shivakannan
Member
There is a common misconception : "Shruti is not written by mankind and it is authoritative. Smritis are written by men and have introduced biases and discrimination". Shruti refers to Vedas and Upanishads and Smritis refer to Dharmashastras, Dharmasutras, ...
I want to inform people that this misconception is misguiding so many people. First of all, although Vedas are said to be heard and not written by men, originally, the general public did not hear the Vedas - Rishis did. Rishis heard them and gathered what the heard and what they heard is called the Vedas. They did not compose them.
Before reciting a vedic mantra, we say the name of the Rishi who discovered it, the Chandas of the mantra, and the Devata for the mantra. For example, Aayaatuti Anuvaagasya Vaamadeva Rishih, Anushtubh Chandah, Gayatri Devata. This means, for the mantra Aayaatu Varada Devi... The Rishi who discovered this mantra was Vamadeva Rishi, the Chandas (meter) is Anushtubh, the Devata whom the mantra praises is Gayatri.
The truth is, the same Rishis who discovered the Vedic mantras are the same Rishis who wrote the Smritis. If the Rishis who wrote the Smritis wanted to be biased, they could have easily lied to the public saying they heard the discrimination in the Vedas. None of us including people like Mool Shankar Tiwari have heard the Vedas during meditation. His organization - the Arya Samaj - claims that they accept the authority of the Vedas but not the Smritis. How can you accept Vedic mantras delivered to us by Rishis but not accept the Smritis they wrote? If they really were biased they could have given their own beliefs in the form of Vedic mantras and we would never have known.
There is a belief that Smritis may have later interpolations in them. This can also happen to the Vedas. If we start doubting everything, there is no end. Acharyas have quoted the Smritis countless times and they have commentary. Also, just because modern researchers say interpolations are there does not make it true, as no scientist will agree that Vedas are not written by mankind. If you accept science, you can say smritis have interpolations not written by the Rishis but future corrupt Brahmanas, but you must also accept that the Vedas are only 3500 years old and are also written by men. If you accept the Shastric view, both Vedas and Smritis are important and authoritative.
Understand : Kanchi Mahaperiyava has explicitly discussed how Shruti and Smriti never contradict each other. The Vedas are extremely difficult to interpret. Hence, due to their benevolence, the Rishis who heard them gave us their meaning in the form of Smritis. If Rishis were frauds, how can you trust that what they called the Vedas are authoritative? You can accept both the Vedas and Shastras - otherwise, you should not accept both.
I am not telling anyone to obey either. I want to make sure people are not misguided, and present the illogical view that we can accept Vedas and not the Smritis.
I hope people are not misguided in the future.
Jaya Jaya Shankara Hara Hara Shankara
I want to inform people that this misconception is misguiding so many people. First of all, although Vedas are said to be heard and not written by men, originally, the general public did not hear the Vedas - Rishis did. Rishis heard them and gathered what the heard and what they heard is called the Vedas. They did not compose them.
Before reciting a vedic mantra, we say the name of the Rishi who discovered it, the Chandas of the mantra, and the Devata for the mantra. For example, Aayaatuti Anuvaagasya Vaamadeva Rishih, Anushtubh Chandah, Gayatri Devata. This means, for the mantra Aayaatu Varada Devi... The Rishi who discovered this mantra was Vamadeva Rishi, the Chandas (meter) is Anushtubh, the Devata whom the mantra praises is Gayatri.
The truth is, the same Rishis who discovered the Vedic mantras are the same Rishis who wrote the Smritis. If the Rishis who wrote the Smritis wanted to be biased, they could have easily lied to the public saying they heard the discrimination in the Vedas. None of us including people like Mool Shankar Tiwari have heard the Vedas during meditation. His organization - the Arya Samaj - claims that they accept the authority of the Vedas but not the Smritis. How can you accept Vedic mantras delivered to us by Rishis but not accept the Smritis they wrote? If they really were biased they could have given their own beliefs in the form of Vedic mantras and we would never have known.
There is a belief that Smritis may have later interpolations in them. This can also happen to the Vedas. If we start doubting everything, there is no end. Acharyas have quoted the Smritis countless times and they have commentary. Also, just because modern researchers say interpolations are there does not make it true, as no scientist will agree that Vedas are not written by mankind. If you accept science, you can say smritis have interpolations not written by the Rishis but future corrupt Brahmanas, but you must also accept that the Vedas are only 3500 years old and are also written by men. If you accept the Shastric view, both Vedas and Smritis are important and authoritative.
Understand : Kanchi Mahaperiyava has explicitly discussed how Shruti and Smriti never contradict each other. The Vedas are extremely difficult to interpret. Hence, due to their benevolence, the Rishis who heard them gave us their meaning in the form of Smritis. If Rishis were frauds, how can you trust that what they called the Vedas are authoritative? You can accept both the Vedas and Shastras - otherwise, you should not accept both.
I am not telling anyone to obey either. I want to make sure people are not misguided, and present the illogical view that we can accept Vedas and not the Smritis.
I hope people are not misguided in the future.
Jaya Jaya Shankara Hara Hara Shankara
