Maitreyi Paradigm- The Art and Science of Being Happy
  • Home
  • Maitreyi
  • Ancient Wisdom
  • Inner Healing
  • Wellness
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Inspired Living
  • Contact Us
    • Terms & Condtions

What do Sruti and Smriti mean?

7/10/2013

0 Comments

 
The word “Veda” means sacred knowledge. Knowledge is something which teaches us what are the actual facts of life; it helps build a person’s personality and his behaviour as a human being. The book introduces us to several experiences from which we learn and then apply those facts in our day to day life for a better personality and living. 

‘’Sruti’’ forms the base of ancient Vedic Culture and modern day Hinduism. The concept of Sruti is really around "that which was heard"- this was the knowledge which was revealed to the Rishis during deep contemplation (meditative sadhana).  It is completely in ancient Sanskrit and is considered to have no author or that it is an “apaurushiya” text, i.e.  a text that has no human author but the god himself has created this sacred work. In Sanskrit, the word Sruti means – the knowledge that we have heard. Sruti is the sacred collection of text which comprises of the four Vedas Rig-Veda, Samveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. These Vedas were then subsequently divided into sub-divisions such as Aranyakas, Brahmana and Upanishads. 

On the other hand, ‘Smriti’ refers to the text which is remembered by the saints and the ‘knowledge that is remembered’ is then passed to the followers of the saint. In ancient times, small children were sent to ‘gurukuls’ so that they can inculcate the knowledge ‘rishi-munis’ have. The principle behind Smriti is to explain the term ‘dharma’. Smriti is a proof-read text which contains verified recitals that are transmitted from generation to generation to explain to its preachers and followers – What is dharma? Smriti is a human originated collection of text which consists of several categories such as the ‘Dharmashastra’, which contains the laws of dharma. One famous category within this is ‘Manavadharmashastra’ which consists of ‘Laws of Manu’ – a famous text. The second category is Mahakavya which comprises of the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. The third one is the ‘Purana’ which centralizes on supremacy of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. The fourth one is ‘Agama’ which includes different mantras, yantra and tantra that are used to preach god and unite energies of the world. It also consists of ‘Bhagvat Gita’ which is the song for the god. There are several other categories of Smriti that are exclusively written by man such as holy saints and sages. The basic knowledge of Smriti comes from Shruti.

Thus the essential difference between Smriti and Sruti is – Sruti is the knowledge that originated from the divine lord himself. But, on the other hand, Smriti is the text that had a human originator – and those texts were carefully written so that people hear and read these texts to differentiate between right and wrong.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    ... also check out
    ​our main Blog

    Picture

    Vedic Wisdom

    Categories

    All
    Aartis And Chalisas
    Festival Celebrations
    Gods And Deities
    Help From Vedas
    Inspiring Quotations
    Jyotish For Ascension
    Myths And Beliefs
    Practical Ayurveda
    Prayers And Sadhanas
    Rishis And Sages
    Shloka For The Week
    Stories And Legends
    Tantra Mantra Yantra
    The Bhagavad Gita
    Thought Bytes
    Tools And Methods
    Vedic Archetypes
    Vedic Arts
    Vedic Living
    Vedic Maths
    Vedic Science
    Vedic Sounds
    Vedic Symbolism
    Vedic Technologies
    Vedic Texts
    Vedic Tradition
    Wisdom Bytes

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Vedic Culture, which   is the culture of the original Himalayan Masters,    is one of the most advanced ancient civilizations.  It is a tradition which has given mankind several treasures such Yoga, Meditation, Conscious-Living and Vedic Sciences such as Ayurveda, Vedic Physics & Vedic Mathematics.

    It was always a scientific culture that understood the very mechanics and workings of this Universe. Their deities, their gods and goddesses were all a way of expressing and explaining these energies and their inter-working. Modern Quantum Mechanics is just starting to understand string theory, dark matter etc. which have all been fundamental to the Vedic understanding. Because of this, they developed ways and methods which allowed one to best tap into life-energy itself.

    Vedic Culture, as it was practiced by the Himalayan Masters, was always a "way of life" and not a religion.

    Their basic view was that, there is only ONE Supreme God-head (God as our creator) and each one of us can find our path to it- experience union with that divinity (Yoga) in their own way.

    Because of this, anyone with any religious affiliations and beliefs can still benefit from their knowledgeable ways of Vedic Wisdom.

    Our attempt here is to present this ancient wisdom in a modern light, so our readers can interpret the true, essential meaning more easily and then extrapolate it to their own specific scenarios and enhance the quality of their life and being-ness.
    Check out Maitreyi's latest books...
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
© Copyright 2023 Maitreyi Gautam, Sandhya Bhat & ​Macro2Micro Media *** ALL RIGHTS RESERVED *** See Terms & Conditions for details on this site usage.