~Sruti & Smriti~

[bingleguy]

Śruti & Smriti

A theme that forms the base of Hinduism.

Śruti means "What is heard" and Smriti means "That which is remembered" in Sanskrit !Lets pour in our views on "Śruti & Smriti" ! They are believed to be the canon of the Hindu Sacred Texts !


Śruti (Sanskrit श्रुति, "what is heard")

They do not date to a particular period, but span the entire history of Hinduism, beginning with the earliest texts known, with some late Upanishads reaching down into modern times.

Śruti is said to have no author; rather, it is believed to be a divine recording of the "cosmic sounds of truth", heard by rishis.

There are several contesting ways to define śruti. It is most commonly defined to be composed of the four Vedas:

* Rig-Veda Knowledge of Hymns of Praise
* Atharva-Veda Knowledge of Magic Formulas
* Sama-Veda Knowledge of Melodies
* Yajur-Veda Knowledge of Sacrificial Formulas

Some sub-divisions within the scriptures, such as the Aranyakas, Brahmanas, and Upanishads, belong to the set of works distinctly labeled as śruti. In addition, the Mahabharata (an Itihasa, or History, also part of the "friendly scripture" class) is considered by some to be śruti and is sometimes called the 'fifth' Veda. Sometimes the Bhagavad Gita, a chapter within the Mahabharata, is separately considered as worthy of the śruti status.

Smriti (Sanskrit स्मॄति, "that which is remembered")

Smriti also denotes non-Shruti texts generally, seen as secondary in authority to Shruti.

Categorization of the Smriti has been a contentious issue, even the names of proposed categories are debated. Such categorization is arguably unnecessary. Nevertheless, one such taxonomy follows:

* Dharma Shastra (the laws)
* Mahakavya (the Epics; they include Mahabharata and the Ramayana)
* Purana (secondary scriptures that mainly focus on eulogize Vishnu or Shiva as the preferred supreme Deity.)
* Sutra (proverbs or aphorisms)
* Agama (the philosophies; including Mantra, Tantra, and Yantra)
* Dyasana (the philosophies; including the Vedanta)

Courtesy:Wikipedia

[bingleguy]

Śruti (Sanskrit श्रुति, "what is heard")

The primary source of Hinduism from which it derives all its authority and inspiration is the body of literature known as the vedas, which are four in number. They are Rg veda, Yajur-veda, sAma veda, and atharva-veda. They were not written by any single person or persons. In fact they were not 'written' at all, until, in the nineteenth century, they were put into print. Till then, over the centuries, they were transmitted orally. It ius one of the amazing miracles of the Indian heritage that, while even the written literature of great authors like Kalidasa and Shakespeare have today more than one reading or version at several points, the Vedas, which go back to 3000 B.C. have, in spite of being handed down entirely through oral transmission, come down to us in a single version. Throughout the length and breadth of India, where the Vedas are treasured as the most ancient heritage, not a syllable of them is different in one place from what it is everywhere else.

Orthodox opinion holds that the vedas are eternal. The significance of this will be understood only if the concept of Time in Hindu cosmology is understood.

Let us come to what the vedas talk about. They talk about creation, Nature and God. They sing ecstatically about the bounties of Mother Nature. They glorify the majesty that is transparent in the workings of nature. They contain long, prosaic instructions on rituals to be followed for propitiating various gods. They make impressive poetic appeals to the grace of these gods. They discuss life and deathand everything that touches man in his journey through life.

The subject matter of the vedas is usually looked at in terms of three categories or parts, called kANDas, technically. These three parts are not physically separated in the vedas. Material relevant to all three subjects are scattered throughout the texts. The karma kANDa discusses the duties of an individual, particularly of a householder, the rites and sacrifices that he must perform and how he should perform them. In the upAsana-kANDa the theme is divine communion and worship. The jnAna-kANDa is metaphysical disquisition about ultimate reality and the transience of ordinary sensory experience. These excursions into metaphysics particularly occur in the last portions of the vedas, called the Upanishads.

Courtesy : The Internet !

[Eelavar]

Good post.

But make careful mate your thread could be closed for 'secularism'... :roll:

[crazy]

bg: good topic :) :thumbsup: :clap:

[ramky]

Vasanth : nice topic & info ! :clap:

[Surya]

Mr. Vasantharaman!!! :D :clap: :clap: Awesome Topic!! Good Posts!! :D

I have a Q: So seeing that Chaturvedas are Srutis, is it hard to believe that they do infact go back more than just 3000 BC, even through the eyes of a Secular Human Being? :)

Also:

Since Ramayan and Mahabharath are Smrithis, does it mean that they do only date back to what the epics are dated back to by Historians (Mainly European)?

Lets take Ramayan for Example:
In its current form, the Valmiki Ramayana is dated variously from the fifth century to the first century BCE. But like the Vedas, could they have been Sruties and then later on after being written, become Smrithies, which makes them ALSO date back long before just Firth - First Century BCE? :)

[bingleguy]

HI All !

Sorry for a brief break on this subject !

Ealavar :-) i shall take it .... watching n minding every step :-) thanks for your info sir !

We shall continue on Smriti n Sruti aspects !

[Badri]

Good information. One other additional aspect about Shruti and Smriti is that the former can be used as pramana or Proof. The words Shruti Pramana indicate this.

According to Sanathana Dharma, what the Vedas say are the Truth. They can be quoted to demonstrate the truth of any statement.

For example, if I make a scriptural statement, the statement is valid only if it satisfied one or more of the following

a) It can be directly perceived - Pratyaksha Pramana
b) It can be logically reasoned - Anumana Pramana
c) It is said so in the Vedas - Shruti Pramana or Sabda Pramana

Else it is just imagination or prevarication.

The same status has not been given to the Smriti.

Although Mahabharatha has been called Panchama Veda, it is still an Itihasa and the Pancham Veda status is more in praise of what it contains. Going by the Pramana aspect, it cannot be, strictly speaking, called Veda or shruti.

Bhagwad Gita, although a part of the MB, is not Itihasa but Shastra. It is defined as a Yoga Shastra and even as an Upanishad - Gitopanishad, which status it attains because it is the word of the Lord Himself and therefore Pramana even as Shruti itself is.

Of the four vedas, the first three are properly shruti and are also known as Trayee. Atharvana veda, again, is not pramana.

[bingleguy]

:notworthy: :clap: Badri sir :-)

Was expecting an intellectual like you to share your thoughts :-) Thanks a TON !

True ....Thanks for the three Pramanas - Pratyaksha, Anumana and Shruti !

Just a Q !
Why Atharvana Veda does not come into Pramanas Badri ????

[Badri]

Atharvana Veda is as much Shruti as the other three.

However, there are sections in the Atharva that are condemmed by Atharva itself. There are doubts concerning the authenticity of several parts of the Atharva. Sections of Atharva also deal with Abhichara, or "black magic".

Also, Atharva deals more with secular stuff than the spiritual. Because of all these and other reasons, the learned do not consider Atharva to be pramana

[bingleguy]

Good Quote indeed ! Badri sir :clap:

[bingleguy]

I feel the works which are expressly called Smritis are the law books, Dharma Sastras !

Is that true ????

[Badri]

Yes, that is true. The Smrti makes up the Dharmasastras.

But this classification as you have said earlier is contentious. To better understand this, we must know what the Dharmasastras are.

The 6th anga of the Veda is the Kalpa which deals with the methods to be followed for rituals. Obviously there are several injunctions on what to do and what not to do. These are given in the form of the Kalpa Sutras which themselves are several. A sutra is a terse utterance, a very pithy statement.

The Dharmasastras were later expounded to explain these sutras. Thus, they became elaborate treatises that deal with what to do and what not to do in order to live a life as ordained by the Shruti. This gave rise to traditions to be followed or what we also call Sastras. This is Smriti.

In that case, why should we include Itihasa-Puraanadi as part of Smriti?

To understand this, we must look at the definition of the Smriti itself.

Samskara janyam jnanam Smrtih - Knowledge born out of recollection of doing is called Smriti

We have done something previously and when we recollect that, we call it memory. This is Smriti. Itihasa and Purana are tales of people who have followed this Dharma, as expounded by the Shruti. It is actually a recounting of their samskaras. Therefore, going by the previous definition of Smriti, this also comes under the same category of Smriti.

[bingleguy]

Samskara-janyam jnanam Smrtih - Knowledge born out of recollection of doing is called Smriti

Do u feel dharma sastras were also just remembered and not written ?

[Badri]

Not so. The Dharmasastras were written. But they were the products of recollecting a life lived according to the injunctions of the Shruti.

Dharmasastras are not said to be apourusheya...they have definite human authors. To make it easy to understand, let me put it this way. The Sages who saw the truth of the Vedas then lived accordingly. When they recollected the manner in which they carried out the Vedic injunctions, they decided to put it down as Dharmasastras so that others who had not "seen" like they had can also benefit by it.