Upanishads are - Brihadaranyaka, Chhandogya, Thaitreya, Eithareya, Kena, Kata, Easa, Mundaka, Prasna, Mandukya, Kowsheethaki, Swethaswathara and Maithri. Adi Sankara (788-820 A.D) has written commentaries for the first ten. TheUpanishads other than these 13 have been written after 4th Century A.D. right up to the 20th Century. Most of them advocate blind devotion to specific Gods or blind adherence to certain religious practices.

EPICS

These are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. They are said to have been written between the 4th Century B.C and 4th Century A.D. In fact these eight centuries have been the most active period for the Hindu Scriptures because many of the Puranas also have been written during this period. It is very difficult to date any of these clearly. The Mahabharata is the longest story ever ritten.Compared to it the Greek epics like the Illiad or Odyssey are small. It contains 1,00,000 verses which when printed will cover about 10,000 pages. The most important part of the Mahabharata is the Bhagawad Gita which contains 710 verses. It is an extension of the Upanishads. It is in greater detail than the Upanishads and clarifies the doubts which can arise in a person if he starts leading a life as recommended by the Upanishads.

PURANAS
There are 18 Puranas. These are - Brahma Puranam, Vishnu Puranam, Siva Puranam, hagavatham, Padma Puranam, Narada Puranam, Markandeya Puranam, Agni Puranam, Bhavishya Puranam, Bramha Vaivartha Puranam, Linga Puranam,Varaha Puranam, Skanda Puranam, Vamana Puranam, Kurma Puranam, Matsya Puranam, Garuda Puranam and Brahmanda Puranam. There are also 18 Upa Puranams (smaller Puranams). Some of these are Surya Puranam, Sanath Kumara Puranam, Narasimha Puranam, Ganesa Puranam, Kalika Puranam, Vayu Puranam, Kalki Puranam etc.

Most Hindus never read any of the Vedas or Upanishads or Puranas. They also do not know the content of the Vedas and Upanishads. But they know the contents of the Epics and Puranas through stories told by their mother or grandmother. Nowadays children and adults read abridged versions of these or stories based on these in comic books. It is the epics and Puranas which spread the message of Hinduism through absorbing stories which at the same time teach what is good and what is not.

GODS IN THE SCRIPTURES

The Vedic hymns are addressed to Gods who are not worshipped today. Out of the 10472 hymns in the Rig Veda, 2808 are addressed to Indra and a nearly equal number to Agni (Fire). The others are addressed to a host of other Gods like Varuna, Vayu, Maruths, Aswis, Viswadevas, Ushas, Rudra, Vishnu etc. Out of these, Rudra in the form of Siva and Vishnu are the most important Gods worshipped today. But the Rig Veda does not give much importance to them. There are only a few dozen hymns about them. The Yajur Veda contains the set of hymns called Rudram and Chamakam which are the most important part of Siva worship today. The Sama Veda is the root of Indian music systems and the Sama Veda hymns are sung (not chanted).