Śruti
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Śruti (Devanagari श्रुति, "what is heard") is a canon of Hindu sacred texts. They do not date to a particular period, but span the entire history of Hinduism, beginning with the earliest texts known, with some late Upanishads reaching down into modern times.
Śruti has no author; rather, it is divine recording of the "cosmic sounds of truth", heard by rishis.
There are several contesting ways to define śruti. It is most commonly defined along the compositional lines of the four Vedas:
- Rig-Veda Knowledge of Hymns of Praise
- Atharva-Veda Knowledge of Magic Formulas
- Sama-Veda Knowledge of Melodies
- Yajur-Veda Knowledge of Sacrificial Formulas
Some sub-divisions within the scriptures, such as the Aranyakas, Brahmanas, and Upanishads, belong to the set of works distinctly labeled as śruti. In addition, the Mahabharata (an Itihasa, or History, also part of the "friendly scripture" class) is considered by some to be śruti and is sometimes called the 'fifth' Veda. Sometimes the Bhagavad Gita, a chapter within the Mahabharata, is separately considered as worthy of the śruti status.
