Bhagavad Gita (revealed, Shruti) / Yoga Sutras (Smriti)

Shruti (Bhagavad Gita): The highest authority on the Sanatana Dharma scriptures

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Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Bhagavad Gita

The Sanatana Dharma scriptures can be broadly divided into Shruti (revealed) and Smriti (heard).

Shruti (“that which is heard, that which is revealed”) refers to those scriptures that were “heard” or revealed to the Rishis in their deep meditation. These scriptures are considered the word of the Lord and are therefore considered Pramana (“the authority”).

Because it is the word of the Supreme, or Brahman, it does not have human authorship associated with it. Shruti includes the Vedas. Towards the end of the Vedas comes Vedanta, which includes the Upanishads. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna uses concepts and even phrases from other Upanishads, particularly the Katho Upanishad. All the chapters of the Bhagavad Gita end like this:

The Author of the Bhagavad Gita and Vedanta is the Lord, his compiler was Veda Vyasa.

Smriti refers to those scriptures that have been written from memory and therefore necessarily have an author. Smriti includes the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Ithihasas (“the epics”).

From this point of view, it is not clear whether the Bhagavad Gita is Shruti or Smriti. If we take into account that the Bhagavad Gita is the central axis of the Mahabharata, which is one of the three Ithihasas (“what happened and is counted as such”), the other two being the Ramayana and the Puranas, strictly speaking it should be considered a Smriti.

However, since they are the words of the Lord incarnated in Sri Krishna; and which is also considered the essence of the Upanishads, is considered equivalent to a Shruti.

Therefore, the Bhagavad Gita (Shruti) is considered the highest authority on the Sanatana Dharma scriptures. Although it is necessary to point out that some experts believe otherwise.

Shruti Bhagavad Gita

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