Smrti

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Smṛti literally means ‘remembrance’.

In a technical sense it refers to the secondary scriptures like the Manusmṛti which remind one, of the great spiritual truths contained in the Śruti or the Vedas. In a more literal or common sense, it means memory or remembrance. After directly perceiving or experiencing any object of sense through the jñānendriyas or the five organs of knowledge, when a person remembers that experience, it is called smṛti. In such a smṛti, either all the experience is remembered or a little less but never more. This is how it has been defined by the Yogasutras.[1] It is one of the five kinds of mental modifications.[2]


References[edit]

  1. Yogasutras 1.11
  2. It is called cittavṛttis.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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