Question
Is Bhagavad Gita text Shruti or Smriti?
Answer
According to Prasthanatrayi concept of Vedanta, Bhagavad Gita is considered as Smriti Prashthana.
As presented in forward by T.M.P Mahadevan in English translation of BrahmaSutra Bhasya of Adi Shankaracharya by Swami Gambhirananda:
.......The Bhagavad-Gita comes next only to the Upanishads. It is given a status which is almost equal to that of the Upanishads. As embodying the teachings of Sri Krishna and as constituting the cream of the Epic Mahabharata, the Bhagavad-Gita occupies a unique place in the Vedantic tradition. A popular verse compares the Upanishads to the cows, the Bhagavad-Gita to the milk, Sri Krishna to the milkman, Arjuna, the Pandava hero, to the calf and the wise people to the partakers of the milk. Sri Sankara describes the Bhagavad-Gita as the quintessence of the teaching of the entire Veda (samasta-vedartha-sarasangraha-bhutam). As this text forms a part of the Mahabharata which is a Smriti (the remembered, ie., secondary text based on the Veda), it is called Smriti-prasthana......
Aacharyas like Adi Shankaracharya etc. also mention Bhagavad Gita's verse as Smriti in his Bhashya.
For example, Adi Shankaracharya's Bhashya on Katha Upanishad 3.1.11:
अत एव च गन्तृणां सर्वगतिमतां संसारिणां परा प्रकृष्टा गतिः "यद्गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते" (गीता ८/२१ ; १५/६) इति स्मृतेः ।।११।।
Here he cited BG 8.21 and 15.6 quoting "yadgatvā na nivartante" means "reaching which they do not return." and said as per Smriti
Brahma Sutra itself meant Bhagavad-Gita as Smriti:
अपि च स्मर्यते।।2.3.45।।
According to Adi Shankaracharya's Bhashya:
- Moreover it is so stated in Smriti.
In the Îsvaragitâs (Bhagavad-gîtâ) also it is said that the soul is a part of the Lord, 'an eternal part of me becomes the individual soul in the world of life' (Bha. Gî. XV, 7)
Note: “The question: Is Bhagavad Gita text Shruti or Smriti?” is licensed by Stack Exchange Inc (https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/); user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA.