Smartism

Smartism — from smārta, 'one who follows the smṛti (traditional law)' — is the tradition of Hindus who follow the Vedic smṛti literature (Dharmaśāstras, Gṛhyasūtras, Purāṇas) and who have been shaped by the philosophical framework of Advaita Vedānta as systematized by Ādi Śaṅkarācārya (c. 788–820 CE). The term marks both a traditional orientation (following the smṛti codes) and a theological position (Advaita Vedānta — the non-dual vision that Brahman is the only reality).

Śaṅkara's innovation within this broad traditional framework was the Pañcāyatana pūjā — the worship of five deities simultaneously: Śiva, Viṣṇu, Devī (the Goddess), Gaṇeśa, and Sūrya (the Sun). The theological rationale is Advaitic: all five are forms of the one Brahman, and the devotee who understands this can worship any or all of them without sectarian exclusivity. This deliberately non-sectarian approach — maintaining devotion (bhakti) to a personal deity while understanding all deities as manifestations of the one impersonal Absolute — is Smartism's distinctive contribution to Hindu inclusivism.

In practice, Smartism tends to be the tradition of the educated Brahmin householder — maintaining the daily rituals of the smṛti tradition (sandhyāvandana, pūjā, the various saṃskāras), studying the Vedas and Upaniṣads, and following the philosophical framework of Advaita. The Daśanāmī monastic order established by Śaṅkara provides the institutional backbone of the Smārta tradition.

The theological foundation of Smartism is Śaṅkara's Advaita Vedānta — the teaching that Brahman (the absolute, impersonal, infinite consciousness) is the only ultimate reality. The phenomenal world (including the diversity of deities, individual souls, and material phenomena) is not absolutely real but is māyā — a superimposition on Brahman like a snake superimposed on a rope in dim light.

From the ultimate (pāramārthika) standpoint, there is only Brahman — undifferentiated consciousness-existence-bliss (Sat-Cit-Ānanda). From the conventional (vyāvahārika) standpoint, the world, the deities, and individual souls are real and meaningful. Devotion to the personal deity (saguṇa Brahman) is the path for those who have not yet realized the impersonal absolute (nirguṇa Brahman) — but it is not inferior: it leads to the same liberation.

The practical implication is Smārta tolerance: if all deities are forms of one Brahman, no deity is 'wrong' and sectarian exclusivity is philosophically incoherent. A Smārta Hindu can worship Śiva at one temple, Viṣṇu at another, and Devī at a third without contradiction — because they understand all three as aspects of the same ultimate reality.

The central Smārta practices are: sandhyāvandana (twilight prayers three times daily, with Gāyatrī mantra recitation), the Pañcāyatana pūjā at home, the performance of the saṃskāras (life-cycle rites), and the study of Vedic and Vedāntic texts. The Smārta householder is expected to maintain the household fires (or their symbolic equivalents), perform the śrāddha (ancestral rites), and observe the major festivals.

The study of the Upaniṣads, particularly through Śaṅkara's commentaries, is considered central to Smārta religious life — not merely academic study but a progressive understanding of one's own nature as Brahman. The Vivekacūḍāmaṇi (Crown Jewel of Discrimination), attributed to Śaṅkara, is the most widely read Advaita text for this purpose.

The Daśanāmī sannyāsis — Smārta monks — perform no pūjā: having renounced all distinctions, including the distinction between the worshipper and the worshipped, they abide in the understanding that they are Brahman. Their daily 'practice' is the maintenance of this understanding.

Smartism's influence on Hindu civilization has been primarily through its institutional backbone — the Daśanāmī monastic order and the four maṭhas — which have maintained the Advaita Vedānta philosophical tradition and the Smārta ritual tradition through periods of significant cultural disruption including the medieval invasions and the colonial period.

Śaṅkara's philosophical achievement — the synthesis of Upanishadic non-dualism into a rigorous philosophical system that could engage with and refute Buddhist objections — is arguably the single most important intellectual achievement in Hindu history. His commentaries on the Upanishads, Brahma Sūtras, and Bhagavad Gītā remain the most studied philosophical texts in the Hindu tradition.

The Smārta tradition's non-sectarian approach — the intellectual willingness to honor all deities as forms of one Brahman — has been a significant moderating force in Hindu history, providing a philosophical basis for religious pluralism and tolerance that has served to reduce (though not eliminate) sectarian conflict within Hinduism.