of the Vedas but not the equivalent.

The Bhagavad Gita's teachings are based on the Vedas too. The Vedas are not approachable due to the level of abstraction and the deep philosophical treatise involved. Thus, texts like the Bhagavad Gita were written to give a concrete form to the Vedas. It allowed Hindus to have a practical grasp and appreciation of the finer concepts detailed in the Vedas.

Thus, Vedas are "the" foundational scriptures of Hinduism. There cannot be any scripture equivalent to the Vedas. If you are asking about a scripture that summarizes all the teachings of Vedas in a unified form and achieves an equivalent recognition - then yes - there are plenty of such scriptures in Hinduism. I wouldn't call them to be equivalent to the Vedas but a dense, and highly condensed form of the Vedas.

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