Timeline of Hindu texts
Hindu scriptures are traditionally classified into two parts: śruti, meaning "what has been heard" and Smriti, meaning "what has been retained or remembered". The Vedas are classified under śruti.
The following list provides a somewhat common set of reconstructed dates for the terminus ante quem of Hindu texts, by title and genre. It is notable that Hinduism largely followed an oral tradition to pass on knowledge, for which there is no record of historical dates. All dates here given ought to be regarded as roughly approximate, subject to further revision, and generally as relying for their validity on highly inferential methods and standards of evidence.
Samhita, Brahmana layers of the Vedas
- Rigveda, 1500 – 1100 BCE
- Samaveda, 1200 – 800 BCE
- Yajurveda, 1100 – 800 BCE
- Atharvaveda, 1000 – 800 BCE
Others
- Mahabharata, 4 BCE
- Bhagavad Gita, 400 BCE
- Ramayana, 400 BCE
- Samkhya Sutra
- Mimamsa Sutra, 300 – 200 BCE
- Arthashastra, 400 BCE – 200 CE
- Nyāya Sūtras, 2nd century BCE
- Vaiśeṣika Sūtra, 2nd century BCE
- Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 100 BCE – 500 BCE
- Brahma Sutra, 500 BCE
- Puranas, 250 – 1000 CE
- Shiva Sutras, 120 BCE
- Abhinavabharati, 950 – 1020 CE
- Yoga Vasistha, 750 CE