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Shortest Holy Book
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K.Venugopal
Immobile Wanderer
Till someone gives a technically correct answer, I am reminded of a seminar where the subject was sex. All the scholars gave long discourses on the subject and were received well. At last one scholar got up to speak, looked the large audience over and began, "Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure ..." and sat down!
I suppose the shortest Holy book would be the one wherein it is written just a single word - LOVE.
I suppose the shortest Holy book would be the one wherein it is written just a single word - LOVE.
Possibly Taoism. The Tao Te Ching is notably small.
DreadFish
Cosmic Vagabond
Thats a great story lol
DreadFish
Cosmic Vagabond
Good question. And did all the writers of such books actually write them intending "This is to a be a Holy Book!". It kind of seems like its the people later on who turn these into 'holy' books. Maybe. Just an interesting thought.
WayFarer
Rogue Scholar
The reason is people like things complicated. Take the Bible for instance. What are the two most important commandments?
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." [Matt22:37-40]
That should be it. Done. You now know all that you need to. The Bible on a postage stamp. But then why does it go on? Because people like things complicated and they love drama. So it is as big as it is. Law is the same way. Why are there so many laws when only a handful make sense? People like things complicated.
DreadFish
Cosmic Vagabond
I agree, very good example.
GabrielWithoutWings
Well-Known Member
The Kitab al-Jilwa is pretty short.
ahmed.zafar
Member
I only know 3 Different religion books. Bible, Quran and Geta. In these 3 i thing Bible is the shortest one.
Caladan
Agnostic Pantheist
I think you are a bit confused. the Qur'an is much shorter than the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), and a bit longer than the New Testament and the Gita being the shortest one.
I managed to read most of the Qur'an in one sitting, and all the New Testament in one sitting, something I haven't even tried doing with the Hebrew Bible.
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K.Venugopal
Immobile Wanderer
I have just found out that the following:
Old Testament 23,214 verses
New Testament 7,959 verses
Quran 6,346 verses
Gita 700 verses
(The Gita is actually a portion of the long epic of Mahabharatha, having 100,000 verses.)
Cypress
Dragon Mom
What about the Mandukya Upanishad?
Shorter is hardly possible.
Shorter is hardly possible.
Well, if you're going to cite that, how about the Sadhana Panchakam?
Sadhana Panchakam
Only 5 verses.
doppelganger
Through the Looking Glass
It has great pictures and handy charts, too!You can read the Principia Discordia in less than an hour.
But it takes a lifetime to understand it.
Isn't it a bit of a stretch to mention holy books with 12 verses or less? I thought the OP meant "core" holy books or something similar.