Yoga Vasistha

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Mon, 26 Jul 1999, J. Kingston Cowart wrote:

> >From the perspective of advaita Vedanta, of what value then are the
> principles propounded in the _Yoga Vasistha_?
>

The Yogavasishtha is an itihasa which along with the Puranas and
Dharmashastras etc. fall into  the category of Smrti.  These are works
which are of human (or divine) authorship which are authoritative insofar
as they are based on the Shruti (Vedas.)  If there is ever a conflict
between Shruti and Smrti, Shruti takes precedence.  The Bhagavadgita being
part of the Mahabharata is a Smrti but that hasn't stopped it from being a
very important Hindu scripture.

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>