Revealed Texts

The revealed texts of Sanatana Dharma are predominantly composed in a language called Sanskrit. From time immemorial these texts have been called as the Vedic literature. The term Veda means Knowledge which is derived from the root word Vid which means "to know". [I will from now on indicate the words in sanskrit with italics].

Vedic literature is divided into two categories

a) Shruti which means that which is heard

b) Smriti which means that which is remembered

If Shrutis are considered to be as revealed texts, Smritis are considered to be texts by tradition and not revelation. The Vedas which are four in number constitute the Shrutis. The post-vedic texts such as shastras [a treatise or text written to explain an idea], epics etc constitute the Smritis. A cross over between the Smritis and Shrutis is the Bhagavad-Gita which is considered as a revered text.

As we all know the vedas are four in number

a) Rig Veda

b) Yajur Veda

c) Sama Veda

d) Atharva Veda

Each of the above four vedas can be further divided into two parts

a) Mantra

It is also called as Samhita, which is a collection of hymns to be used in prayers and vedic sacrifices

b) Brahmanas

They are not to be confused with the Brahmana [varna/caste] which describe the rules and regulations of the vedic sacrifices and also the meaning and purpose of the mantras and rituals

These Brahmanas are further divided into Aranyakas and Upanishads

The Upanishad portion of the Vedas contain philosophical and meta physical writings about the nature of Brahman which in our context we call it as GOD [please read article1 and article2 ]. They are also referred to collectively as the Vedanta. They are regarded as one of the three canonical texts of Vedanta school. The other two being Brahma sutras and Bhagavad-Gita. Together the above three texts are called as Prastanatrayi[three starting points of Vedanta].

Upanishads - Shruti Prastana (starting point of revelation) & Bhagavad-Gita - Smriti Prastana (starting point of remembered tradition) are the basic source texts of Vedanta while Brahma Sutra - Nyaya Prasthana (logical starting point for vedanta philosophy) are the texts where teachings of Vedanta are set forth in a systematic and logical order.

No study of Vedanta is complete without the close examination of the Prastanatrayi. Let us begin our discussion with the Brahma Sutras which appear to be the logical starting point to the vedanta philosophy.