Comparing the Four Major Denominations
S JUST SEEN, THE SPECTRUM of Hindu religiousness is found within four major sects or denominations: Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism and Smartism. Among these four streams, there are certainly more similarities than differences. All four believe in karma and reincarnation and in a Supreme Being who both is form and pervades form, who creates, sustains and destroys the universe only to create it again in unending cycles. They strongly declare the validity and importance of temple worship, the three worlds of existence and the myriad Gods and devas residing in them. They concur that there is no intrinsic evil, that the cosmos is created out of God and is permeated by Him. They each believe in maya (though their definitions differ somewhat), and in the liberation of the soul from rebirth, called moksha, as the goal of human existence. They believe in dharma and in ahimsa, noninjury, and in the need for a satguru to lead the soul toward Self Realization. They wear the sacred marks, tilaka, on their foreheads as sacred symbols, though each wears a distinct mark. Finally, they prefer cremation of the body upon death, believing that the soul will inhabit another body in the next life. While Hinduism has many sacred scriptures, all sects ascribe the highest authority to the Vedas and Agamas, though their Agamas differ somewhat. Here, now, is a brief comparison of these four denominations.§
On the Personal God/Goddess §
SAIVISM: Personal God and temple Deity is Siva, neither male nor female. Lords Ganesha and Karttikeya are also worshiped.§
SHAKTISM: Personal Goddess and temple Deity is Shri Devi or Shakti, female, worshiped as Rajarajeshvari, Parvati, Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Kali, Amman, etc. —the Divine Mother. §
VAISHNAVISM: Personal God and temple Deity is Vishnu, male. His incarnations as Rama and Krishna are also worshiped, as well as His divine consort, Radharani. §
SMARTISM: Personal God and temple Deity is Ishvara, male or female, worshiped as Vishnu, Siva, Shakti, Ganesha and Surya or another Deity of devotee’s choice, e.g., Kumara or Krishna.§
On the Nature of Shakti §
SAIVISM: Shakti is God Siva’s inseparable power and manifest will, energy or mind.§
SHAKTISM: Shakti is an active, immanent Being, separate from a quiescent and remote Siva.§
VAISHNAVISM: No special importance is given to Shakti. However, there are parallels wherein the divine consorts are conceived as the inseparable powers of Vishnu and His incarnations: e.g., Krishna’s Radharani and Rama’s Sita.§
SMARTISM: Shakti is a divine form of Ishvara. It is God’s manifesting power.§
On the Nature of Personal God§
SAIVISM: God Siva is pure love and compassion, immanent and transcendent, pleased by our purity and sadhana.§
SHAKTISM: The Goddess Shakti is both compassionate and terrifying, pleasing and wrathful, assuaged by sacrifice and submission.§
VAISHNAVISM: God Vishnu is loving and beautiful, the object of man’s devotion, pleased by our service and surrender.§
SMARTISM: Ishvara appears as a human-like Deity according to devotees’ loving worship, which is sometimes considered a rudimentary, self-purifying practice.§
On the Doctrine of Avatara§
SAIVISM: There are no divine earthly incarnations of the Supreme Being.§
SHAKTISM: The Divine Mother does incarnate in this world.§
VAISHNAVISM: Vishnu has ten or more incarnations.§
SMARTISM: All Deities may assume earthly incarnations.§
On the Soul and God §
SAIVISM: God Siva is one with the soul. The soul must realize this advaitic (monistic) Truth by God Siva’s grace.§
SHAKTISM: The Divine Mother, Shakti, is mediatrix, bestowing advaitic moksha on those who worship Her. §
VAISHNAVISM: God and soul are eternally distinct. Through Lord Vishnu’s grace, the soul’s destiny is to worship and enjoy God.§
SMARTISM: Ishvara and man are in reality Absolute Brahman. Within maya, the soul and Ishvara appear as two. Jnana (wisdom) dispels the illusion.§
Spiritual Practice §
SAIVISM: With bhakti as a base, emphasis is placed on tapas (austerity) and yoga. Ascetic.§
SHAKTISM: Emphasis is on bhakti and tantra, sometimes occult, practices. Ascetic-occult.§
VAISHNAVISM: Emphasis is on supreme bhakti or surrender, called prapatti. Generally devotional and nonascetic.§
SMARTISM: Preparatory sadhanas are bhakti, karma, raja yoga. The highest path is through knowledge, leading to jnana.§
Major Scriptures §
SAIVISM: Vedas, Saiva Agamas and Saiva Puranas.§
SHAKTISM: Vedas, Shakta Agamas (Tantras) and Puranas.§
VAISHNAVISM: Vedas, Vaishnava Agamas, Puranas and the Itihasas (Ramayana and Mahabharata, especially the Bhagavad Gita).§
SMARTISM: Vedas, Agamas and classical smriti—Puranas, Itihasas, especially the Bhagavad Gita, etc.§
Regions of Influence §
SAIVISM: Strongest in South and North India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.§
SHAKTISM: Most prominent in Northeast India, especially Bengal and Assam.§
VAISHNAVISM: Strong throughout India, North and South.§
SMARTISM: Most prominent in North and South India.§
Paths of Attainment
SAIVISM: The path for Saivites is divided into four progressive stages of belief and practice called charya, kriya, yoga and jnana. The soul evolves through karma and reincarnation from the instinctive-intellectual sphere into virtuous and moral living, then into temple worship and devotion, followed by internalized worship, or yoga, and its meditative disciplines. Union with God Siva comes through the grace of the satguru and culminates in the soul’s maturity in the state of jnana, or wisdom. Saivism values both bhakti and yoga, devotional and contemplative sadhanas, or disciplines.§
SHAKTISM: The spiritual practices in Shaktism are similar to those in Saivism, though there is more emphasis in Saktism on God’s Power as opposed to Being, on mantras and yantras, and on embracing apparent opposites: male-female, absolute-relative, pleasure-pain, cause-effect, mind-body. Certain sects within Shaktism undertake “left-hand” tantric rites, consciously using the world of form to transmute and eventually transcend that world. The “left-hand” approach is somewhat occult in nature; it is considered a path for the few, not the many. The “right-hand” path is more conservative in nature. §
VAISHNAVISM: Most Vaishnavites believe that religion is the performance of bhakti sadhanas, devotional disciplines, and that man can communicate with and receive the grace of the Gods and Goddesses through the darshan (sight) of their icons. The paths of karma yoga and jnana yoga lead to bhakti yoga. Among the foremost practices of Vaishnavites is chanting the holy names of the Avataras, Vishnu’s incarnations, especially Rama and Krishna. Through total self-surrender, prapatti, to Vishnu, to Krishna or to His beloved consort Radharani, liberation from samsara (the cycle of reincarnation) is attained. §
SMARTISM: Smartas, the most eclectic of Hindus, believe that moksha is achieved through jnana yoga alone—defined as an intellectual and meditative but non-kundalini-yoga path. Jnana yoga’s progressive stages are scriptural study (shravana), reflection (manana) and sustained meditation (dhyana). Guided by a realized guru and avowed to the unreality of the world, the initiate meditates on himself as Brahman, Absolute Reality, to break through the illusion of maya. Devotees may also choose from three other non-successive paths to cultivate devotion, accrue good karma and purify the mind. These are bhakti yoga, karma yoga and raja yoga, which certain Smartas teach can also bring enlightenment.§
Artwork: The Divine is reflected in four pots, representing Hinduism’s four main denominations, their common source being the radiant Aum, the sacred mystic syllable and symbol of Sanatana Dharma.§