sruti
Meaning. “That which is heard”: the Vedas, regarded as revealed knowledge and the primary source of Hindu law.
Sruti comprises the four Vedas (with the Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads), believed to have been revealed to the ancient seers. It is the first and highest source of classical Hindu law, and prevails over smriti in case of conflict.
In practice, the Vedas contain few rules of positive law; they are mainly religious and philosophical. The detailed law of family, property and procedure comes from the smritis, commentaries and custom.
Example
Although sruti is the primary source of Hindu law, it contains very few legal rules, which are found mainly in the smritis.
See also
smriti · dharma · sources of law
Read more in the study notes
- Dharma and the sources of Hindu law (Family Law I - Hindu Law)
- Custom as a source of law, and the three sources compared (Jurisprudence)
- Dharma and Indian legal thought, ancient and modern (Legal Theory)
- Marxist perspective: D.P. Mukerji, A.R. Desai, Ramkrishna Mukherjee (Sociology - Indian Society Continuity and Change)