Śruti

''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. Manusmriti states: ''Śrutistu vedo vijñeyaḥ'' (Devanagari: श्रुतिस्तु वेदो विज्ञेयः) meaning, "Know that Vedas are Śruti". Thus, it includes the four Vedas including its four types of embedded texts—the Samhitas, the Upanishads, the Brahmanas and the Aranyakas.

''Śruti''s 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'',, page 62 (Note: This differentiation between epistemic and deontic authority is true for all Indian religions)}} but many scholars in these schools have denied that the ''śruti''s 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 ''śruti''s, the Upanishads alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishadic ''śruti''s are at the spiritual core of Hindus. Provided by Wikipedia