In Hinduism we often hear the words “the shastras say so and therefore we should do it.” In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna tell Arjuna, “When in doubt follow the rules of the shastras!” So what exactly are these shastras?

The Sanskrit word “shas” means “rule or instruction”. From this comes the word “shasta” which means a “ruler”. Therefore a shastra is generally meant to be a manual of instruction or a book of knowledge explaining the regulations and standards of any artistic or cultural discipline, set of principles or instructions about any subject. In the context of Hinduism, shastras refer to our sacred scriptures which run into hundreds of treatises and deal with every possible subject and art that is known to us!

Obviously we cannot go into any detail about all the shastras that are to be found in Hinduism. So we will only mention a few broad categories so that people can find out about them if they wish to do so.

First come the “shruti” which refers to the first part of the Veda known as the samhitas. These are the sound vibrations or mantras that were actually heard by our ancient rishis. This category of shastras is the most sacred of all since they are divine revelations heard by the rishis. The samhitas are found at the beginning of all the four Vedas – Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva. No rishi ever claimed to be the author of the Veda. They are of divine origin.

Next come the “smritis” which are of human origin and interpret and codify the Vedas. They belong to a lower category than the shruti since they are based on human memory and interpretation. The shastras that come under this category include the Itihasas or historical epics, like the Ramayana, Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita which comes in the Mahabharata, the 18 Puranas which are mythological epics, the Agamas (theological treatises) and the six darshanas or 6 systems of Hindu philosophy.  

Next come the Tantra. These shastras deal with the esoteric aspects of Hinduism like yogic practices and mysticism.   

The Smritis, the Itihasas, the Puranas, the Agamas and the Darsanas are only developments from the Veda. Their original source is the Veda. Their common aim is to enable the human being to annihilate ignorance and attain perfection, freedom, immortality, and eternal bliss through knowledge of the Brahman which is the transcendental Supreme beyond the knowledge of the human intellect. Their purpose is to make the human being reach his ultimate goal which is the Brahman.

The Itihasas are the true historical accounts of our great incarnations or avatars known as Rama and Krishna. The great sage Valmiki who is known as “Adi Kavi” or the first ever poet, is the author of the Ramayana, the story of Rama and Vyasa is the author of the Mahabharata in which we find the story of Krishna. Through the lives of these great avatars the common man can find the values of the Veda to be presented with analogies and examples that are much easier to understand.

Then we have the Dharma Shastras. These are texts that codify all social and religious norms during different stages of the evolution of the society. They also come under the category of “smriti”.  These run into hundreds of which the most popular are Manusmriti, Angirasa, Daksha, Shatatapa, Gautama, Yajnavalkya, Yama, Vasistha, Samvarta, Parasara and so on.

First among these is the Manusmriti which gives the duties of all human beings at different stages of life known as ashramas.  These four ashramas are Brahmacharya or the life of a student, Garhatsya or the life of a householder, Vanaprastha or the life of the retired person and Sannyasa or the life of the recluse or renunciate. The Manusmriti has provided the Hindu society with a basis for its practical morality and a way of daily living which will align the human being to the great cosmic functions that go on without our knowledge. Unfortunately a lot of interpolations have been made into the original text by those who have a vested interest in defaming the Hindu texts but if one goes to the original these are not to be found.

The Dharma Shastras also contain the Hindu samskaras or different rites to be practiced at each stage of life commencing with birth and ending with death. The rights and duties of kings and rulers, dietary regulations at every stage, offenses and expiations, judicial matters and so on are all part of the Dharma Shastras. Judicial law was embedded in Hindu religious practices. 

Agamas are an enormous collection of scriptures which give practical guidance for the worship of all the gods. They include Tantras, Mantras and Yantras. They deal with the philosophy and spiritual knowledge behind the worship of any deity, the mental discipline required for the worship and the methods of worship. The most important of these are the Shaiva Agamas, Shakta Tantras, Vaikhanasas Samhitas.

Vaastu Shastra is the most ancient science of architecture going back to the Vedic ages. The most important of these is the Vishwakarma Vastushastra.  It is a highly evolved and comprehensive practical guide which can be followed for all buildings based on Vedic mathematics, taking into account the movements of the different planets. Therefore it is a combination of sacred geometry as well as astronomy. Our bodies as well as the planet are made up of the five basic elements, earth, water, fire, air and ether. Any imbalance in our external and internal vaastu brings about unhappiness. Vaastu shastras teaches us to live in balance and harmony with our environment. It ensures that the people who live in such buildings have health, peace of mind and happiness.

Kama Shastras are treatises on sexual practices and how to avoid certain bad habits and how to treat them. The most famous of these are the Vatsyayana kamasutra, Ananga Ranga and Rati Sahasya.

Natya Shastras deal with all the types of classical dances which are existent in Bharat. Of these the most prominent ones are Bharata’s Natya Shastra, Nrityaratnavali and Abhinaya Darpana.

Jyotishastra is known as the shastra of lights because it deals with the movement of the stars and planets and how they affect our human life. The earth’s revolution round itself and of the sun and the moon’s revolution round the earth can be felt in the human body. Our human body is very sensitive to these movements. Our rishis were able to understand the changes brought on us by these subtle movements and this is the basis of Jyotishastra. Of these the most important ones are Brhat Parashara Horashastra, Phala Dipika and  Jataka Chandrika.

Yoga Shastras deal with all aspects of yoga.  Of these the most important are Yoga Vasishta, Hatayoga Dipika and Patanjali Yoga Sutras.

Tantra Shastras deal with the esoteric aspects of yoga. There are many in number but the most important are Parashurama Kalpa Sutras, Yogini Tantra and Meru Tantra

Kalpa Sutras give us the rules for performing yagas and yajnas (fire ceremonies). This includes the Shulba Sutra which shows how to make geometric calculations for the proper construction of yajna kund (pit in which fire is lit and rituals conducted).

These also give us the Grihya Sutras which are the rules for performing domestic rites including the life cycle rituals known as samskaras and the Dharma Sutras which provide the rules of good conduct in life.

This article has actually only touched the fringe of the vast ocean of knowledge called the Hindu Shastras. To understand the full import of each section we would need a lifetime of learning. These are only the waves of the deep ocean of wisdom known as the shastras.  There is no area that has only been recently explored by western scientists that had not been already mastered by the rishis who wrote these shastras. When we start delving into them the first question that will arise is how this amazing country called Bharat was capable of producing such a vast ocean of wisdom.

As I mentioned in another article, the fact is that for the first few centuries of our existence, this country was completely protected on all sides by the impenetrable Himalayas on the north and the sea on the other three sides. Therefore you find a flowering of the finest thought in the history of human kind in this country that has withstood the onslaughts of aggressive forces for the past 600 years. Moreover we had the good fortune to be the one place on this planet that was chosen by the rishis who were definitely super human beings who I feel must have come from another planet. In fact they are said to have come from the stars. Their intellect was far in advance of the human beings of their age. But out of their great compassion for the whole of humanity, they gave us all these enormous amount of wisdom that would allow the human being to reach his or her highest potential which they declared was divine!

Many of the shastras pertaining to localised events are capable of being changed but the fact is that there is very little in them which are purely localised. Especially the shastras dealing with yoga, tantra and agama will remain unchanged as long as human nature remains unchanged.

We who are the descendants of the rishis and who have inherited the great spiritual wealth that they have given us, have a deep obligation to them to try and master at least a few of these shastras or at least read them and do our best to pass on this great legacy to our future generations. Let us realise that such an age and such a set of people will never come again in this eon and thus it is incumbent on us to keep these shastras alive and practice those which will help us to live a fulfilled life.

Hari Aum Tat Sat