ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Timeline of Hindu texts

Okay kiddo, so Hindu texts are very old books that people in India wrote a long, long time ago. They wrote them on leaves and they used natural ink from plants.

The first text that was written is called the Rigveda, and it was written about 2000-1500 BCE (that's almost 4,000 years ago!). It talks about gods and goddesses and how they created the world.

Then, around 1000-500 BCE, people wrote the Upanishads. These talk about philosophy and spirituality, and how people can reach enlightenment (which means being very wise and understanding everything about the world).

After that, people wrote the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. These are really long stories about princes and princesses and kings and queens. They talk about love and war and good and evil.

Finally, in about 400 CE, people wrote the Puranas. These are stories about the different gods and goddesses, and they also talk about Hindu rituals and customs.

So, in summary, the timeline of Hindu texts goes like this: Rigveda, Upanishads, Mahabharata and Ramayana, and Puranas. They were written a very, very long time ago and they teach people about gods and goddesses, spirituality, philosophy, and stories about love and war.