Why are the Puranas mentioned separately from Smriti in the verse “shrutismritipuranadi..”?

The Puranic literature belong to the category of scriptures that are called smriti. Then why does the below verse refer to them as different from smriti?

shruti-smriti-puranadi-

pancaratra-vidhim vina

aikantiki harer bhaktir

utpatayaiva kalpate

“Devotional service of the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic literatures like the Upanishads, Puranas and Narada-pancaratra is simply an unnecessary disturbance in society.”

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Question.
In the verse, Shruti, Smriti, Puranadi, Pancharatriki Vidhi Milana, I can’t think of any Bhakti Uttapadaya Vikalpate. Why are Smriti and Puran put into different categories? Actually, Puranas are a subcategory of Smritis. So why are they put into different categories? Answer.
Shri Jiva Goswami, in the Tattvasandarbha, gives an elaborate analysis of how actually the Puranas do not belong to the Smriti category. They belong to the Shruti category. And he explains this based on several reasons.
The first and foremost, he says is that the word Puran, etymologically means Purvete Iti Puran. And he quotes from the Chandogya Upanishad and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, where he is saying that the Puranas are the fifth, the Puranas in the Itihasas are the fifth Veda. So now, if he is saying that it is the fifth Veda, so he says that if these literature are of an entirely different category, so for example, if we have four mangoes and then I have a pineapple, I cannot call the pineapple as the fifth mango.
So if it is being referred to in the same category, then it belongs to that category. So if it is called as the fifth Veda, then it means it belongs to the same category of the Vedas. Then if it is actually the category of Vedas, then why is it sometimes considered a different category? And why use the word Puran name at all? It could just be called Veda directly.
So he says actually the Vedic knowledge becomes complete in the Puranas. And then he quotes from the Garuda Puranas and other places, which say that if a person knows all the four Vedas, but he does not know the Puranas, then his knowledge is not complete. So then he raises the important issue that when a person is, is there no difference between the original Vedas and the Puranas? He says there is one difference because of which the original Vedas may be classified as Shruti originally.
He says that in the original Vedas, the literal pronunciation of the word and the preservation of that sequence of words is very important. In the sense that the Rig Veda is memorized literally as it is. Whereas in the Puranas, the literal pronunciation, repetition of the word is not as important as the assimilation of their meaning and the sharing of that meaning.
So in that sense, there is continuity in knowledge in both the Puranas and the Vedas. But there is a difference in the format of presenting and conveying that knowledge. So in that sense, the Vedas are Shruti because they are originally divine revelations and they are just perceived by the sages and spoken by the sages.
The Puranas are also revelations because the sages who spoke them are also revealed, are also speaking under the influence of the Supreme Lord and they are also revelations. But the only difference is that there is not the emphasis on literal pronunciation and a specific repetition. Same chhandas and same meters.
Then if all the Puranas and the Itihasas get classified as Shruti, then what will remain in Shruti? That is the issue. Then there is no need for a category called Shruti. He says, no, there is the Dharmashastras.
There is Manus Dharmashastra, then there is Apastamba Dharmashastra. There are many Dharmashastras that are there. Parashara Dharmashastra is there, like that.
So he says the Dharmashastras are according to time places. And Manu himself says that if assembly of Brahmanas feels that any of the rules that is given over here is not appropriate in a particular case, then an exception should be given. So he says primarily the Dharmashastras are what fall in the category of the Shrutis.
So in that sense, Shruti, Smriti, Puranadi. So Shruti is directly the Vedas. Smriti is referring to the Dharmashastras and the Puranas refer to the Puranas.
So in that sense, Puranas are a distinct category, which actually from a technical point of view are not Shruti. But from a technical point of view, they are also not exactly Shruti. They are higher than Shruti.
They are also basically eternal sound vibrations and that is why they are mentioned as a separate category and not