Smartism

E18574

Smartism is a major Hindu tradition that emphasizes the worship of multiple deities as different manifestations of the one ultimate reality, often centered on Advaita Vedanta philosophy.

Aliases (1)

Statements (49)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Hindu tradition
denomination of Hinduism
allows personal choice of ishta devata (chosen deity)
associatedWithPhilosophy Advaita Vedanta
attitudeToSectarianism inclusive and non-sectarian
centralConcept Brahman
classedAs Smartism
surface form: "Smarta tradition"
classification one of the major Hindu sampradayas
contrastedWith Shaivism
Shaktism
Smartas’ sectarian exclusivism (which it rejects)
Vaishnavism
coreDoctrine non-dualism (Advaita)
emphasizes worship of multiple deities
emphasizesPractice Vedic ritual
meditation
study of scriptures (svadhyaya)
geographicRegion India
historicalDevelopment systematized in the medieval period
influencedBy Adi Shankaracharya
languageOfScripture Sanskrit
panchayatanaPujaIncludes Ganesha
Devi
surface form: "Shakti"

Shiva
Surya
Vishnu
recognizesDeity Ganesha
Devi
surface form: "Shakti"

Shiva
Kartikeya
surface form: "Skanda (Kartikeya)"

Surya
Vishnu
religiousTraditionOf Hinduism
ritualFocus Panchayatana puja
scripturalBasis Bhagavad Gita
Brahma Sutras
Smriti texts
Upanishads
Vedas
soteriologicalGoal moksha (liberation)
teaches all major deities are equal paths to Brahman
teachesPathToMoksha devotion (bhakti)
knowledge (jnana)
ritual action (karma) properly understood
theologicalView all deities are manifestations of one ultimate reality
viewOnOtherDeities local and sectarian deities are forms of the same Brahman
viewOnReality Brahman
surface form: "Brahman is nirguna (without attributes) in ultimate sense"

saguna Brahman (with attributes) is valid for devotional worship
viewsBrahmanAs ultimate reality

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Smartism classedAs Smartism
this entity surface form: "Smarta tradition"
Hinduism hasMajorTradition Smartism
Shaktism relatedTradition Smartism

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