Hindu denominations

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Hinduism
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Hinduism is the dominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. It comprises three major traditions, Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism,[1] whose followers considered Shiva, Vishnu and Shakti (also called as Devi) to be the supreme deity respectively. Most of the other deities were either related to them or different forms (incarnations) of these deities. Hinduism has been called the "oldest religion" in the world, and many practitioners refer to Hinduism as "the eternal law". (Sanātana Dharma).[2]

Hindus are persons that believe they may obtain moksha (union with Brahman) by practicing either good karma, bhakti, or jnana. The main denominations of Hinduism are Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. These four denominations may share rituals, beliefs, and traditions, but each denomination has a different philosophy on how to achieve life's ultimate goal, Atma Jnana (self-realization). There are also smaller denominations, and newer movements. Cross-denominational influences are the Bhakti-movement, and the six orthodox schools of thought.

Typology[edit]

McDaniel - six generic "types"[edit]

McDaniel (2007) distinguishes six generic "types" of Hinduism, in an attempt to accommodate a variety of views on a rather complex subject:[3]

Sampradaya[edit]

Main article: Sampradaya

In Hinduism, a sampradaya (IAST sampradāya) can be translated as ‘tradition’ or a ‘religious system’.[4] It is a body of practice, views and attitudes, which are transmitted, redefined and reviewed by each successive generation of followers. A particular guru lineage is called parampara. By receiving diksha (initiation) into the parampara of a living guru, one belongs to its proper sampradaya.[4] Membership in a sampradaya not only lends a level of authority to one’s claims on truth in the Hindu traditional context, but also allows one to make those claims in the first place.[citation needed]

Main denominations[edit]

Vaishnavism / Vishnuism[edit]

The Birla Mandir is one of the most famous Vaishnavite temples in India.
Main article: Vaishnavism

Vaishnavism is the tradition worshiping Vishnu (or his forms of Krishna and Rama) as the supreme or Svayam Bhagavan. Vaishnavism is the sect within Hinduism that worships Vishnu, the preserver god of the Hindu Trimurti ('three images', the Trinity), and his ten incarnations. It is a devotional sect, and followers worship many deities, including Ram and Krishna, both thought to be incarnations of Vishnu. The adherents of this sect are generally non-ascetic, monastic and devoted to meditative practice and ecstatic chanting.[5][6][7] Vaishnavites are mainly dualistic. They are deeply devotional. Their religion is rich in saints, temples and scriptures.[8]

According to the Padma Purāṇa, one of the eighteen main Purāṇas, there are four Vaishnava sampradayas, which preserve the fruitfull mantras:[note 1]

All mantras which have been given (to disciples) not in an authorised Sampradāya are fruitless. Therefore, in Kali Yuga, there will be four bona-fide Sampradāyas.[9]

Each of them are understood to have been inaugurated by a deity, who appointed heads to these four lineages:

Other Vaishnava schools and the principal teachers connected with them are:

Shaivism / Shiviti[edit]

Main article: Shaivism

Shaivas or Shaivites are those who primarily worship Shiva as the supreme god, both immanent and transcendent. Shaivism embraces at the same time monism (specifically nondualism) and dualism. To Shaivites, Shiva is both with and without form; he is the Supreme Dancer, Nataraja; and is linga, without beginning or end. Shiva is sometimes depicted as the fierce god Bhairava. Saivists are more attracted to asceticism than adherents of other Hindu sects, and may be found wandering India with ashen faces performing self-purification rituals.[5][6][7] They worship in the temple and practice yoga, striving to be one with Siva within.[8]

The major schools of Śaivism include:

Other branches:

  • Lingayatism, or Veerashaivism, Virashaivism, is a distinct Shaivite tradition in India, established in the 12th century by the philosopher and social reformer Basavanna. It makes several departures from mainstream Hinduism and propounds monotheism through worship centered on Lord Shiva in the form of linga or Ishtalinga. It also rejects the authority of the Vedas and the caste system.[10][11]
  • Aaiyyanism is a religion claiming to be a form of pure Dravidian Hinduism and identifying as a Shaivite branch. It is incorporated in the Aaiyyan World Forum.

Shaktism[edit]

Main article: Shaktism
Devi Shakthi at Parashakthi Temple, Pontiac, USA adorned as Goddesses Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswathi during Navaratri

Shaktas worship the divine Mother Shakti, in her many forms. These forms include Kali, Durga, Laxmi, and Saraswati. Shaktism is one of the oldest forms of the Hindu religion (records date back to the Indus valley civilization)[citation needed]. The passage of thousands of years has yielded variations in doctrine, and a plurality of Hindu philosophies has emerged. The Shaivism and Shakta forms are in fact inseparable, as is the description of Shiva from that of Shakti/Sati/Parvati. Vaishanvism also has a connection with Shakta philosophy because Goddess Durga is called Narayani.

Cults of goddess worship are ancient in India. The branch of Hinduism that worships the goddess, known as Devi, is called Shaktism. Followers of Shaktism recognize Shakti as the power that underlies the male principle, and Devi is often depicted as Parvati the consort of Shiva or as Lakshmi the consort of Vishnu. She is also depicted in other guises, such as the fierce Kali or Durga. Shaktism is closely related with Tantric Hinduism, which teaches rituals and practices for purification of the mind and body.[5][6][7] The Mother Goddess has many forms. Some are gentle, some are fierce. Shaktas use chants, real magic, holy diagrams, yoga and rituals to call forth cosmic forces.[8]

Smartism[edit]

Aum
Main article: Smartism

Smartas have free rein to choose whichever deity they wish to worship. They usually worship five deities (Pancopasana) or Panchadevata as personal formful manifestations of the impersonal Absolute, Brahman. Smartas accept and worship the six manifestations of God (Ganesha, Shiva, Shakti, Vishnu, Surya, and Skanda) and the choice of the nature of God is up to the individual worshiper since different manifestations of God are held to be equivalent. It is nonsectarian. It is the Smarta view that dominates the view of Hinduism in the West as Smarta belief includes Advaita belief (Advaita was revived by Adi Sankara in India) and the first Hindu saint, who significantly brought Hinduism to the west was Swami Vivekananda, an adherent of Advaita. Not till much later, gurus, such as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and others, brought a Vaishnavite perspective to the West.

Smartism invites the worship of more than one god including Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Ganesha (the elephant god) and Surya (the sun god) among other gods and goddesses. It is not as overtly sectarian as either Vashnavism or Saivism and is based on the recognition that Brahman (God) is the highest principle in the universe and pervades all of existence.[5][6][7] Generally Smartas worship the Supreme in one of six forms: Ganesha, Siva, Sakti, Vishnu, Surya and Skanda. Because they accept all the major Hindu Gods, they are known as liberal or nonsectarian. They follow a philosophical, meditative path, emphasizing man's oneness with God through understanding.[8]

The majority of members of Smarta community follow the Advaita Vedanta philosophy of Adi Shankara Acharya.[web 1] Smarta and Advaita have become almost synonymous, though not all Advaitins are Smartas.[web 1] Traditionally, Shankara (8th century CE) is regarded as the greatest teacher[12][13] and reformer of the Smartha.[14][13] According to Hiltebeitel, Shankara established the nondualist interpretation of the Upanishads as the touchstone of a revived smarta tradition.[15] The Sringeri Sharada monastery founded by Adi Shankara Acharya in Karnataka is still the centre of the Smarta sect.[12][13]

In contrast with the Smarta/Advaita belief, the Vaishnavite and Shaivite beliefs teach a singular concept of God best explained as panentheistic monotheism or panentheistic monism.

Prominent Smarta communities:

Other denominations[edit]

Shrautism[edit]

Main article: Shrauta

Shrauta communities are very rare in India, the most well known being the ultra-orthodox Nambudiri Brahmins of Kerala. They follow the "Purva-Mimamsa" (earlier portion of Vedas) in contrast to Vedanta followed by other Brahmins. They place importance on the performance of Vedic Sacrifice (Yajna). The Nambudiri Brahmins are famous for their preservation of the ancient Somayaagam, Agnicayana rituals which have vanished in other parts of India.

Suryaism / Saurism[edit]

Main article: Saura (Hinduism)

The Suryaites or Sauras are followers of a Hindu denomination that started in Vedic tradition, and worship Surya as the main visible form of the Saguna Brahman. The Saura religion was influential in times of old but declined between the 12th and 13th century CE and today remains as a very small movement.

Ganapatism[edit]

Main article: Ganapatya

Ganapatism is a Hindu denomination in which Lord Ganesha is worshipped as the main form of the Saguna Brahman. This sect was widespread and influential in the past and has remained important in Maharashtra.

Kaumaram[edit]

Main article: Kaumaram

Kaumaram is a sect of Hindus, especially found in South India and Sri Lanka where Lord Muruga Karttikeya is the Supreme Godhead. Lord Muruga is considered superior to the Trimurti. The worshippers of Lord Muruga are called Kaumaras.

Indonesian Hinduism[edit]

Main articles: Hinduism in Southeast Asia, Hinduism in Indonesia and Balinese Hinduism

Hinduism flourished on the island of Java and Sumatra until the late 16th century, when a vast majority of the population converted by will or force to Islam. Only the Balinese people who formed a majority on the island of Bali, retained this form of Hinduism over the centuries. Theologically, Balinese or Indonesian Hinduism is closer to Shaivism than to other major sects of Hinduism. The adherents consider Acintya the supreme god, and all other gods as his manifestations.

The term "Agama Hindu Dharma", the endonymous Indonesian name for "Indonesian Hinduism" can also refer to the traditional practices in Kalimantan, Sumatra, Sulawesi and other places in Indonesia, where people have started to identify and accept their agamas as Hinduism or Hindu worship has been revived. The revival of Hinduism in Indonesia has given rise to a national organisation, the Parisada Hindu Dharma.

Newer movements[edit]

See also: Hindu reform movements, Hinduism in the West, Bengal Renaissance and Contemporary Sant Mat movements

19th to 20th century Hindu revivalist organizations include:

There are also Hindu influences in some new Western religious movements, such as the New Age movement and Wicca.

Hinduism was politicized in the context of the Indian independence movement that has resulted in the rise of Hindu nationalism to a significant political force in the Republic of India.

Purely monotheistic Hindu sects[edit]

Slavic Vedism or Neo-Vedism[edit]

Slavic Vedism, Slavic Hinduism, or Neo-Vedism or simply Vedism[16][17] are terms used to describe the contemporary indigenous development of Vedic forms of religion in Russia, Siberia, other Slavic countries, the Commonwealth of Independent States' members and generally all the post-Soviet states.

Slavic Vedism involves the use of Vedic rituals and worship of ancient Vedic deities, distinguishing from other groups which have maintained a stronger bond with modern Indian Hinduism, although Krishnaite groups often identify themselves as "Vedic" too. Also some syncretic groups within Rodnovery (Slavic Neopaganism) use the term "Vedism"[18][19] and worship Vedic gods, but mainstream Rodnovery is characterised by its use of indigenous Slavic rituals and Slavic names for the gods.

Cross-denominational influences[edit]

Atman Jnana[edit]

Main articles: Jnana and Moksha

Jñāna is a Sanskrit word that means knowledge. In Vedas it means true knowledge, that (atman) is identical with Brahman. It is also referred to as Atma Jnana which is frequently translated as self-realization.

Bhakti movement[edit]

Main article: Bhakti movement

The Bhakti movement was a theistic devotional trend that originated in the seventh-century Tamil south India (now parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala), and spread northwards.[20] It swept over east and north India from the fifteenth-century onwards, reaching its zenith between the 15th and 17th century CE.[20] The Bhakti movement regionally developed as Hindu denominations around different gods and goddesses, such as Vaishnavism (Vishnu), Shaivism (Shiva), Shaktism (Shakti goddesses), and Smartism.[21][22][23] The movement was inspired by many poet-saints, who championed a wide range of philosophical positions ranging from theistic dualism of Dvaita to absolute monism of Advaita Vedanta.[20][24] Scriptures of the Bhakti movement include the Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavata Purana and Padma Purana.[25][26]

As part of the legacy of the Alvars, five Vaishnava philosophical traditions (sampradayas) has developed at the later stages.[27]

Schools of Indian philosophy[edit]

Main article: Hindu philosophy

Hindu philosophy is traditionally divided into six āstika (Sanskrit: आस्तिक "orthodox") schools of thought,[28] or darśanam (दर्शनम्, "view"), which accept the Vedas as the supreme revealed scriptures. The schools are:

  1. Samkhya, an atheistic and strongly dualist theoretical exposition of consciousness and matter.
  2. Yoga, a school emphasizing meditation, contemplation and liberation.
  3. Nyaya or logic, explores sources of knowledge. Nyāya Sūtras.
  4. Vaisheshika, an empiricist school of atomism
  5. Mimāṃsā, an anti-ascetic and anti-mysticist school of orthopraxy
  6. Vedanta, the last segment of knowledge in the Vedas, or the 'Jnan' (knowledge) 'Kanda' (section).

The nāstika schools are (in chronological order):

  1. Cārvāka
  2. Jainism
  3. Ājīvika
  4. Buddhism

However, medieval philosophers like Vidyāraṇya classified Indian philosophy into sixteen schools, where schools belonging to Saiva, Pāṇini and Raseśvara thought are included with others, and the three Vedantic schools Advaita, Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita (which had emerged as distinct schools by then) are classified separately.[29]

In Hindu history, the distinction of the six orthodox schools was current in the Gupta period "golden age" of Hinduism. With the disappearance of Vaisheshika and Mimamsa, it was obsolete by the later Middle Ages, when the various sub-schools of Vedanta (Dvaita "dualism", Advaita Vedanta "non-dualism" and others) began to rise to prominence as the main divisions of religious philosophy. Nyaya survived into the 17th century as Navya Nyaya "Neo-Nyaya", while Samkhya gradually lost its status as an independent school, its tenets absorbed into Yoga and Vedanta.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Quoted in Böthlingk Sanskrit-Sanskrit dictionary, entry Sampradaya.[9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Nath 2001, p. 31.
  2. ^ Knott 1998, p. 5.
  3. ^ J. McDaniel Hinduism, in John Corrigan, The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Emotion, (2007) Oxford University Press, 544 pages, pp. 52-53 ISBN 0-19-517021-0
  4. ^ a b Gupta 2002.
  5. ^ a b c d "ISKCON". Retrieved 7 February 2014. 
  6. ^ a b c d "SA Hindus". Retrieved 7 February 2014. 
  7. ^ a b c d Dubois (2007-04-01). Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies. Cosimo. p. 111. ISBN 9781602063365. 
  8. ^ a b c d "HimalayanAcademy". Retrieved 7 February 2014. 
  9. ^ a b Apte 1965.
  10. ^ A. K. Ramanujan, ed. (1973). Speaking of Śiva. UNESCO. Indian translation series. Penguin classics. Religion and mythology. Penguin India. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-14-044270-0. 
  11. ^ "Lingayat." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 09 Jul. 2010.
  12. ^ a b Doniger 1999, p. 1017.
  13. ^ a b c Popular Prakashan 2000, p. 52.
  14. ^ Rosen 2006, p. 166.
  15. ^ Hiltebeitel 2013.
  16. ^ Michael F. Strmiska. Modern Paganism in World Cultures. ABC-CLIO, 2005. p. 222: «In addition to Ukrainian Paganism, Russian and Pan-Slavic varieties of Paganism and "Slavic Vedism" can also be found in Ukraine».
  17. ^ Portal "Religion and Law". Монастырь «Собрание тайн» или «Дивья лока»: второе пришествие индуизма в России?. 2013-04-30
  18. ^ Robert A. Saunders, Vlad Strukov. Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation. The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, 2010. p. 412
  19. ^ Kaarina Aitamurto. Russian Rodnoverie: Negotiating Individual Traditionalism. Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, 2007.
  20. ^ a b c Schomer and McLeod (1987), The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120802773, pages 1-2
  21. ^ Lance Nelson (2007), An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies (Editors: Orlando O. Espín, James B. Nickoloff), Liturgical Press, ISBN 978-0814658567, pages 562-563
  22. ^ SS Kumar (2010), Bhakti - the Yoga of Love, LIT Verlag Münster, ISBN 978-3643501301, pages 35-36
  23. ^ Wendy Doniger (2009), Bhakti, Encyclopedia Britannica; The Four Denomination of Hinduism Himalayan Academy (2013)
  24. ^ Christian Novetzke (2007), Bhakti and Its Public, International Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 11, No. 3, page 255-272
  25. ^ Catherine Robinson (2005), Interpretations of the Bhagavad-Gita and Images of the Hindu Tradition, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415346719, pages 28-30
  26. ^ Karen Pechilis Prentiss (2014), The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195351903, pages 26-32, 217-218
  27. ^ Mittal, S. G. R. Thursby (2006). Religions of South Asia: An Introduction. Routledge. 
  28. ^ For an overview of the six orthodox schools, with detail on the grouping of schools, see: Radhakrishnan and Moore, "Contents", and pp. 453–487.
  29. ^ Cowell and Gough, p. xii.
  1. ^ a b Hinduism-guide.com, Hinduism: Details about "Smarta"

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]
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