Start with the claim
Source work begins by asking what kind of claim the page makes. A scripture reference needs a named text and edition. A historical claim needs scholarship. A festival date needs a calendar source and local caveat. A description of living ritual may require ethnography, institutional material, or a clearly labeled community source.
Primary texts
Primary Hindu texts include Vedic materials, Upanishads, epics, Puranas, Agamas, Tantras, philosophical sutras, devotional poetry, and other sources. They differ in genre, language, date, transmission, and authority. A story from one Purana or Ramayana recension is not presented as the universal version.
Translations and editions
A source entry identifies translator or editor, title, publisher, and date where practical. The page distinguishes translation from commentary. Modern wording is not copied simply because the underlying Sanskrit is old; translator copyright and quotation limits still apply.
Academic scholarship
Peer-reviewed and university-press scholarship supports historical, textual, philosophical, and ethnographic context. One scholar is not the final voice on a living tradition. Where significant debates affect a beginner’s answer, the page states the disagreement rather than manufacturing certainty.
Tradition-specific sources
Temple, lineage, teacher, and Hindu educational sources can explain theology and practice from within a community. They are valuable when labeled. A Vaishnava explanation supports a claim about that Vaishnava context; it does not automatically prove that every Hindu school agrees.
Institutional and calendar sources
Museums, libraries, universities, publishers, government cultural resources, and official calendars may support art provenance, bibliography, dates, or public information. A civil holiday calendar is not a panchang and cannot calculate a universally correct ritual time. Festival pages therefore include location and date-variation cautions.
External links and preservation
Not every book citation requires a web link. Links are used when a reliable publisher, library, museum, government, or institutional page helps the reader identify the source. External material remains under its publisher’s responsibility and may change.
From source to published explanation
- Define the search intent and claim scope.
- Identify text, tradition, region, genre, and date needs.
- Compare more than one source where interpretation or translation matters.
- Write an original summary and label paraphrase clearly.
- Check internal links, quotations, bibliography, and context notices.
- Invite correction when readers can provide better evidence.