Śruti
If you are looking for the singer, see Shruti Haasan. For other meanings, see Śruti (disambiguation).
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Śruti (Sanskrit श्रुति, "heard") is a term that describes the sacred texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism and one of the three main sources of Hindu Law. These sacred works span the entire history of Hinduism, beginning with some of the earliest known Hindu texts and ending in the early modern period with the later Upanishads. Śruti is comprised of the four Vedas and various supplementary commentaries on these initial Vedas. This literature differs from other sources of Hindu Law, particularly Smrti or "remembered" texts, because of its purely divine origin. Śruti is considered to be a direct revelation of the “cosmic sound of truth” heard by ancient Rishis who then translated what was heard into something understandable by humans.
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 are supplemented by commentaries on each text which all belong to the śruti cannon:
The literature of the shakhas, or schools, further amplified the material associated with each of the four core traditions.[1]
Particular sections of the Bhagavata purana relating to the catur sloki and the concept of svayam bhagavan are considered Śruti by some Vaishnava Vedantists,[2] 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..."[3]
Notes
- ^ Gavin Flood An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge U.P. 1997, p 39.
- ^ Gupta, Ravi M. (2007). Caitanya Vaisnava Vedanta of Jiva Gosvami. Routledge. ISBN 0415405483.
- ^ “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
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