Woman (3): The stories of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, are they found in the Vedas also?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Woman (3): All the Vedic literatures? Why would they be written down?
Prabhupāda: Written? Nothing was written. Vedas was also not written. They were heard from disciplic succession. The first writing business was done by Vyāsadeva. Before that, there was nothing in writing. All Vedic scriptures, they were learned by simply hearing. That's all. The brahmacārīs will live in the direction of the spiritual master and hear the class, and they will learn. That's all, no written book, neither there was notebook. Everything was heard by students. There was no need of writing. Therefore this whole Vedic literature is called śruti. Śruti means simply hearing.