Question:
I was told twice that
Hinduism is divided in four traditions: Shaivism, Sakthism, Vaishnavism,
Smarthism. The philosophy of Advaita Vedanta comes from which tradition?
Another way to ask the question could be: Shankaracharya was from Shaivism,
Sakthism, Vaishnavism or Smarthism ? – Sylvain Lavoie, Feb 28, 2004
Answer:
Hinduism, as practiced today is a potpourri of many subsets of the
religion. The four groups you mentioned choose their personal images of
God to worship - as Shiva in Shaivites, Vishnu in Vaishnavites or Shakti
in Shaktas and the six main images as worshipped by the Smarthas – most
Hindus belonging to one group willingly cross over and worship other
images with equal reverence. Thus a Vaishnavite will also worship Shiva or
Shakti and vice versa. Most Hindus will go to temples that house many
different deities, even though they may be classified as belonging to one
tradition or another. The divisions are not all that strict or important.
Hinduism is philosophically monistic but many forms of the religion are
practiced in the current day, and the divisions are more and more blurred.
Hinduism also has tolerance built into its philosophy. Thus it is clearly
mentioned in the Vedas that the paths to Salvation are many. Hinduism
encourages people of other faiths to continue in the faiths of their
births and seek the Truth within the confines of their own religion. The
religion only asks them to follow the codes of good conduct and morals
(e.g. the Ten Commandments for Christians or the Eight Noble Paths for
Buddhists are both acceptable). No attempt is made to convince or convert
people of other faiths to Hindu faith. One of the most famous Sanskrit
sayings from the Vedas says that, “The Truth is one, but the priests call
it by different names.”
Hinduism makes
a clear distinction between the un-manifest Reality and the manifested
forms of God. The former is the Nirguna Brahman, a tremendously powerful
energy in perfect balance with itself, which is without attributes and
character or shape, and is responsible for the creation of the Universe.
The manifested form of this energy called Saguna Brahman is the God with
all the characters and shapes and attributes. Most commonly the manifested
form is in the form of a human, either man or woman. Humans are created
with the highest state of consciousness and hence it is only natural that
the manifested form is in the shape of human. (Though the earlier avatars
of Vishnu include animals in the more primitive form, this is only
considered as an allegory of the process of evolution and symbolic in
nature). Symbols being very common in Hinduism, Saguna Brahman represents
every function of the Universe in many forms. The mysticism and its
occultism are interpreted in every detail of the idol. The smile on the
face, the stance, the way the hands are held (usually more than two to
represent many symbols emanating from the idol) and the objects held in
the hands represent a function or reflect on its power. To the
uninitiated, the idols may appear primitive and even grotesque if the
symbols they represent are not understood. The power of an idol is not in
the idol itself but in what it represents. At a glance, there may even
appear to be a disconnect between the theosophy and the practices of
worship in Hinduism.
Shankaracharya’s Contribution
Shankara was a Vedanta scholar, who had mastered the Vedas and the
Upanishads at an early age. This scholar went on to interpret Vedas in
such a way that the common man could comprehend its philosophy and
meaning. Shankara believed in strict monism (Advaita), and that the human
soul is indistinguishable from that of God. And this God is the universal,
impersonal, characterless, all-pervading, formless Brahman. He believed
that the path to realizing the Truth (salvation) is through knowledge of
the scriptures. (jnana yoga). He also realized that a common man needed a
figure-head to concentrate and meditate on. Thus he described Truth at two
levels. The higher level is one every human being should aspire to reach
and understand. At a higher intellectual level, it is possible to realize
the Truth by the study of the scriptures and yoga. At the lower level, the
world is an illusion (maya) and life is nothing but a puppetry of God (lila).
People will choose their beloved form of the many manifested forms of
Saguna Brahman (ishtadevata), and go through the chores of life with faith
invested in their chosen god. But it is only possible to attain salvation
if one reaches for the higher level of Truth. That should be the goal of
all human beings.
There is little evidence to say that Shankara was a Shaivite
(misunderstanding probably comes from the fact that Shankara is another
name of Shiva, though there is a legend that claims that Shankara was an
avatar of Shiva). Shankara was the author of many bhajans (prayer songs or
hymns), worshipping and praising Lord Vishnu as well as Shiva (he was the
author of the famous Bhaja Govindam.) He was a reformer who streamlined
the practice of Hindu worship thus paving the way for a harmonious
co-existence of different belief systems. He was responsible for bringing
all the factions of Hinduism under its big tent. Shankara, like most
Hindus believed and worshipped most of the manifested forms of God.
So, one can be a Hindu by embracing Advaita philosophy (strict monism of
Shankara), or a qualified monist (Vishistadvaita philosophy) as proposed
by Ramanuja, or even a dualist (Dvaita philosophy) as a follower of Madhva.
Under any of these basic philosophies, a Hindu is free to choose a
personal image of God as his favorite deity – like Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti,
Ganesha etc. A Hindu is also free to choose all these deities or none at
all. As long as he follows Dharma (codes of conduct and one’s duty) and a
set of moral ethics, there are no compulsions on him to lead his life a
certain way to please the Almighty. The differences between the
philosophies one follows and the subset one belongs to are ambiguous. Most
of today’s Smarthas follow the monistic Advaita philosophy but still are
free to worship many deities. Shankara was responsible for organizing the
worship (panchayatana) of five deities, which is followed even today by
different traditions (sampradayas).
The Three Paths to Salvation
Knowing that there is diversity in life and no single way of life as
prescribed or ordained by God will be followed by everyone, the wise
thinkers have put forward three different paths (marga) for achieving
salvation. The first is the jnana marga, mostly for the intellectuals who
are able to study and comprehend scriptures. The second is the bhakti
marga, wherein meditation on a personal image of God will lead one to
realizing the Truth. The third involves social service. Work in the field
of uplifting humanity and performance of duty without expecting anything
in return is called the karma marga. Renunciation of all worldly
possessions and pleasures and continuous meditation is the fourth
alternative, which perhaps is beyond the scope of most human beings today.
On the surface Hinduism certainly looks like a confused, directionless
religion to an outsider. But the inclusiveness of Hinduism with its
doctrine of tolerance makes it universally appealing. It is not an
organized religion and the method of practice is entirely left to the
individual, who will take full responsibility of his or her conduct.
Superficially, it is a hodgepodge of beliefs and practices, but its core
belief of ONE GOD, universal, omniscient and omnipotent has stood the test
of time.
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