Śruti (scripture)
   HOME
*





Śruti (scripture)
''Śruti'' or shruti ( sa, श्रुति, , ) in Sanskrit means "that which is heard" and refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism. Manusmriti states: ''Śrutistu vedo vijñeyaḥ'' ( Devanagari: श्रुतिस्तु वेदो विज्ञेयः) meaning, "Know that Vedas are Śruti". Thus, it includes the four Vedas including its four types of embedded texts—the Samhitas, the Upanishads, the Brahmanas and the Aranyakas.Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (1988), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, Manchester University Press, , pages 2-3 ''Śruti''s has been variously described as a revelation through ''anubhava'' (direct experience), or of primordial origins realized by ancient Rishis.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Shruti", The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N–Z, Rosen Publishing. , page 645 In Hindu tradition, they have been referred to as ''apauruṣeya'' (not created ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Religious Text
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual practices, commandments or laws, ethical conduct, spiritual aspirations, and for creating or fostering a religious community. The relative authority of religious texts develops over time and is derived from the ratification, enforcement, and its use across generations. Some religious texts are accepted or categorized as canonical, some non-canonical, and others extracanonical, semi-canonical, deutero-canonical, pre-canonical or post-canonical. "Scripture" (or "scriptures") is a subset of religious texts considered to be "especially authoritative", revered and "holy writ", "sacred, canonical", or of "supreme authority, special status" to a religious community. The terms ''sacred text'' and ''religious text'' are not necessarily interchangeable ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Mīmāṃsā
''Mīmāṁsā'' (Sanskrit: मीमांसा) is a Sanskrit word that means "reflection" or "critical investigation" and thus refers to a tradition of contemplation which reflected on the meanings of certain Vedic texts.Mimamsa
Encyclopædia Britannica (2014)
This tradition is also known as Pūrva-Mīmāṁsā because of its focus on the earlier (''pūrva'') Vedic texts dealing with ritual actions, and similarly as Karma-Mīmāṁsā due to its focus on ritual action (''karma'').Chris Bartley (2013), Purva Mimamsa, in ''Encyclopaedia of Asian Philosophy'' (Editor: Oliver Leaman), Routledge, 978-0415862530, page 443-445 It is one of six Vedic "affirming" ( āstika) schools of

picture info

ṛta
In the Vedic religion, ''Ṛta'' (; Sanskrit ' "order, rule; truth") is the principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it. In the hymns of the Vedas, ''Ṛta'' is described as that which is ultimately responsible for the proper functioning of the natural, moral and sacrificial orders. Conceptually, it is closely allied to the injunctions and ordinances thought to uphold it, collectively referred to as ''Dharma'', and the action of the individual in relation to those ordinances, referred to as ''Karma'' – two terms which eventually eclipsed ''Ṛta'' in importance as signifying natural, religious and moral order in later Hinduism. Sanskrit scholar Maurice Bloomfield referred to ''Ṛta'' as "one of the most important religious conceptions of the "Rigveda", going on to note that, "from the point of view of the history of religious ideas we may, in fact we must, begin the history of Hindu religion at least with ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sacred Books Of The East
The ''Sacred Books of the East'' is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious texts, edited by Max Müller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910. It incorporates the essential sacred texts of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, and Islam. All of the books are in the public domain in the United States Works are in the public domain if they are not covered by intellectual property rights (such as copyright) at all, or if the intellectual property rights to the works have expired. All works first published or released in the United States b ..., and most or all are in the public domain in many other countries. Electronic versions of all 50 volumes are widely available online. References External links {{wikisource, Sacred Books of the East, ''Sacred Books of the East''''Sacred Books of the East'' on archive.org
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Nāradasmṛti
is a part of the Dharmaśāstras, written about 2400 years ago in two recensions the south India Naradamanusamhita and Nepal, in Newari language that serves as a collection of legal maxims relating to the topic of dharma. This text is purely juridical in character in that it focuses solely on procedural and substantive law. Known as the "juridical text par excellence," the is the only Dharmaśāstra text to not cover areas such as righteous conduct and penance.Lariviere 1989: ix Its focused nature has made the text highly valued by rulers and their governments, in Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia, likely as an aid of carrying out their dharma of justly ruling the country. Recensions Today there exist three recognized versions of Naradasmriti, also called Naradiya Dharmasastra. First, there is the “minor” recension, consisting of 879 verses and referred to by the siglum D. Next comes the recension known by the siglum P and consisting originally of 550 verses. Joll ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Manusmṛti
The ''Manusmṛiti'' ( sa, मनुस्मृति), also known as the ''Mānava-Dharmaśāstra'' or Laws of Manu, is one of the many legal texts and constitution among the many ' of Hinduism. In ancient India, the sages often wrote their ideas on how society should run in the manuscripts. It is believed that the original form of ''Manusmriti'' was changed as many things written in the manuscript contradict each other. Over fifty manuscripts of the ''Manusmriti'' are now known, but the earliest discovered, most translated and presumed authentic version since the 18th century has been the "Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) manuscript with Kulluka Bhatta commentary". Modern scholarship states this presumed authenticity is false, and the various manuscripts of ''Manusmriti'' discovered in India are inconsistent with each other, and within themselves, raising concerns of its authenticity, insertions and interpolations made into the text in later times. The metrical text is in Sansk ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Shakha
A shakha (Sanskrit ', "branch" or "limb") is a Hindu theological school that specializes in learning certain Vedic texts, or else the traditional texts followed by such a school.V. S. Apte. A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary, p. 913, left column.Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, p. 1062, right column. An individual follower of a particular school or recension is called a '. The term is also used in Hindu philosophy to refer to an adherent of a particular orthodox system. A related term ', ("conduct of life" or "behavior") is also used to refer to such a Vedic school: "although the words ' and ' are sometimes used synonymously, yet ' properly applies to the sect or collection of persons united in one school, and ' to the traditional text followed, as in the phrase ', (''"he recites a particular version of the Veda"'')". The schools have different points of view, described as "difference of (Vedic) school" ('). Each school would learn a specific Vedic (one of the "four ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Aranyaka
The Aranyakas (; sa, आरण्यक; IAST: ' ) are the part of the ancient Indian Vedas concerned with the meaning of ritual sacrifice. They typically represent the later sections of the Vedas, and are one of many layers of the Vedic texts. The other parts of the Vedas are the Samhitas (benedictions, hymns), Brahmanas (commentary), and the Upanishads (spirituality and abstract philosophy).A Bhattacharya (2006), Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology, , pages 8-14 ''Aranyakas'' describe and discuss rituals from various perspectives; some include philosophical speculations. For example, the Katha Aranyaka discusses rituals connected with the ''Pravargya''. The Aitareya Aranyaka includes explanation of the ''Mahavrata'' ritual from ritualisitic to symbolic meta-ritualistic points of view. ''Aranyakas'', however, neither are homogeneous in content nor in structure. ''Aranyakas'' are sometimes identified as ''karma-kanda'' (कर्मकाण्ड), ritualisti ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Brahmana
The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within each Veda, which explain and instruct on the performance of Vedic rituals (in which the related Samhitas are recited). In addition to explaining the symbolism and meaning of the Samhitas, Brahmana literature also expounds scientific knowledge of the Vedic Period, including observational astronomy and, particularly in relation to altar construction, geometry. Divergent in nature, some Brahmanas also contain mystical and philosophical material that constitutes Aranyakas and Upanishads. Each Veda has one or more of its own Brahmanas, and each Brahmana is generally associated with a particular Shakha or Vedic school. Less than twenty Brahmanas are currently extant, as most have been lost or destroyed. Dating of the final codification of the ''B ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Atharvaveda
The Atharva Veda (, ' from ' and ''veda'', meaning "knowledge") is the "knowledge storehouse of ''atharvāṇas'', the procedures for everyday life".Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, , page 38 The text is the fourth Veda, and is a late addition to the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism.Laurie Patton (1994), Authority, Anxiety, and Canon: ys in Vedic Interpretation, State University of New York Press, , page 57 The language of the Atharvaveda is different from Vedic Sanskrit, preserving pre-Vedic Indo-European archaisms. It is a collection of 730 hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books.Maurice BloomfieldThe Atharvaveda Harvard University Press, pages 1-2 About a sixth of the Atharvaveda texts adapts verses from the Rigveda, and except for Books 15 and 16, the text is mainly in verse deploying a diversity of Vedic meters. Two different recensions of the text – the and the – have sur ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Samaveda
The Samaveda (, from ' "song" and ' "knowledge"), is the Veda of melodies and chants. It is an ancient Vedic Sanskrit text, and part of the scriptures of Hinduism. One of the four Vedas, it is a liturgical text which consists of 1,875 verses. All but 75 verses have been taken from the Rigveda. Three recensions of the Samaveda have survived, and variant manuscripts of the Veda have been found in various parts of India. While its earliest parts are believed to date from as early as the Rigvedic period, the existing compilation dates from the post-Rigvedic Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit, between c. 1200 and 1000 BCE or "slightly rather later," roughly contemporary with the Atharvaveda and the Yajurveda. Embedded inside the Samaveda is the widely studied Chandogya Upanishad and Kena Upanishad, considered as primary Upanishads and as influential on the six schools of Hindu philosophy, particularly the Vedanta school. The Samaveda set important foundations for the subsequent India ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]