Smarta

Name for a particular group of brahmins
distinguished not by region or family,
but by the religious texts that they hold
most authoritative. For the Smartas, the
most authoritative texts are the texts
known as the smrtis—either the texts
themselves or commentaries and compilations based on them. The smrtis or
“remembered” texts were a class of literature that, although deemed important,
were considered less authoritative than
the shrutis or “heard” texts. In brief, the
shrutis denoted the Vedas, the oldest
and most authoritative Hindu religious
texts, whereas the smrtis included the
dharma literature, the Bhagavad Gita,
the Mahabharata, and Ramayana, and
the collection known as the puranas.
The Smartas thus stand in contrast with
sectarian brahmins, whether Shaiva
(devotees of Shiva) or Vaishnava (devotees of Vishnu), for whom their particular sectarian scriptures have the highest
religious authority. Smarta brahmins
can therefore claim to be following the
oldest and best established religious
texts and thus in some way to be the
most orthodox. Since Smartas are distinguished by their authoritative texts
and practice rather than by the deity
they worship, individual Smartas may
worship different Hindu deities, and
many do. Yet particularly in southern
India, many Smartas perform the panchayatana puja to the five divine
forms—Vishnu, Shiva, Surya, Ganesh,
and the Goddess—which is intended to
show the ultimate unity behind the differing manifestations of divinity.