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The Vedas, created thousands of years ago, do not owe their authority to anybody, they are themselves the authority, being eternal. They were never written, never created, they have existed throughout time; just as creation is infinite and eternal, without beginning and without end. And this knowledge is what is meant by the Vedas. ‘Śruti’ and ‘Smṛti’ in ancient laws are the source of guidance. ‘Śruti’ is apauruṣeyā, "not made of a man" but revealed to the Rishis, and regarded as having the highest authority; while the ‘Smṛti’ are manmade and have secondary authority. ‘Smṛti’, "that which is remembered", are a body of Bhartiya texts attributed to an author, traditionally written down, in contrast to ‘Śruti’ (the Vedic literature) considered authorless, that were transmitted verbally across the generations and fixed.
The Śruti consists of the Chaturvedali, the Four Vedas: Rigveda; Samaveda; Yajurveda; and Atharvaveda. Rigveda is the oldest Veda (pronounced by the UNESCO as the first available text for the humanity) containing mostly hymns praising different deities, providing insights into the early Vedic society and their understanding of the natural world; Samaveda is primarily composed of melodic hymns, often used in chanting and singing during dharmic ceremonies, drawing heavily from the Rigveda; Yajurveda focuses on instructions and procedures for performing sacrifices, including details about the ritualistic offerings and actions; Atharvaveda contains a mix of hymns, magic spells, and incantations related to healing, protection, prosperity, and dealing with negative forces.
The Vedas have four parts: Mantra/Samhita (hymnal portion), Brahmana (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), Āraṇyaka (forest teachings), and Upanishad (darśhanic discussions). The first two parts of the Vedas are called the Karmakāṇḍa (ritualistic portion), while the last two form the Jñānakāṇḍa (Jñāna / knowledge portion). The Upanishads (Upanishad originally meant “connection” or “equivalence", but came to be understood as "sitting near a teacher," from upa "by" and ni-ṣad "sit down", "sitting down near", referring to the student sitting down near the teacher while receiving spiritual knowledge - Gurumukh) represent the quintessence of the deepest insights into existential and cosmic consciousness. The Upanishads begin and end with Shantipath, which is chanted three times, ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः (OM Peace, Peace, Peace!) to calm the mind and the environment, and for the removal of obstacles (fears/anxieties) in the three realms: The physical or ādhibhautika realm (external world, including natural calamities); The divine or ādhidaivika realm; The internal or ādhyātmika realm. These are called tāpatraya, or the three classes of obstacles (This is true dharma, which is to remove fear!). There is a continuum of thoughts from Vedas to Upanishads, and this entails development of the human mind from the worship of half personified forces of nature to the concept of the absolute, the One, the Brahman. The Upanishads, therefore, have no place for Gods or rituals. The Upanishads themselves are called Vedānta. The term ‘Vedānta’ literally means ‘the end of the Vedas’, but in a deeper sense it is actually the essence of Vedas. Vedas begin with hymns and prayers. They then go on to the sacrifices – Yāgas / Yajñas (sacrifices), and finally culminate in darśhanic discussions of the Upanishads.
‘Smṛti’ - "that which is remembered" are a body of ancient Bhartiya texts attributed to an author, traditionally written down. Smṛti is a body of texts representing the remembered, written tradition in Sanātana dharma rooted in or inspired by the Vedas. Smṛti works are generally attributed to a named author and were transmitted through manuscripts, in contrast to śruti literature, which is based on a fixed text with no specific author, and preserved through oral transmission. The smṛti literature is a corpus of varied texts that includes: the six Vedāṅgas (the auxiliary sciences in the Vedas), the epics (the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa), the Dharmasūtras and Dharmaśāstras (or Smritiśāstras), the Arthasaśāstras, the Purāṇas, the kāvya or poetical literature, extensive Bhashyas (reviews and commentaries on śruti and non-śruti texts), and numerous nibandhas (digests) covering politics, ethics (nītiśāstras), culture, arts and society.
The Sanātana Dharma is Vedic, and the essence of Vedas reside with Vedānta. All Śruti-approved dharmic validations and acceptances comes from Vedānta. A Sanātani is who knows, understands, and goes by Vedānta. Sanātana Dharma means living in harmony with nature. “I bow down with respect before all non-living and living beings in this world.” Hence, this dharma is eternal, and timeless set of truths. Sanātana Dharma eternalizes the requirement to act ethically, without worrying about the moral codes. It encourages what it is to be continually human, rather than requiring to follow religious order or beliefs. Being human would not brook any form of exclusion, hierarchies or patriarchies.
The Upanishads are the most ancient, and profoundest texts in the human history. The Upanishads do not put down the rules to be followed, but rather lay down universal truths that govern all of life. The main subject discussed is metaphysics, which means foundational principles of Reality. They investigate questions such as Who am I? What is the highest principle that exists? The Upanishads are the bedrock of all Sanātana Dharma thought. Fundamentally, the Rishis have made it clear: we are divine beings and we can all experience this first hand. It is this possibility of Self-Realisation that so radically distinguishes the Dharmic tradition of Bharat from any religion. The Upanishads show us that through enquiry into our own existence we can know the magnitude of truth.
The Upanishad Darśhana (“vision of truth”) have inspired and uplifted the best of thinkers over the millennia. Within Bharat, the Upanishad Darśhana are found in the entire Darśhana Śāstra, Bhagavad-Gītā, Rāmāyana, the Purānas, Smṛtis, the Sant Vani (spiritual discourses) from the Middle Ages, and even in some of the Nāstika Darśhana who did not believe in Vedas. Darśhana Śāstra are darśhanic systems to perceive truth, variously. There are the āstika (commitment to truth) darśhana traditions: those that accept the Vedas as an authoritative, important source of knowledge, and nāstika darśhana traditions who do not believe in Vedas.
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