Start hereBhagavad GitaAll 18 chapters and 700 verses — the meaning, a simple explanation and how to live it, in Hindi and English.18 chapters700 versesHindi · EnglishStart reading →

The Reading Room

Free Hindu Scripture & Mythology

The Gita is where most people begin, and it was never meant to be where they stop. Here are 109 e-books, magazines, audiobooks and video collections spanning the Vedas, the Upanishads, both epics and the Puranas — every one of them free to read, listen to or watch today.

Elsewhere 109

These open at their source, not here. Most are still under their publisher’scopyright — free to read, but not ours to host. Audio and video stay with whoever hosts them.Every one of these is marked, so you always know before you tap.

Off-appEnglishThe Song Celestial

The Song CelestialBhagavad Gita, translated by Sir Edwin Arnold (1885)Project Gutenberg

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The MahabharataTranslated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883–96)Project Gutenberg

Off-appEnglishMahabharata, Condensed into English Verse

Mahabharata, Condensed into English VerseRomesh Chunder Dutt (1898)Project Gutenberg

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The Rámáyan of VálmíkiTranslated into English verse by Ralph T. H. GriffithProject Gutenberg

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Hindu LiteratureHitopadesha, Nala and Damayanti, the Ramayana and SakoontalaProject Gutenberg

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The UpanishadsTranslated by Swami ParamanandaProject Gutenberg

Off-appEnglishThe Vedanta-Sutras with Shankara’s Commentary

The Vedanta-Sutras with Shankara’s CommentaryTranslated by George Thibaut (Sacred Books of the East 34)Project Gutenberg

Off-appEnglishThe Vedanta-Sutras with Ramanuja’s Commentary

The Vedanta-Sutras with Ramanuja’s CommentaryTranslated by George Thibaut (Sacred Books of the East 48)Project Gutenberg

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VishnupuranamProse translation by Manmatha Nath DuttProject Gutenberg

Off-appEnglishTranslations of Shakuntala and Other Works

Translations of Shakuntala and Other WorksKalidasa, translated by Arthur W. RyderProject Gutenberg

Off-appEnglishThe Birth of the War-God

The Birth of the War-GodKalidasa’s Kumarasambhava, translated by Ralph T. H. GriffithProject Gutenberg

Off-appEnglishIndian Poetry

Indian PoetrySir Edwin Arnold — includes the Gita Govinda of JayadevaProject Gutenberg

Off-appEnglishThe Great Indian Epics

The Great Indian EpicsStories of the Ramayana and MahabharataProject Gutenberg

Off-appEnglishSacred Books of the East

Sacred Books of the EastOne-volume selection edited by Epiphanius WilsonProject Gutenberg

Off-appEnglishIndia: What Can It Teach Us?

India: What Can It Teach Us?F. Max MüllerProject Gutenberg

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The Rig VedaTranslated by Ralph T. H. GriffithWikisource

Off-appEnglishHymns of the Atharva Veda

Hymns of the Atharva VedaTranslated by Ralph T. H. GriffithInternet Archive

Off-appEnglishThe White Yajur Veda

The White Yajur VedaTranslated by Ralph T. H. GriffithInternet Archive

Off-appEnglishThe Upanishads, Parts I & II

The Upanishads, Parts I & IITranslated by F. Max Müller (Sacred Books of the East 1 & 15)Internet Archive

Off-appEnglishThirty Minor Upanishads

Thirty Minor UpanishadsTranslated by K. Narayanasvami AiyarInternet Archive

Off-appEnglishThe Vishnu Purana

The Vishnu PuranaTranslated by Horace Hayman Wilson (1840)Internet Archive

Off-appEnglishThe Garuda Purana

The Garuda PuranaTranslated by Ernest Wood and S. V. SubrahmanyamInternet Archive

Off-appEnglishSrimad Devi Bhagavatam

Srimad Devi BhagavatamTranslated by Swami VijnananandaInternet Archive

Off-appEnglishHindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic

Hindu Mythology, Vedic and PuranicW. J. WilkinsInternet Archive

Off-appEnglishMyths of the Hindus and Buddhists

Myths of the Hindus and BuddhistsAnanda Coomaraswamy and Sister NiveditaInternet Archive

Off-appEnglishThe Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

The Yoga Sutras of PatanjaliTranslated by Charles Johnston (1912)Wikisource

Off-appEnglishThe Hatha Yoga Pradipika

The Hatha Yoga PradipikaSvatmarama, translated by Pancham SinhWikisource

Off-appEnglishMahanirvana Tantra

Mahanirvana TantraTranslated by Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe)Internet Archive

Off-appEnglishSongs of Kabir

Songs of KabirTranslated by Rabindranath TagoreProject Gutenberg

Off-appEnglishComplete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Complete Works of Swami VivekanandaNine volumesWikisource

Off-appEnglishThe Panchatantra

The PanchatantraVishnu Sharma, translated by Arthur W. Ryder (1925)Internet Archive

Off-appSanskritSanskrit Wikisource

Sanskrit Wikisourceसंस्कृतविकिस्रोतःWikisource

Off-appHindiHindi Wikisource

Hindi Wikisourceहिन्दी विकिस्रोतWikisource

Off-appSanskritGRETIL

GRETILGöttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian LanguagesUniversity of Göttingen

Off-appSanskrit · EnglishAmbuda

AmbudaAn open Sanskrit libraryAmbuda

Off-appSanskritSanskrit Documents

Sanskrit Documentssanskritdocuments.orgSanskrit Documents

Off-appEnglish · SanskritWisdom Library

Wisdom Librarywisdomlib.orgWisdom Library

Off-appSanskrit · Hindi · English · +8 moreGita Supersite

Gita SupersiteIIT KanpurIIT Kanpur

Off-appEnglish · Sanskrit · + moreBhaktivedanta VedaBase

Bhaktivedanta VedaBaseA. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami PrabhupadaBhaktivedanta Book Trust

Off-appEnglish · SanskritInternet Sacred Text Archive

Internet Sacred Text ArchiveHinduism collectionsacred-texts.com

Off-appEnglishSacred Books of the East

Sacred Books of the EastEdited by F. Max Müller, 50 volumes (1879–1910)Internet Archive

Off-appEnglishThe Divine Life Society Library

The Divine Life Society LibrarySwami SivanandaThe Divine Life Society

Off-appEnglishHimalayan Academy Free Books

Himalayan Academy Free BooksPublishers of Hinduism TodayHimalayan Academy

Off-appSanskrit · Hindi · EnglishVedic Heritage Portal

Vedic Heritage PortalIGNCA, Ministry of Culture, Government of IndiaGovernment of India

Off-appHindi · Sanskrit · EnglishGita Press E-Books

Gita Press E-BooksGita Press, GorakhpurGita Press

Off-appHindi · English · Tamil · +6 moreGita Seva Library

Gita Seva LibraryGita Seva TrustGita Seva Trust

Off-appEnglishPrabuddha Bharata

Prabuddha BharataAdvaita Ashrama, monthly since 1896Advaita Ashrama

Off-appEnglishHinduism Today

Hinduism TodayHimalayan Academy, quarterlyHimalayan Academy

Off-appEnglishThe Mountain Path

The Mountain PathSri Ramanasramam, quarterly since 1964Sri Ramanasramam

Off-appHindi · English · +8 moreAkhand Jyoti

Akhand JyotiAll World Gayatri Pariwar, monthly since 1940All World Gayatri Pariwar

Off-appEnglishThe Vedanta Kesari

The Vedanta KesariSri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, since 1914Ramakrishna Math

Off-appEnglishMother India

Mother IndiaSri Aurobindo Ashram, monthly since 1948Sri Aurobindo Ashram

Off-appEnglish · HindiAll India Magazine

All India MagazineSri Aurobindo SocietySri Aurobindo Society

Off-appEnglish · Hindi · Telugu · +11 moreSanathana Sarathi

Sanathana SarathiSri Sathya Sai Publications, monthly since 1958Sai Reflections

Off-appEnglish · HindiThe Divine Life & Divya Jivan

The Divine Life & Divya JivanThe Divine Life Society, monthly since 1938The Divine Life Society

Off-appTelugu · Tamil · Hindi · English · +2 moreSapthagiri

SapthagiriTirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, since 1949TTD E-Publications

Off-appEnglishAmerican Vedantist

American VedantistIndependent, donation-supportedAmerican Vedantist

Off-appEnglishGlobal Vedanta

Global VedantaVedanta Society of Western WashingtonVedanta Society

Off-appEnglishYuva Bharati

Yuva BharatiVivekananda KendraVivekananda Kendra

Off-appHindiKalyan

KalyanGita Press, Gorakhpur, monthly since 1926Gita Seva Trust

Off-appEnglishKalyana-Kalpataru

Kalyana-KalpataruGita Press, Gorakhpur, monthly since 1934Gita Seva Trust

Off-appHindi · EnglishGeet Govind

Geet GovindGita Seva Trust, monthlyGita Seva Trust

Off-appEnglishTapovan Prasad

Tapovan PrasadCentral Chinmaya Mission Trust, monthly since 1963Chinmaya Mission

Where all of this comes from

Nothing here is pirated and nothing is paywalled. The 46 texts in e-books are drawn from Project Gutenberg, the Internet Archive and Wikisource, where translations by Ganguli, Griffith, Arnold, Müller and Wilson have long since passed into the public domain. The Sanskrit corpora — GRETIL, Ambuda, Sanskrit Wikisource — are openly licensed for anyone to use.

The 17 magazines and 17 video collections are a different case. They are free to read and watch because their publishers and ashrams chose to give them away — Advaita Ashrama has opened every issue of Prabuddha Bharata since 1896, Himalayan Academy releases Hinduism Today as a free download, and the official channels carry the complete Ramayan and Mahabharat serials. That generosity is theirs to extend, not ours to copy, so each of these opens at its own home rather than being reproduced here.

Among the 29 audiobooks, the LibriVox recordings are read by volunteers and released into the public domain outright — including a complete forty-four-hour Ramayana and all twelve principal Upanishads.