been sharpened through rigorous reli-
gious practice, were able to “hear” and
understand these vibrations, and trans-
mitted them to others in a lineage of
learning. The smrti texts, in contrast, are
attributed to human authors, who are
putting forth matters that are “remem-
bered” and thus carry with them the
possibility of error. The smrti literature
is wider and much more varied than the
shruti, which is restricted to the texts in
the Vedas; smrti literature includes the
dharma literature, the sectarian compi-
lations known as puranas, the two great
epics (Mahabharataand Ramayana),
the Bhagavad Gita, and the tantras,
which are manuals detailing the secret,
ritually based religious practice of tantra
followers. Although theoretically the
smrtis have less religious authority than
the shrutis, in practical terms they are
often far more important, in part
because their contents are much better
known. This is particularly true for sec-
tarian Hinduism, in which a group’s sec-
tarian literature will often be given the
highest religious authority.Snana
(“bath”) Bathing is arguably the single
most commonly performed Hindu reli-
gious act, and it is a necessary one
before performing any rite or worship.
An early morning bath is the norm for
just about all Hindus, and this has been
true for centuries. The earliest European
visitors invariably remarked on this
practice, since some of these visitors
bathed only a few times in their lives.
For Hindus, bathing not only keeps one
clean but is a way to regain ritual purity
by using water (most commonly) to
remove any source of defilement.SnanaSnana, or bathing, at a festival in Rajasthan. Before performing any ritual, one must obtain
purity by bathing.