Great Scriptures, Literatures and Books of Hindus: 1
Posted by kathavarta on January 28, 2009
Hindu is person who believes that everything in this universe is part of the cosmic self working towards the betterment of the human life in such a manner that it does not interfere in the privacy of others.
For doing such things he may take the guidence of various scriptures written by great Rishis, Saints and Sadhus.
SHRUTI
Sruti is the divine revelations that have been bestowed upon whole world for the benefit of the mankind. Sruti is the knowledge that has been provided not by a mortal but is revealed through intuitive capabilities. The layman definition of Sruti is to hear.
The Vedas are also known as Sruti as the term Veda is taken from the root world Vid meaning to know.
But what is to be known and what is to be heard.
It is believed that none of the Vedas is written by the humans rather it is the knowledge that was revealed to them through the process of five senses. This knowledge is more on terms with the paranormal phenomenon and also the knowledge on the basis of existence that surrounds us.
The term ‘Rishi’ is used for those enlightened beings who were blessed with the revelations, as the term Rishi is taken from the root Drish meaning to see. They were the medium between the physical world and the spiritual world. They used to provide the knowledge to layman and spiritual seekers in similar manner.
SMRITIS
Sruti as mentioned earlier is the divine revelations that have been bestowed upon the whole world for the benefit of the mankind. It is the divine knowledge, while Smritis are secondary documents, which had its basis on the Sruti. They are law codes dealing extensively on the Sanatana Varnasrama dharma.
For knowledge to be easily understood it is necessary that the levels of knowledge is broken down in various parts so that the understanding becomes simple and strong. Smritis base their teaching on the Vedas and help in explaining and supplementing the knowledge of Viddhi section of the Vedas in a more elaborate manner.
Smritis cover a broad area of knowledge from the Dharma shastras and also lays down instructions that regulate the individuals, family, society, region, state and country on their customs, duties and religious activities.
Smritis are ever changing with the times and thus new additions were from time to time to provide the laws details as the customs, rituals presiding in the country at the period of time.
There are eighteen smritis, as below:
(1) Manu
(2) Yajnavalkya
(3) Parasara
(4) Vishnu
(5) Daksha
(6) Samvarta
(7) Vyasa
(8) Harita
(9) Satatapa
(10) Vasishtha
(11) Yama
(12) Apastamba
(13) Gautama
(14) Devala
(15) Sankha-Likhita
(16) Usana
(17) Atri
(18) Saunaka
The most prominent among them are of Manu, Yajnavalkya and Parasara.
This great article is taken from below book:
Book Name: INDIA, Known things Unknown secrets
Writer: R. VENUGOPALAN
ISBN: 81-8056-373-1
Book Code: BV-5725
Publisher: Health Harmony, New Delhi, India
