India is one of the most ancient civilizations. India is a land of many creeds, the cradle of mankind, the motherland of language, the mother of history, the grandmother of epics and the great grandmother of traditions.
Our cultural heritage is ancient, vast, rich and blissful and its sources are—four Vedas, 18 Puraanas, 108 Upanishads, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata consisting of about one lakh verses, the Agamas of the Jains, the Tripitikas of the Buddhists, the Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikh brothers and the holy words of the pious saints of different regions.
As the time has passed, lack of knowledge about the same has failed to create self pride and esteem for these. Also, unfortunately, during the last few centuries, due to external attacks on the country, particularly those by the British, India has lost its capacity of guiding the world. The newly educated generation of this country today is totally unaware of the culture, traditions, philosophy and life values of this country.
Sources of Our Cultural Heritage will open the eyes of the people, trying to distance themselves from Hinduism. This book will let them know the great commonalities. It gives valuable knowledge and information about our vast and enriched cultural heritage in a very simple and lucid language.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Contents

1. Background — Pgs. 17

2. A Conspiracy — Pgs. 21

3. What Does Hinduism Mean? — Pgs. 28

4. Introduction to the basic texts — Pgs. 32

5. The Upanishads — Pgs. 54

6. Puraanas — Pgs. 66

7. Vedanga — Pgs. 74

8. The Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Gita — Pgs. 81

9. Systems of Philosophy — Pgs. 90

10. Ch¹rv¹ka and Ajivaka — Pgs. 96

11. Jainism — Pgs. 101

12. Buddhism — Pgs. 108

13. Ny¹ya and Vaisheshika Philosophy — Pgs. 118

14. S¹¡khya and Yoga Philosophy — Pgs. 124

15. Purva Mim¹‚sa and Vedanta Philosophy — Pgs. 133

16. Harmony of Philosophical Schools — Pgs. 140

17. Philosophy, Sect and the Holy tradition — Pgs. 145

18. Epilogue — Pgs. 152

Born at the Chuda village of the Surendranagar district in Gujarat in 1950, Shri Suresh Soni belongs to a very simple family. At the tender age of sixteen, he engaged himself in various social activities. At the time of the declaration of ‘Emergency’ in India, he had to bear the brunt of the admonition by the government due to his patriotism and devotion for his motherland. During this period, he was in Indore jail.
Though Shri Soni is a student of political science, yet science is the subject of his interest. He has made his mark by being an expert orator on issues related to science as well as philosophy. His famous published works include books such as India’s Glorious Scientific Tradition, Gurutva Yani Hindutva, Bharat : Ateet, Vartmaan Aur Bhavishya and Hamari Sanskritik Vichardhara Ke Mool Srot.