India is home to many religions. We come to know more about these religions from their holy books. We call these books scriptures. Scriptures are very, very old. They have been written in beautiful, old languages by wise people.

No matter which religion we belong to, we can read the holy books of other faiths, too this will teach us that all scriptures are written for the good of people. They teach us to take care of the poor, to love and forgive each other. They also tell us why we must look after the earth and all living things. In India we are very lucky to have the holy books of different faiths. Let us read a little more about the holy books and see what we can learn from them.

Our scriptures

The Hindu scripture are known as the Vedas. The Vedas are four collections of hymns and poems. They are written in Sanskrit. The holy book of Islam is known as the Quran. The Quran is written in Arabic.

The holy Bible is the sacred book of the Christian. It is made up of the Old Testament and the testament. It was first written in Hebrew and Greek.

The holy book of the Sikhs is the Adi Granth. It is also known as the Guru Granth Sahib and is written in the Gurumukhi script.

The Angas and Purvas are the holy books of the Jains. They were first written in an old language known as parhrit.

Buddha’s teachings are in the Dhammapada, which was first written in Pali. This is the holy scripture of the Buddhists.

The Paris or Zoroastrians consider Zend Avesta to be their holy book. It is written in an Old Iranian language.

Nowadays we can read any of these holy books in any language.

Devote

All scriptures are God’s gift to us. They are sacred words. They tell us more about god. When we read these scriptures, it helps us to be good and truthful. Although very old, scriptures still `talk’ to us. This means that these books are as important today as they were when they were first written. Reading these scriptures gives us a lot of peace and satisfaction. It also gives us strength in times of difficulty.

When we read the scriptures of other religions, we understand our friends who follow other religions better. We learn to respect them and their way of life. We also learn more about God and that He loves and cares for all of us. So we must respect the scriptures of every faith.