Śruti

"If you are looking for the singer, see "Shruti Haasan". For other meanings, see" Śruti (disambiguation).

IAST|Śruti (Sanskrit _sa. श्रुति, "heard") is a term that describes the sacred texts which comprise the central canon of Hinduism. These works span the entire history of Hinduism, beginning with the some of the earliest known Hindu texts and ending in the early modern period with the later Upanishads. Śruti literature differs from Smrti, or "remembered" texts - which are based upon tradition. Śruti are considered revealed records of the "cosmic sound of truth" heard by rishis (saints or sages).

Pre-eminent in śruti literature are the four Vedas:

* Rig-Veda (hymns recited by the hotar)
* Yajur-Veda (hymns recited by the adhvaryu)
* Sama-Veda (hymns recited by the udgatr)
* Atharva-Veda (a collection of ancient spells and charms)

The liturgical core of each of the Vedas was supplemented by commentaries, the Brahmanas and later the Aranyakas and Upanishads, which all belong to the śruti canon. The literature of the shakhas or schools further amplified the material associated with each of the four core traditions. [Gavin Flood "An Introduction to Hinduism", Cambridge U.P. 1997, p 39.]

Particular sections of the Bhagavata purana relating to the catur sloki and the concept of "svayam bhagavan" are considered Śruti by some Vaishnava Vedantists, [cite book
author = Gupta, Ravi M.
coauthors =
year = 2007
title = Caitanya Vaisnava Vedanta of Jiva Gosvami
publisher = Routledge
isbn = 0415405483] as is the Mahabharata (an "Itihasa", or History) or at least the chapter within the Mahabharata known as the Bhagavad Gita.

Max Muller in an 1865 lecture stated

"In no country, I believe, has the theory of revelation been so minutely elaborated as in India. The name for revelation in Sanskrit is Sruti, which means hearing; and this title distinguished the Vedic hymns and, at a later time, the Brahmanas also, from all other works, which however sacred and authoritative to the Hindu mind, are admitted to have been composed by human authors. The Laws of Manu, for instance, are not revelation; they are not Sruti, but only Smriti, which means recollection of tradition. If these laws or any other work of authority can be proved on any point to be at variance with a single passage of the Veda, their authority is at once overruled. According to the orthodox views of Indian theologians, not a single line of the Veda was the work of human authors. The whole Veda is in some way or the other the work of the Deity; and even those who saw it were not supposed to be ordinary mortals, but beings raised above the level of common humanity, and less liable therefore to error in the reception of revealed truth. The views entertained by the orthodox theologians of India are far more minute and elaborate than those of the most extreme advocates of verbal inspiration in Europe. The human element, called paurusheyatva in Sanskrit, is driven out of every corner or hiding place, and as the Veda is held to have existed in the mind of the Deity before the beginning of time..." [“Chips from a German Workshop” by Max Muller, Oxford University Press, 1867 - Chapter 1: “Lecture on the Vedas or the Sacred Books of the Brahmans, Delivered at Leeds, 1865”, pages 17-18]

Notes

ee also

* Puranas
* Ramayana
* Smriti
* Upanishads
* Vedas

External links

* [http://hinduism.iskcon.com/tradition/1105.htm Sacred texts of Hinduism]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/texts/texts.shtml Hindu texts]