Getting Organized with Hinduism (A) “Denominations,” Writing Methods, and History

A View from the Present: “Denominations” Ways of being Hindu focused on worship and devotion to a particular God Sampradayas: communities of religious tradition Parampara: succession, lineage of teachings and teaching Gurus (teachers, preceptors) Diksha (initiation) Mantra (sacred utterance with spiritual power)

A contemporary example The Swaminarayan Sampradaya The Swaminarayan Temple in Bartlett, IL

The Major Denominations (Sampradayas) Vaishnavism, Vaishnava (Vishnu > Rama, Krishna) Shavism, Shaiva (Shiva) Shaktism, Shakta (The Goddess) Smartism, Smarta (Choice of one of six gods, abstract brahman) Traditional representation of Sankara (c. 800 CE/AD), founder of the Smarta sect and philosopher of Advaita Vedanta.

Understanding the “4 Denominations” description of Hinduism Combination of personalities of the gods and ways of approaching the divine But doesn’t fit all Hindus, and isn’t used by all Hindus. How? Still, important basic terms used widely Check out the pdf in your > Course Documents.

What are all those lines and dots? Informal system vs. scholarly system with diacritics (Vishnu vs. Viṣṇu) Reason: Inconsistency in English spelling Reason: More sounds in Indian languages that in Roman alphabet Ex: Ramayana vs. Rāmāyaṇa Watch out for: Long and short vowels (a vs. ā) Letters with dots under them (Kṛṣṇa) Letters with h’s for aspiration Check out > Course docs > Study materials > Using diacritics