Vedas (Smriti and Sruti)

Then what are the Vedas (Vedic knowledge):

  • Sruti (Revealed absolute Truth, Every word unchanged eternally)
  • Smrti (Composed by sages, Wording may change from age to age)


Sruti:

  • Vedas (Rg, Yajur, Sama, Atharva): Each of these four have corresponding:
    • Samhitas (mantras)
    • Brahmanas (ritual explanation of mantras)
    • Aranyakas (esoteric explanation of mantras)
    • Upanisads/Jnana-kanda (philosophy of Brahman)
  • Upavedas (Dhanurveda, Ayurveda, etc)
  • Vedangas, which consists of:
    • Kalpa (ritual details)
    • Siksa (pronunciation)
    • Vyakarana (grammar)
    • Nirukta (etymology)
    • Chandas (meters)
    • Jyotisa (astronomy-time calculation)]


Smrti:

  • Ritual Sutras (connected to Kalpa-vedanga), which is to be devided in:
    • Srauta Sutras (explains public yajnas)
    • Grhya Sutras (explains home yajnas)
    • Dharma Sutras (Law books, including Manu Samhita and others)
  • Tantras (Spoken by Lord Siva to Parvati)
  • Pancaratras (Vaisnava worship), which contains Tamasic, Rajasic and Sattvic divisions
  • Puranas (18 major and 18 minor)
  • Itihasas (Ramayana and Mahabharata)
  • Six Darshanas:
    • VEDANTA, (Vyasa), (Metaphysics), theology of Upanisads
    • MIMAMSA, (Jaimini), (Hermeneutics), interpreting scriptural texts
    • NYAYA, (Gautama), (Epistemology, logic), philosophy of knowledge including logic
    • VAISESIKA, (Kanada), (Metaphysics), philosophy of existence
    • YOGA, (Patanjali), (Sadhana)
    • SANKHYA, (Atheist Kapila), (Metaphysics)

Vedanta and Mimamsa are sisters as are Nyaya and Vaisesika. So are Yoga and Sankhya.