Architecture of Grace

Hindu Texts

The Vedas, the Upanishads, the great epics and the Gita, K–12. We study them; we never preach them.

Course contents Start at the beginning
  • 17units
  • 34chapters
  • 314lessons
  • 5grade bands
A pencil drawing of an open book beside a small brass oil lamp, with a pencil.

Your choice is remembered on this device.

Grades K–2

3 units · 6 chapters · 42 lessons

All lessons in this band
Unit 1

The Ramayana

Rama, Sita and Hanuman

  1. Rama, Sita and the Golden Deer
  2. Hanuman the Brave Helper

2 chapters · 13 lessons

Open the unit
Unit 2

Story Time

Krishna, Ganesha and the Stories Families Tell

  1. Krishna and the Mountain
  2. Ganesha and the Race Around the World

2 chapters · 14 lessons

Open the unit
Unit 3

Festivals and Values

Lights, Colors and Kindness

  1. Diwali: The Festival of Lights
  2. Holi, Namaste and Helping Others

2 chapters · 15 lessons

Open the unit

More to explore on this band

CourseWorld ReligionsThe great traditions in their own words, K–12.

Grades 3–5

4 units · 8 chapters · 79 lessons

All lessons in this band
Unit 4

The Library

What the Hindu Texts Are

  1. Heard and Remembered: Shruti and Smriti
  2. Sanskrit, Gurus and Memory

2 chapters · 20 lessons

Open the unit
Unit 5

Epic I

The Ramayana

  1. Valmiki's Poem: From Ayodhya to the Forest
  2. Lanka, Return and the Meaning of Dharma

2 chapters · 20 lessons

Open the unit
Unit 6

Epic II

The Mahabharata and the Gita

  1. Two Families, One Kingdom
  2. Arjuna's Question and Stories Inside the Story

2 chapters · 20 lessons

Open the unit
Unit 7

Beliefs and Practice

Key Teachings and Festivals

  1. Dharma, Karma, Samsara, Moksha
  2. A Year of Festivals and a Temple Near Chicago

2 chapters · 19 lessons

Open the unit

More to explore on this band

CourseWorld ReligionsThe great traditions in their own words, K–12.

Grades 6–8

4 units · 8 chapters · 76 lessons

All lessons in this band
Unit 8

Shruti I

The Vedas

  1. Hymns of the Rig Veda
  2. Four Vedas, Ritual and an Unbroken Voice

2 chapters · 20 lessons

Open the unit
Unit 9

Shruti II

The Upanishads

  1. Atman and Brahman: Teachers in the Forest
  2. Stories of the Upanishads

2 chapters · 19 lessons

Open the unit
Unit 10

Smriti and Genre

Epics, Puranas and Poets

  1. Itihasa: Epic as Story and Teaching
  2. Puranas and the Bhakti Poets

2 chapters · 19 lessons

Open the unit
Unit 11

History

Hindu Texts in History

  1. From the Indus to the Guptas
  2. Texts on the Move: Asia, Chicago and Today

2 chapters · 18 lessons

Open the unit

More to explore on this band

Practice roomHinduismDharma, karma and Arjuna’s question in the Gita.Practice roomHow to read a sacred textWho wrote it, for whom and why. Cards, hints and a quiz.

Grades 9–10

3 units · 6 chapters · 62 lessons

All lessons in this band
Unit 12

The Gita I

Close Reading the Bhagavad Gita

  1. Arjuna's Despair and Krishna's Answer
  2. Action Without Clinging

2 chapters · 21 lessons

Open the unit
Unit 13

The Gita II and Upanishads

Devotion, Vision and the Upanishads

  1. Devotion and the Universal Form
  2. Katha, Chandogya and Isha: "That Art Thou"

2 chapters · 20 lessons

Open the unit
Unit 14

Rig Veda and the Epics

Hymns and Hard Cases

  1. The Hymn of Creation and the Purusha Hymn
  2. Dharma Dilemmas: Dice, the Yaksha and Sita's Trial

2 chapters · 21 lessons

Open the unit

More to explore on this band

Practice roomHinduismDharma, karma and Arjuna’s question in the Gita.

Grades 11–12

3 units · 6 chapters · 55 lessons

All lessons in this band
Unit 15

Interpretation

Interpreters Across the Centuries

  1. Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva
  2. Modern Readers: Reform, Freedom and the West

2 chapters · 19 lessons

Open the unit
Unit 16

Comparison

Comparison and Critique

  1. Caste, Gender and the Texts
  2. The Gita Beside Other Scriptures

2 chapters · 19 lessons

Open the unit
Unit 17

Capstone

The Texts in Life, and Capstone

  1. Texts in Performance, Art and Diaspora
  2. Capstone: A Passage, Its Readers and Your Argument

2 chapters · 17 lessons

Open the unit

More to explore on this band

Practice roomHinduismDharma, karma and Arjuna’s question in the Gita.Practice roomOne question, many lensesEach tradition answers the same big question.Practice roomCapstone: the sources speakAsk a question. Answer it from three traditions’ texts.

Practice every day

Ten short lines a day: a reading, key words and quick questions from the Hindu texts.

Go
Resource libraryTrusted places to read, watch and explore, chosen for this course.
For the teacher

What the course covers

The course studies the Hindu scriptures in a public school: Ramayana and Krishna stories and the festivals they light for the youngest readers, what the texts are and their key teachings in the middle grades, the Vedas, Upanishads, epics and Puranas as history and genre in 6–8, and close reading of the Gita, the Upanishads and the Rig Veda in public-domain translation in high school — as units, chapters, sections and numbered lessons, in original text at each band’s reading level. Beliefs are attributed (“Hindus believe…”), passages are quoted from public-domain translations or paraphrased plainly, and every lesson ends with three checks answerable from its reading.

Sources

Quotations come from public-domain translations, or are retold in plain words. A belief is always named as someone’s belief: “Hindus believe…”. Everything else is original text written for this course.

Share one band

Add the band to the address, like /hindu-texts#6-8. Tap Show on the board to show a unit’s short address, big enough for the back row.

This page is a map. It saves nothing about a student and sends nothing anywhere.