Hello Everyone

[SOV]

Hi there,
I am a student of vedanta(sov). I am from the smarta tradition which is followed in some parts of south india. I am very much impressed with advaita siddhanta and ready to start off with that shraddha. Academically, i want to see what are the tikas(criticisms) against this siddhanta and also what the other view is. Not to create any noise here, but to have more shraddha in this siddhanta, so that i can gain deeper understanding.

That apart, i am looking forward to make good friends and know the lifestyle of the folks here.
Cheers

[Water]

Hi there,
I am a student of vedanta(sov). I am from the smarta tradition which is followed in some parts of south india. I am very much impressed with advaita siddhanta and ready to start off with that shraddha. Academically, i want to see what are the tikas(criticisms) against this siddhanta and also what the other view is. Not to create any noise here, but to have more shraddha in this siddhanta, so that i can gain deeper understanding.

That apart, i am looking forward to make good friends and know the lifestyle of the folks here.
Cheers

Hello and welcome!

I actually had some questions for someone like you. If you can, could you help me answer them?

What is the difference between Advaita Vedanta and Smarti tradition?

In some of my readings, "Smartism" is described as liberal Hinduism. In other readings, it suggests that Smarti tradition is an arduous and extremely orthodox tradition. Which is correct and do you know why this dual-definition seems to exist?

Also, where are you from?

[SOV]

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.

[Ramakrishna]

Namaste SOV,

Welcome to HDF. Hopefully you will learn a lot about Sanatana Dharma here. I like your name, btw :)

Jai Sri Ram

[Obelisk]

Welcome to the forums, SOV! :) I've been following the Advaita Vedanta myself since quite a while, though I consider myself pretty much a novice still. Looking forward to see you participating in the discussions!

[Water]

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.

Many, many thanks!

I found the English resources on the subject quite confusing. Your explanation has made it very clear that either the resources were mistaken or I misinterpreted them as a result of my own mistake. :)

[Adhvagat]

I wish we can all learn a lot from your posts. Om

[SOV]

Thanks guys........tis a nice forum.