Ескі Һинду діни мәтіндері: «Шрути» туралы ғылыми мақала

Authoritative scripture of Hinduism, created by Rishis (sages), after inspired creativity

Śruti or shruti (, , ) in Sanskrit means "that which is heard" and refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism. Śrutis has been variously described as a revelation through anubhava (direct experience), or of primordial origins realized by ancient Rishis. In Hindu tradition, they have been referred to as apauruṣeya (not created by humans). The Śruti texts themselves assert that they were skillfully created by Rishis (sages), after inspired creativity, just as a carpenter builds a chariot. All six schools of Hinduism accept the authority of śruti, but many scholars in these schools have denied that the śrutis are divine. A popular quote on supreme authority is Śruti can be found in Manusmriti (Adhyaya 1, Mantra 132) that Dharmaṃ jijñāsamānānāṃ pramāṇaṃ paramaṃ śrutiḥ (Devanagari: धर्मं जिज्ञासमानानां प्रमाणं परमं श्रुतिः, lit. means "To those who seek the knowledge of the sacred law, the supreme authority is the revelation Śruti. Shruti (Śruti) differs from other sources of Hindu philosophy, particularly smṛti "which is remembered" or textual material. These works span much of the history of Hinduism, beginning with the earliest known texts and ending in the early historical period with the later Upanishads. Of the śrutis, the Upanishads alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishadic śrutis are at the spiritual core of Hindus.

The Sanskrit word "श्रुति" (, ) has multiple meanings depending on context. It means "hearing, listening", a call to "listen to a speech", any form of communication that is aggregate of sounds (news, report, rumour, noise, hearsay). The word śruti is also found in ancient Indian music literature, where it means "a particular division of the octave, a quarter tone or interval" out of twenty two enumerated major tones, minor tones, and semitones. In music, it refers the smallest measure of sound a human being can detect, and the set of twenty two śruti and forty four half Shruti, stretching from about 250 Hz to 500 Hz, is called the Shruti octave. In scholarly works on Hinduism, śruti refers to ancient Vedic texts from India. Monier Williams

The śrutis, the oldest of which trace back to the second millennium BCE, had not been committed to writing in ancient times. These were developed and transmitted verbally, from one generation to the next, for nearly two millenniums. Almost all printed editions available in the modern era are copied manuscripts that are hardly older than 500 years. Michael Witzel explains this oral tradition as follows:

Ancient Indians developed techniques for listening, memorization and recitation of śrutis. Many forms of recitation or pathas were designed to aid accuracy in recitation and the transmission of the Vedas and other knowledge texts from one generation to the next. All hymns in each Veda were recited in this way; for example, all 1,028 hymns with 10,600 verses of the Rigveda was preserved in this way; as were all other Vedas including the Principal Upanishads, as well as the Vedangas. Each text was recited in a number of ways, to ensure that the different methods of recitation acted as a cross check on the other. Pierre Sylvain Filliozat summarizes this as follows: That these methods have been effective, is testified to by the preservation of the most ancient Indian religious text, the Ṛgveda ( 1500 BCE). This part of a Vedic student's education was called svādhyāya. The systematic method of learning, memorization and practice, enabled these texts to be transmitted from generation to generation with inordinate fidelity.

Coburn, Thomas, B. Scripture" in India: Towards a Typology of the Word in Hindu Life Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 52, No. 3 (Sep., 1984),
Clooney, Francis X. Why the Veda Has No Author: Language as Ritual in Early Mīmāṃsā and Post Modern TheologyJournal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 55, No. 4 (Winter, 1987). Jho, Chakradhar. 1987. History and Sources of Law in Ancient India Ashish Publishing House. Flood, Gavin. 1997. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press
Gupta, Ravi M. 2007. Caitanya Vaisnava Vedanta of Jiva Gosvami.