Smarta Sect

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This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in 1916 its contents related only to Central India and did not claim to be true of all of India. It has been archived for its historical value as well as for the insights it gives into British colonial writing about the various communities of India. Indpaedia neither agrees nor disagrees with the contents of this article. Readers who wish to add fresh information can create a Part II of this article. The general rule is that if we have nothing nice to say about communities other than our own it is best to say nothing at all. Readers will be able to edit existing articles and post new articles directly on their online archival encyclopædia only after its formal launch. See examples and a tutorial.

From The Tribes And Castes Of The Central Provinces Of India

By R. V. Russell

Of The Indian Civil Service

Superintendent Of Ethnography, Central Provinces

Assisted By Rai Bahadur Hira Lal, Extra Assistant Commissioner

Macmillan And Co., Limited, London, 1916.

NOTE 1: The 'Central Provinces' have since been renamed Madhya Pradesh.

NOTE 2: While reading please keep in mind that all articles in this series have been scanned from the original book. Therefore, footnotes have got inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot these footnotes gone astray might like to shift them to their correct place.

Smarta Sect

This is an orthodox Hindu sect, the members of which are largely Brahmans. The name is 1 Apparently the Scripture of Victory to the Guru.' Govind, the tenth guru. Sir Lepel Griffin's Life of Raiijit ^ ' Hurrah for the Guru's Khalsa, Singh.

derived from Smriti or tradition, a name given to the Hindu sacred writings, with the exception of the Vcdas, which last arc regarded as a divine revelation. Members of the sect worship the five deities, Siva, Vishnu, Suraj or the sun, Ganpati and Sakti, the divine principle of female energy corresponding to Siva. They say that their sect was founded by Shankar Acharya, the great Sivite reformer and opponent of Buddhism, but this appears to be incorrect. Shankar Acharya himself is said to have believed in one unseen God, who was the first cause and sole ruler of the universe ; but he countenanced for the sake of the weaker brethren the worship of orthodox Hindu deities and of their idols. I. The founder. 2. Tenets of the sect.