Someone asked me this question. As Gita is spoken by Krishna it can be said as Sruthi.As it is written by Vyasa it can be said as Smrithi.Do anyone have specific answers?
You need to be a member of ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT to add comments!
In India we know that laws are being enacted by Indian government. So let us call what all Indian government writes as law as shruthi. Let us assume the Indian government writes section 403 which describes about conducting a procession in a town.
Now you want to conduct a procession in your town. You go to police and ask permission. The policeman representative of the government explains section 403 to you and within the limits of section 403 you are supposed to conduct the procession - the policeman says. Let us assume what all policeman explains to you is smiriti.
Now let us ask a question. Because Indian government has written section 403 is it Shruthi or because policeman has explained section 403 to you whether it is smriti.
Without doubt section 403 is shruthi.
Some corollaries which policeman might explain which is not said in section 403 is simiriti. For example section 403 might say depending upon situation the policeman might allow or disallow the procession. Using this the policeman might say this is election time, we cannot allow the procession. This is smiriti.
Just as the government writes the law similarly Krishna spoke Gita. Just as the policeman the representative of government explains the law similarly Vyasa deva the representative of Krishna wrote Gita.
I have communicated what I have known. Please correct me if I am wrong.
The Bhagavad Gita is essentially Shruti. The definition of Shruti is “the direct word of God”. Since God Krishna has himself spoken the Bhagavad Gita, from that point of view it is Shruti. However from the point of view of technical classification the Bhagavad Gita falls in the Mahabharata and the Mahabharata is a Smriti literature. Therefore the Bhagavad Gita is also considered to be Smriti. However, often in the Vedanta tradition there are three books which are to be commented on by a school of thought if it wants to establish itself as authentic. These are Shruti Smriti and Nyaya. So among the Shruti there is the Upanishads that are to be commented upon, among the Smriti there is the Bhagavad Gita that is to be commented upon, and among Nyaya there is the Vedanta sutras that is to be commented upon. Shankar Acharya, Madhavacharya, Ramanuja Acharya and his followers Baladev Vidyabhushan they all have commented on these three (Shruti, Smriti and Nyaya) collectively known as the “PrashtanaTraya”.
Thus the Bhagavad Gita is an extremely important book because it is one of the three pillars of Vedanta. Although it’s a Smriti even then Shankar Acharya, who was an impersonalist, had acknowledged its importance as being the essence of Shruti. Smriti is considered by some to be of lesser authority than Shruti but Shankaracarya says
SarvopanishadogavodogdhaGopalaNandana
Parthovatsahsudhirbhoktadugdhamgitamrtam mahat
He says that all the Upanishads are like cow and just like the essence of cow is the milk. Similarly the essence of all the Upanishads is the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna is the Vatsah. Just like when the Milk comes out from the Cow it’s not only for the calf but for everyone. Similarly the Milk of the Bhagavad Gita is meant for “Sudhir” all wise living beings.
The Bhagavad Gita is deemed by Shankar Acharya to be the highest culmination or essence of even the Shruti. In that sense it is higher.Technically it may be a Smriti but essentially it’s a Shruti because it is the word of God and also in terms of importance and authority as even the great Acharya like the Shankar Acharya has deemed it as Shruti.
Replies
Hare Krishna
Consider the following example.
In India we know that laws are being enacted by Indian government. So let us call what all Indian government writes as law as shruthi. Let us assume the Indian government writes section 403 which describes about conducting a procession in a town.
Now you want to conduct a procession in your town. You go to police and ask permission. The policeman representative of the government explains section 403 to you and within the limits of section 403 you are supposed to conduct the procession - the policeman says. Let us assume what all policeman explains to you is smiriti.
Now let us ask a question. Because Indian government has written section 403 is it Shruthi or because policeman has explained section 403 to you whether it is smriti.
Without doubt section 403 is shruthi.
Some corollaries which policeman might explain which is not said in section 403 is simiriti. For example section 403 might say depending upon situation the policeman might allow or disallow the procession. Using this the policeman might say this is election time, we cannot allow the procession. This is smiriti.
Just as the government writes the law similarly Krishna spoke Gita. Just as the policeman the representative of government explains the law similarly Vyasa deva the representative of Krishna wrote Gita.
I have communicated what I have known. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Harobol,
S.Balaji.
---------------------
The Bhagavad Gita is essentially Shruti. The definition of Shruti is “the direct word of God”. Since God Krishna has himself spoken the Bhagavad Gita, from that point of view it is Shruti. However from the point of view of technical classification the Bhagavad Gita falls in the Mahabharata and the Mahabharata is a Smriti literature. Therefore the Bhagavad Gita is also considered to be Smriti. However, often in the Vedanta tradition there are three books which are to be commented on by a school of thought if it wants to establish itself as authentic. These are Shruti Smriti and Nyaya. So among the Shruti there is the Upanishads that are to be commented upon, among the Smriti there is the Bhagavad Gita that is to be commented upon, and among Nyaya there is the Vedanta sutras that is to be commented upon. Shankar Acharya, Madhavacharya, Ramanuja Acharya and his followers Baladev Vidyabhushan they all have commented on these three (Shruti, Smriti and Nyaya) collectively known as the “PrashtanaTraya”.
Thus the Bhagavad Gita is an extremely important book because it is one of the three pillars of Vedanta. Although it’s a Smriti even then Shankar Acharya, who was an impersonalist, had acknowledged its importance as being the essence of Shruti. Smriti is considered by some to be of lesser authority than Shruti but Shankaracarya says
SarvopanishadogavodogdhaGopalaNandana
Parthovatsahsudhirbhoktadugdhamgitamrtam mahat
He says that all the Upanishads are like cow and just like the essence of cow is the milk. Similarly the essence of all the Upanishads is the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna is the Vatsah. Just like when the Milk comes out from the Cow it’s not only for the calf but for everyone. Similarly the Milk of the Bhagavad Gita is meant for “Sudhir” all wise living beings.
The Bhagavad Gita is deemed by Shankar Acharya to be the highest culmination or essence of even the Shruti. In that sense it is higher.Technically it may be a Smriti but essentially it’s a Shruti because it is the word of God and also in terms of importance and authority as even the great Acharya like the Shankar Acharya has deemed it as Shruti.
Excerpt From – http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2013/05/is-the-bhagavad-gita-s...