PDA

View Full Version : Smartha Tradition questions



Water
13 April 2011, 10:55 AM
"Smartism" is generally identified as a sect of Hinduism on English resources that I see. For example, the Himalayan Academy lists it in it's material as well as ISKCon on it's "About Hinduism" pages. I noticed that it is not present as a sub-category on this forum.

Here's where my confusion comes in: I have asked a couple of Indian friends and they say they know Shaktism, Shaivism and Vaishnavism but are not familiar with Smartism. Some of my friends were willing to sit down and try to compare Smartism to something they were familiar with.

And here's where more confusion comes in: In most cases (3 out of 4) the answer I received was, "I believe in what this is describing as Smartism. I am a Shaivite, though." One person even went as far as saying, "All American temples are what this is describing as Smartism - communities simply do not have the money, time or ability to create the multitude of one or two Deva temples available in India and must put all Deva in one place to allow everyone to worship."

One person answered with, "What do you care? It's all God."

... while true, that wasn't really helpful in helping me intellectually understand. :)

It's not extremely important that I know the answer to this, but it's a curiosity that always nags at me.

Water
14 April 2011, 10:28 AM
Is "Smartha Tradition" or "Smartism" another way of identifying Advaita Vedanta?

Is the Smrti of Advaita Vedanta the "Smarti" identified in the sources listed above?

... am I getting warmer? Colder? :)

devotee
15 April 2011, 04:07 AM
You may like to read this :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartism


OM

Adhvagat
15 April 2011, 04:39 AM
Interesting!


Smartism includes the followers of all the six Darsanas (systems) of Hindu philosophy. The basic idea of Smarta religion was belief in Vedic practices. Vedas are non-sectarian . The Smartas found that you can not bring about a unity among different sects or revive the Vedic practices without bringing together the six systems of Philosophy. The Vedic rituals are based on Purva Mimansa. The Bhagavad Gita which contains the Sankhya and Yoga concepts is revered by the Smartas.

Smartas believe that the worshiper is free to choose a particular aspect of God to worship, to the extent that the worship practices do not contradict the Vedas and the Smritis. So in that sense an orthodox smarta is unlikely to view gods of non vedic religions favorably, even though he may hold the religion acceptable to its own traditional followers.

I should say that's where I'm most inclined.

However, I'd like to ask, if they consider all deities manifestations of Brahman, what makes Smarta substantially different from Advaita?

Water
15 April 2011, 09:59 AM
You may like to read this :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartism


OM

I'm pretty familiar with Wikipedia. ;)

I guess the only part of the article that might give me a hint as to why I can't find an actual person that "is a Smarti" might have to do with this passage:


Smartas are followers and propagators of Smriti or religious texts derived from Vedic scriptures. Smarta religion was practiced by people who believed in the authority of the Vedas as well as the basic premise of puranas. As a consequence usually only a brahmin preferred to use this term to refer to his family tradition.

Only Brahimins called it Smarti and everyone else called it.... ? What would other classes call it? Or were other caste simply not able/willing to practice this?


Interesting!

I should say that's where I'm most inclined.

However, I'd like to ask, if they consider all deities manifestations of Brahman, what makes Smarta substantially different from Advaita?

I asked a little earlier if it was one and the same - as you can see, no answer. :( I haven't actually found a consistent resource detailing Smarti practices. Nearly every resource I find contradicts itself.

For example, here is an article on Shanmata from Wikipedia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanmata

* Notice the connection here between Adi Shankaracharya, Advaita Vedanta and Smartism.

It identifies worship to Ganesha, Shiva, Shakti, Vishnu, Surya, Skanda.

Subramuniswami identifies Adi Shankaracharya as founding smarta as the "Six Fold System" - adding the Kumaras.

Other sources suggest a "5 fold path" that neglects both the Kumaras and Skanda.

Subramuniswami identifies Smartism as a "liberal Hinduism" and doesn't seem to condone it. If you read many of the HA articles, Subramuniswami identifies himself as an orthodox Saiva Siddhanta. There are often complains in a few of his books about this "liberal hinduism" being a little too lax - for example, he was quite distraught to see a temple that had added non-Hindu idols to the temple. Green Tara, Buddha and Jesus took the places of the traditional murtis. I can't imagine relating this behavior to Advaita Vedanta. :(


--
On a side note, I asked another coworker to look at this "Smarti" article for me. He said it was Saivite faith with all Saivite Gods.

.... I'm starting to think there is not an answer to my questions.

Adhvagat
15 April 2011, 11:39 AM
I read too quickly and consciously missed your question, but subconscious suggestion does wonders!

Water
15 April 2011, 05:06 PM
A quick correction: in one of the posts above I mentioned "Kumaras" (plural). That was incorrect. It should have been singular to designate Murugan/Skanda/Kartikkeya.

On a quick update:
There is a pretty interesting passage in a book from "Om Prakash Shukal" describing Smartism. You can find the passage on Google Books at the URL below.

http://books.google.com/books?id=BdtSEOuALzQC&pg=PA58&dq=smartism&hl=en&ei=WL6oTbmKMJK40QHn3dn4CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=smartism&f=false

I am still not 100% clear that Advaita Vedanta is not necessarily Smartism.

Maybe the difference is that Smartism specifically identifies the five-fold worship, while Advaita Vedanta does not necessarily rigidly define worship?

yajvan
15 April 2011, 05:20 PM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté


I am still not 100% clear that Advaita Vedanta is not necessarily Smartism.
Look at the audit trail back to the original śaṃkarācārya¹.

smārta is from smṛti relating to memory. This means recorded in or based on the smṛti - tradition , prescribed or sanctioned by traditional law or usage .
What is implied here is a follower of śaṃkarācārya and of the vedānta view.


This smārta view is quite robust.

praṇām


words

Ādi Śaṅkara we know as Śaṅkara Bhagavatpāda.
ādi = first, beginning
Śaṅkara = śaṃkara = causing prosperity , auspicious , beneficent. This is another name for śiva or rudra.
Bhagavatpāda = Bhagavat+pāda bhagavat is glorious , illustrious , divine + pāda or pādāḥ is added to proper names or titles in token of respect.
With this case pāda it is then a ray or beam of light (considered as the foot of a heavenly body).
Yet what is this 1st or beginning? He was the first Śaṅkarācārya¹ , as he set up the maţha-s (some write as mutt's, math's) across India.
Why so ? To preserve and perpetuate knowledge of the Supreme. There are 4 +1 maţha-s. Some think more, some stick to 4 ( north, South,East and West). The +1 that I recognize is kanchipuram - Tamil Nadu.

Ramakrishna
15 April 2011, 07:59 PM
Namaste Water,

Perhaps this previous post of mine will help you: http://hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?p=58973#post58973

It seems that "Smartism" has become a synonym to describe non-sectarian Hindus who pray to multiple different deities across ordinary denominational lines. For example, a Hindu such as myself who prays regularly to both Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva, or Durga Ma and Lord Hanuman. I usually just go with the term "non-sectarian", but it seems overtime "Smarta" has also come to describe non-sectarianism. It also refers to a very specific and very orthodox sect of Hinduism.

Jai Sri Ram

Water
15 April 2011, 08:50 PM
Thank you for decomposing all of the terms for me, Yajvan! That definitely sheds some light into some of the terms I was at a loss for.


Namaste Water,

Perhaps this previous post of mine will help you: http://hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?p=58973#post58973

It seems that "Smartism" has become a synonym to describe non-sectarian Hindus who pray to multiple different deities across ordinary denominational lines. For example, a Hindu such as myself who prays regularly to both Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva, or Durga Ma and Lord Hanuman. I usually just go with the term "non-sectarian", but it seems overtime "Smarta" has also come to describe non-sectarianism. It also refers to a very specific and very orthodox sect of Hinduism.

Jai Sri Ram

After reading this post it felt like a few things just "clicked" into place.

If I understood you correctly, the term Smarta is sometimes loosely used with any non-sectarian (or more liberal) faith.

Smarta identifies a very robust and arduous specific sect as propogated by the teachings of Adi Shankar.

That would make sense on why I can sometimes find concrete and static facts but other times it.... it's extremely murky to the point of even contradicting the strict requirements as defined by the faith of Adi Shankar.

With the above in mind, it also makes sense as to why my coworkers seem to not identify Smarta as it's own standing. As I understand it, temples in the U.S. are a bit flexible in order to accommodate everyone in the community. At the same time, I understand that there have been many attempts to unify Hinduism as a whole and prevent disorder between the sects.

In the example of my coworkers, it seems that Smarta is being confused as the more liberal definition. At least, I think that's the case. Maybe I should directly ask them about Adi Shankar and see if they identify that sect with a word other than Smarta.

Water
18 April 2011, 12:24 PM
Many thanks to our friend SOV who provided this:


hi water,
Smartha(not smarti) is a tradition which follows the advaita vedanta. This tradition was revived by adi shankaracharya, however i have seen it being mentioned in some book which dates back to the time of yajnavalkya. I presume, it is followed in all parts of india, since four mathas were started by shankaracharya. However i don't know about other parts of india, but there are a lot of smarthas in southern india including maharashtra.

Smartha is like a clan-'smartha kule jaatasmin'-meaning, born to smartha clan. So smartha and advaita are different, since advaita is a siddhanta(philosophy). Smartha tradition is a typical brahmin tradition and it is not liberal in that sense.
However, the siddhanta that we follow is liberal-in the sense-evryone can follow this siddhanta according to their own tradition and cultures.

And i am from bangalore, india.

I think that clears most of my confusion!