The Smarta tradition (, ) is a movement in Hinduism that developed and expanded with the Puranas genre of literature. It reflects a synthesis of four philosophical strands, namely Uttara Mīmāṃsā, Advaita, Yoga, and theism. The Smarta tradition rejects theistic sectarianism, and is notable for the domestic worship of five shrines with five deities, all treated as equal – Ganesha, Shiva, Shakti, Vishnu and Surya. The Smarta tradition contrasted with the older Shrauta tradition, which was based on elaborate rituals and rites. There has been a considerable overlap in the ideas and practices of the Smarta tradition with other significant historic movements within Hinduism, namely Shaivism, Brahmanism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism.Sanderson, Alexis. "The Saiva Age: The Rise And Dominance Of Saivism During The Early Medieval Period". In Genesis And Development of Tantrism, Edited By Shingo Einoo. Tokyo: Institute Of Oriental Culture, University Of Tokyo, 2009. Institute Of Oriental Culture Special Series, 23, pp. 276–277.John Shephard (2009), Ninian Smart On World Religions, Ashgate, , p. 186.
The Smarta tradition developed during (early) Classical Period of Hinduism around the beginning of the Common Era, when Hinduism emerged from the interaction between Brahmanism and local traditions. The Smarta tradition is aligned with Advaita Vedanta, and regards Adi Shankara as its founder or reformer.U Murthy (1979), Samskara, Oxford University Press, , p. 150. Shankara championed the thesis that ultimate reality is impersonal and Nirguna (attributeless) and any symbolic god serves the same equivalent purpose.L. Williamson (2010), Transcendent in America: Hindu-inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion, New York University Press, , p. 89. Inspired by this belief, the Smarta tradition followers, along with the five Hindu gods, include a sixth impersonal god in their practice. The tradition has been called by William Jackson as "advaitin, monistic in its outlook".William Jackson (1994), Tyāgarāja and the Renewal of Tradition, Motilal Banarsidass, , p. 218.
The term Smarta also refers to Brahmins who specialise in the Smriti corpus of texts named the Grihya Sutras, which concerns itself with the domestic responsibilities of householders, in contrast to the Shrauta Sutras - also a Smriti corpus, which emphasizes retention of the historical Vedic oral, communal, and ritual tradition.Buhnemann, Gudrun, Puja: A Study In Smarta Ritual, Publications Of The De Nobili Research Library, Gerold & Co., Vienna, 1988. pp. 32–33.Buhnemann, Gudrun, Mandalas And Yantras In The Hindu Traditions, Leiden, Brill, 2003. p. 57. "Initially A Brief Explanation Of The Word Smarta May Be In Order. Smarta Is A Rather Loosely Used Term Which Refers To A Brahmin Who Is An 'Adherent Of The Smrti' And Of The Tradition Which Is 'Based On The Smrti'."Flood, Gavin (1996), An Introduction To Hinduism, Cambridge University Press. p. 17. "There Is Also An Important Tradition Of Brahmans Called Smartas, Those Who Follow The Smrti Or Secondary Revelation ..." p. 56. "The Brahmans Who Followed The Teachings Of These Texts Were Known As Smartas, Those Who Followed The Smrtis ..." p. 113. "The Brahmans Who Followed The Puranic Religion Became Known As Smarta, Those Whose Worship Was Based On The Smrtis, Or Pauranika, Those Based On The Puranas." Smarta Brahmins, with their focus on the Smriti corpus, are contrasted from Srauta Brahmins, who specialise in the Śruti Corpus, that is, rituals and ceremonies that follow the Vedas. Though Smarta and Srauta Brahmins retain, study, and adhere to both Grihya Sutras and Srauta Sutras according to their familial Vedic Shakha, the contrast leads to differences in practice, occupation, and religious philosophy.
Etymology Smārta (स्मार्त) is an adjective derived from Smriti (). The smriti are a specific body of Hindu texts usually attributed to an author, traditionally written down but constantly revised, in contrast to Srutis (The Vedic Literature) considered authorless, that were transmitted verbally across the generations and fixed.Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (1988), Textual Sources For The Study Of Hinduism, Manchester University Press, , Pages 2–3
Smarta has several meanings:Spoken Sanskrit Dictionary, smArta Relating to memory Recorded in or based on the Smriti Based on tradition, prescribed or sanctioned by traditional law Orthodox Brahmin versed in or guided by traditional law and Vedanta doctrine
In Smarta tradition context, the term Smarta means "Follower Of Smriti".Dermot Killingley (2007), Encyclopedia Of Hinduism (Editors: Denise Cush Et Al), Routledge, , Page 456 Smarta is especially associated with a "Sect Founded By Shankaracharya", according to Monier Williams. Some families in South India follow Srauta strictly and do not accept any Vedanta systems. They even have a custom of the sacred thread being worn by women.
History
Both Alf Hiltebeitel and Gavin Flood locate the origins of the Smarta Tradition in the (early) Classical Period of Hinduism, particularly with the nondualist (Advaita) interpretation of Vedanta, when Hinduism emerged from the interaction between Brahmanism and local traditions.
The "Hindu Synthesis" Hiltebeitel situates the origins of the Smarta tradition in the ongoing interaction between the Vedic-Brahmanic tradition and non-Vedic traditions. According to him, a period of consolidation in the development of Hinduism took place between the time of the late Vedic Upanishad (c. 500 BCE) and the period of the rise of the Guptas (c. 320–467), which he calls the "Hindus synthesis", "Brahmanic synthesis", or "orthodox synthesis". It develops in interaction with other religions and peoples:
The smriti texts of the period between 200 BCE and 100 CE proclaim the authority of the Vedas, and "nonrejection of the Vedas comes to be one of the most important touchstones for defining Hinduism over and against the heterodoxies, which rejected the Vedas." The Smriti texts interpret the Vedas in a number of ways, which gave rise to six darsanas (orthodox schools) of Hindu philosophy. Of the six Hindu darsanas, the Mimamsa and the Vedanta "are rooted primarily in the Vedic sruti tradition and are sometimes called smarta schools in the sense that they develop smarta orthodox current of thoughts that are based, like smriti, directly on sruti." They emphasize the Vedas with reason and other pramanas, in contrast to Haituka schools which emphasize hetu (cause, reason) independent of the Vedas while accepting the authority of the Vedas. Of the two Smarta traditions, Mimamsa focused on Vedic ritual traditions, while Vedanta focussed on Upanishadic knowledge tradition.
Around the start of the common era, and thereafter, a syncretism of Haituka schools (Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya and Yoga), the Smarta schools (Mimamsa, Vedanta) with ancient theistic ideas (bhakti, tantric) gave rise to a growth in traditions such as Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism. The revived Smarta tradition attempted to integrate varied and conflicting devotional practices, with its ideas of nondual experience of Atman (self, soul) as Brahman. The rapprochement included the practice of pancayatana-puja (five shrine worship), wherein a Hindu could focus on any saguna deity of choice (istadevata) such as Vishnu, Shiva, Durga, Surya and Ganesha as an interim step towards realizing the nirguna Brahman. The growth of this Smarta Tradition began in the Gupta period (4th–5th century CE), and likely was dominated by Dvija classes, in particular the Brahmins,Smarta sect, Encyclopædia Britannica (2012): "Smarta Sect, Orthodox Hindu Sect Composed Of Members Of The 'Twice-Born', Or Initiated Upper Classes (Brahmin, Kshatriya, And Vaishya), Whose Primarily Brahmin Followers ..." of the early medieval Indian society. This Smarta tradition competed with other major traditions of Hinduism such as Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism. The ideas of Smarta were historically influential, creative with concepts such as of Harihara (half Shiva, half Vishnu deity) and Ardhanarishvara (half woman, half man deity), and many of the major scholars of Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, and Bhakti movement came out of the Smarta tradition.
According to Hiltebeitel, "the consolidation of Hinduism takes place under the sign of bhakti." It is the Bhagavadgita that seals this achievement. The result is a universal achievement that may be called smarta. It views Shiva and Vishnu as "complementary in their functions but ontologically identical".
Puranic Hinduism According to Flood, the Smarta tradition originated with the development of the Puranas. The Puranic corpus is a complex body of materials that advance the views of various competing cults. Flood connects the rise of the written Purana historically with the rise of devotional cults centring upon a particular deity in the Gupta era.
After the end of the Gupta Empire and the collapse of the Harsha Empire, power became decentralised in India. Several larger kingdoms emerged, with "countless vasal states". The kingdoms were ruled via a feudal system. Smaller kingdoms were dependent on the protection of the larger kingdoms. With the breakdown of the Gupta empire, gifts of virgin waste-land were heaped on brahmanas, to ensure profitable agrarian exploitation of land owned by the kings, but also to provide status to the new ruling classes. Brahmanas spread further over India, interacting with local clans with different religions and ideologies.
The early medieval Puranas were composed to disseminate religious mainstream ideology among the pre-literate tribal societies undergoing acculturation. The Brahmanas used the Puranas to incorporate those clans into the agrarian society and its accompanying religion and ideology. Local chiefs and peasants were absorbed into the caste system, which was used to keep "control over the new kshatriyas and shudras".
The Brahmanism of the Dharmashastras and the smritis underwent a radical transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, resulting in the rise of Puranic Hinduism, "which like a colossus striding across the religious firmament soon came to overshadow all existing religions". Puranic Hinduism was a "multiplex belief-system which grew and expanded as it absorbed and synthesized polaristic ideas and cultic traditions". It was distinguished from its Vedic Smarta roots by its popular base, its theological and sectarian pluralism, its Tantric veneer, and the central place of bhakti.
Many local religions and traditions were assimilated into puranic Hinduism. Vishnu and Shiva emerged as the main deities, together with Sakti/Deva, subsuming local cults, popular totem symbols and creation myths. Rama and Krsna became the focus of a strong bhakti tradition, which found expression particularly in the Bhagavata Purana. The Krsna tradition subsumed numerous Naga, yaksa, and hill and tree based cults. Siva absorbed local cults by the suffixing of Isa or Isvara to the name of the local deity, for example Bhutesvara, Hatakesvara, and Chandesvara.
Shankara and Advaita Vedanta
Traditionally, Adi Shankara is regarded as the greatest teacher and reformer of the Smarta tradition. According to Hiltebeitel, Adi Shankara established the nondualist interpretation of the Upanishads as the touchstone of a revived smarta tradition:
The Sringeri Sharada monastery, according to tradition founded by Adi Shankara, in Karnataka is still the centre of the Smarta sect.
Recognition of Smarta as a tradition Medieval era scholars such as Vedanta Desika and Vallabhacharya recognized Smarta as competing with Vaishnavism and other traditions. According to Jeffrey Timm, for example, in verse 10 of the Tattvarthadipanibandha, Vallabhacharya states that, "Mutually contradictory conclusions are non-contradictory when they are considered from their respective contexts, like Vaishnava, Smarta, etc."