Source Standards

Source hierarchy

1. Primary textual sources: identified scripture, hymn, or edition, including mandala, sukta, chapter, or verse numbers where available.
2. Institutional and scholarly references: universities, public cultural institutions, established text archives, critical editions, and reputable bibliographic records.
3. Documented living traditions: temple, community, and lineage practices, explicitly described as traditions that may vary.
4. Secondary explanatory sources: used to clarify context, not to override a primary text.

Text variants and translations

Devotional works often circulate in multiple scripts, spellings, verse orders, and sung versions. We identify meaningful variants when they affect the reader’s understanding, and record each one with the edition that carries it. English meanings are explanatory translations, not replacements for the source language or claims of a single final interpretation.

Citation rules

• Cornerstone pages link directly to the references used.
• Vedic material includes a precise hymn or verse location where available.
• Historical authorship is attributed cautiously and uncertainty is disclosed.
• Search snippets, anonymous posts, and AI-generated answers are not treated as sufficient evidence on their own.
• A broken or changed source link is replaced without silently changing the underlying claim.
• Every citation names a record in the shared source registry.

Public verification manifest

The machine-readable content verification manifest lists every page currently carrying a verification label, the responsible publisher, method, source URLs and source records, last-verified date, and expert-review status. The manifest is generated from the same records used on the visible pages so the two cannot drift silently.

Frequently used reference collections

• Sanskrit Documents for public text comparison and variant discovery.
• Rigveda Online for hymn and verse identification.
• University, government cultural, publisher, and library records for bibliographic or historical claims.