Hindu, Vedic & Yoga (Philosophy)

The Hindu / Vedic / Sanatana Dharma app world spans many traditions — Vaishnava (Vedabase / ISKCON), Smarta / Vedanta, Shaiva, Shakta, Yoga (philosophical / sadhana side, not just asana), Sant / bhakti lineages, and Sanskrit-as-language. Most reference texts are public domain and free; commentary apps span free organizational outputs (BAPS, Chinmaya, Ramakrishna Math) and paid teacher-driven apps (Isha, Art of Living).

Sister sections: Yoga & Mobility (asana), Sacred Reading & Lectio Divina, Mantra & Chanting, Online Courses & Dharma Talks, Retreats, Sangha & Community, Meditation Apps, Mental Health Journaling.

Core text references

• ★ Vedabase (Bhaktivedanta VedaBase) — free + paid; Bhagavad Gita As It Is + Srimad-Bhagavatam + Caitanya-Caritamrta + Srila Prabhupada's books; ISKCON / Gaudiya-Vaishnava perspective; comprehensive translations + purports.
  • https://vedabase.io/
• ★ GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages) — free; machine-readable Sanskrit texts; academic; covers Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Itihasas, etc.
• ★ Sacred-Texts.com — free; classic public-domain translations of Vedic / Hindu texts (Max Müller's SBE, Griffith's Rig Veda, etc.); old translations but stable.
• Wisdom Library — free; cross-tradition Indian / Buddhist / Jain text aggregator.
• Hindu Online / Vedanta Library — free; collections.

Bhagavad Gita

• Bhagavad Gita As It Is (Prabhupada) — free Vedabase; print paid; Vaishnava perspective.
• Bhagavad Gita (Eknath Easwaran) — paid print; widely-used non-sectarian edition; popular in Western yoga circles.
• Bhagavad Gita (Swami Mukundananda) — free apps + web (jkyog.org); Hindi + English with commentary.
• Bhagavad Gita (Chinmaya Mission) — free apps; Swami Chinmayananda's commentary.
• Holy Bhagavad Gita (Krishna.com / ISKCON) — free.

Upanishads / Vedanta

• Vedanta.com (Vedanta Society) — free + paid; Ramakrishna Math materials.
• Chinmaya Mission resources — free + paid; Swami Chinmayananda's Vedanta lectures.
• Sankara's commentaries — Sacred-Texts and various publishers; classical Advaita.
• Arsha Vidya / Swami Dayananda — paid + free; structured Vedanta course materials.

Devotional / Bhakti

• ISKCON Apps: 108 Mala (counter), Krishna Connect, Vedabase.
• BAPS Swaminarayan apps — free; the BAPS apps are very polished and free; daily darshan, calendar, Vachanamrut.
• Ramakrishna Math — free apps; Sri Ramakrishna's Gospel.
• Sai Baba (Shirdi / Sathya) — free + paid apps.
• Hare Krishna app / Mantra apps — free.

Teacher-driven (paid) apps

• Isha (Sadhguru) — paid + free; Sadhguru's content; meditation, yoga (Inner Engineering), philosophy; high-production; Isha Foundation.
• Art of Living (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar) — paid + free; Sudarshan Kriya breathing program; Bhagavad Gita / Vedanta commentary.
• Heartfulness (Daaji) — paid + free; Sahaj Marg lineage meditation.
• Brahma Kumaris — free; Raja Yoga meditation (specific BK style).

Sanskrit / language

• Sanskrit Heritage (INRIA) — free; Sanskrit dictionary + parser.
• Sanskrit Documents (sanskritdocuments.org) — free; large collection of stotras, hymns, texts in Devanagari + transliteration.
• Spoken Sanskrit dictionary — free.
• American Institute of Vedic Studies (David Frawley) — paid + free.

Yoga as philosophy / sadhana (not asana)

• Yoga Sutras of Patanjali — public domain; many translations:
  • Edwin Bryant's translation + commentary — paid; the rigorous English-language edition.
  • Vivekananda's Raja Yoga — public domain; classic but dated.
  • Iyengar's Light on the Yoga Sutras — paid.
• Hatha Yoga Pradipika — public domain; classical hatha source.
• Iyengar Yoga Resource Center — paid + free; structured Iyengar curriculum.
• Ashtanga Yoga — community sites / Mysore lineages; KPJAYI traditions.
• For asana practice apps see Yoga & Mobility.

Stotras / chants / liturgy

• Sanskrit Documents stotras — free; thousands of stotras, suktas, chants.
• Vedic Mantras app — free + paid options.
• Chinmaya Chants / Art of Living chants — free + paid recordings.
• Vande Guru Paramparam — recorded chant collections.
• See Mantra & Chanting for chanting practice.

Calendar / panchang

• Drik Panchang — free; the standard panchang reference site.
• Panchang apps — free / paid; festival dates, muhurta, tithi.
• Hindu Calendar (various) — free Android / iOS apps.

Tradition-specific lineages

• Sri Vidya / Shakta — Devi Mahatmyam (free PDFs), specific guru-paramparas; in-person required for full initiation.
• Kashmir Shaivism — Lakshmanjoo Academy (free + paid), Christopher Wallis's Tantra Illuminated (paid book).
• Smarta / Adi Shankara — Sringeri / Kanchi Mathas; free resources from each.
• Gaudiya Vaishnava (ISKCON / Gaudiya Math) — Vedabase; bhakti-tirtha resources.

Honest framing

• Hinduism is a meta-tradition — different lineages disagree fundamentally. An app from one tradition (ISKCON, Isha, Art of Living, BAPS) reflects that tradition's interpretive choices.
• The guru-disciple relationship is load-bearing in most Hindu traditions; apps and books are introductory not transmissive.
• Yoga (asana) without yoga (philosophy / yamas-niyamas) is the Western default; both are part of the original system.
• Some teacher-led apps have institutional controversies — investigate before deep commitment to any single teacher / org.
• Caste, devotional emphasis, sectarian polemics — present in some texts and commentaries; read critically.

Cost / license honesty

• Vedabase / GRETIL / Sacred-Texts / Sanskrit Documents / BAPS / Ramakrishna Math — free.
• Isha / Art of Living / Heartfulness — paid programs (~$200-2000 for flagship courses).
• Print Bhagavad Gitas / Upanishad editions — paid (~$15-40 per book).

Pick this if…

• Want comprehensive ISKCON-tradition canon: Vedabase.
• Want academic Sanskrit texts: GRETIL + Sanskrit Documents.
• Want public-domain classic translations: Sacred-Texts.com.
• Bhagavad Gita, non-sectarian: Eknath Easwaran (paid print) or Mukundananda (free apps).
• Kriya yoga / pranayama-led: Art of Living (Sudarshan Kriya) or Isha (Inner Engineering).
• Devotional Vaishnava: Vedabase + Krishna.com.
• BAPS Swaminarayan tradition: BAPS apps.
• Vedanta / Advaita curriculum: Chinmaya Mission or Arsha Vidya.
• Sanskrit language: Sanskrit Heritage + Spoken Sanskrit.