Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c7.46

c7.46

This meaning of *śruti* does not, I believe, occur in later brahmanic additions nor in the latest Puranas that are frankly sectarian. In passages enunciating purely brahmanic matter, which are later additions, *śruti* appears in its ordinary brahmanic sense and is generally restricted to ‘sacred text or tradition’,⁴ as for instance in the brahmanic māhātmya of the river Godāvarī called Gautamī Gaṅgā,⁵ and when it is contrasted with *smṛti*,⁶ and in other brahmanic passages;⁷ also it is used at times with the word *Veda*, seemingly as meaning sacred tradition.⁸ Sometimes its precise import is not quite clear.⁹