hindu sects/denominations shown by scripture?

hello, I was wondering if anyone can think of a resource like a website or book that shows many of the various hindu sects and which scriptures each holds to be true. this is proving so difficult for me to find, yet if I could find a simple list, my study of hinduism would be much easier.
could anyone help out?

Namaste Nathanielfirst,

Actually Wikipedia seems to do a fine job of listing the sects, but it would be great to find a resource that includes a list of its scriptures. I was wondering about it myself. Thanks for asking. The really weird thing is I don't see the Hare Krishna or Ramakrishna movements mentioned on the Wiki page. So maybe it's not actually complete, but it's at least a start.

I wonder to what degree each denomination refers directly to the Vedas and if one of the Vedas stands out more strongly as a resource. I'm pretty sure they all look to the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, especially its Bhagavad Gita... but what about the Upanishads and others? Wiki has a page called "List of Hindu Scriptures," but what aspects of these divide Hinduism into its subcategories is what I wonder. Is that what you're looking to discover too, NF?

Amala

Originally Posted by nathanielfirst

hello, I was wondering if anyone can think of a resource like a website or book that shows many of the various hindu sects and which scriptures each holds to be true. this is proving so difficult for me to find, yet if I could find a simple list, my study of hinduism would be much easier.
could anyone help out?

hi nathanielfirst, it may be a difficult to get all the scriptures systematically organized as you desire. i believe this is so 'coz most hindu wisdom was handed down thru the "shruti" tradition i.e. by word of mouth from guru to shishya. thus it is also possible that some of this esoteric knowledge may be lost or available to a few chosen ones. it was possible for men to memorise entire volumes of knowledge by mere recitation due to their sharpness of intellect (during the present kali yuga man's intelligence and life span as well as the quality of life are supposed to diminish by each passing day) thousands of years ago. printing presses as we know is a relatively recent invention.