Sources & review

Begin with the claim, then find its evidence

Ask what a sentence claims: what a text says, how a translator understands it, what a community practises, or what the handbook suggests. Those claims need different kinds of support. A link to a source is useful only when the identified passage supports the statement beside it.

1. Identify the work and the exact passage, chapter, verse or section.
2. Name the edition and translator; keep alternative numbering visible when relevant.
3. Read the surrounding passage, including who speaks and to whom.
4. Separate the original wording from translation choices, commentary and handbook explanation.
5. Ask how far the evidence reaches. One textual description does not establish every community’s present practice.

Four useful labels

• Text in translation: a named original work accessed through an identified translator. An English rendering is mediated by that translator.
• Commentary or named teaching: an explanation by a named Indian Hindu teacher or author. A hosting organisation is identified separately. Record its perspective and cite it as an interpretation.
• Living practice or family memory: an account with a community, person and setting. Record what was witnessed and what was reported by someone else.
• Handbook guidance: our reading questions, planning prompts or organisational suggestions. These are not quotations from scripture.

Historical objects and preserved booklets are also evidence with limits: an object establishes something about that object; a supplied booklet preserves that document. Neither alone proves a universal custom.

Worked example: text and a reading activity

In the Upaniṣads guide, the original Sanskrit of Kaṭha 1.3.3–4 supplies the chariot comparison. Its named parts belong to the passage. The suggestion to sketch those parts belongs to the handbook. A claim that every Hindu school interprets the passage identically would require additional evidence.

Try this distinction on one sentence in another guide. Record the sentence, its category and the source that supports it. If you cannot establish the connection, keep it marked as unresolved.

What research-status labels mean

Research draft / specialist review pending means a page is available to read while relevant specialist checks remain incomplete. Publication does not establish independent scholarly approval, pronunciation accuracy or suitability as ritual instruction.

Source-linked introduction means the guide identifies evidence for a focused reading. It does not claim exhaustive coverage of a subject. In development / research queue means a pathway remains incomplete. Consult the actual scope statement before relying on any guide.

If sources or accounts disagree

Check whether they use the same text, edition, passage number and setting. Record the disagreement explicitly. Consult a second identified translation or a qualified reader when needed. Do not resolve an uncertain point by silently combining incompatible accounts. The variation guide offers a method for comparing family and textual accounts.

A reusable source note

Keep these fields together: claim; work and passage; edition/translator; source link; kind of evidence; context; limits; date checked; and unresolved review question. This is a handbook record template, not a claim that every existing page already supplies every field.