Sampradaya

Sampradaya is a body of practice, views and attitudes, which are transmitted, redefined and reviewed by each successive generation of followers. Participation in sampradaya forces continuity with the past, or tradition, but at the same time provides a platform for change from within the community of practitioners of this particular traditional group.[1]

A particular guru lineage in guru-shishya tradition is called parampara, and may have its own akharas and gurukulas. By receiving diksha (initiation) into the parampara of a living guru, one belongs to its proper sampradaya.[1] One cannot become a member by birth, as is the case with gotra, a seminal, or hereditary, dynasty.

Membership in a sampradaya not only lends a level of authority to one’s claims on truth in Hindu traditional context, but also allows one to make those claims in the first place. An often quoted verse from the Padma Purana states:

Mantras which are not received in sampradaya are considered fruitless.[1][note 2]

And another verse states:

Unless one is initiated by a bona-fide spiritual master in the disciplic succession, the mantra he might have received is without any effect.[1][note 3]

As Wright and Wright put it,

If one cannot prove natal legitimacy, one may be cast out as a bastard. The same social standard applies to religious organizations. If a religious group cannot prove its descent from one of the recognised traditions, it risks being dismissed as illegitimate.[2]

Nevertheless, there are also examples of teachers who were not initiated into a sampradaya, Ramana Maharshi being a well-known example.[3][web 1] A sannyasin belonging to the Sringeri Sharada Peetham once tried to persuade Ramana to be initiated into sannyasa, but Ramana refused.[3]

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According to the Padma Purāṇa, one of the eighteen main Purāṇas, there are four Vaishnava sampradāyas, which preserve the fruitful mantras:[note 4]

All mantras which have been given (to disciples) not in an authorised Sampradāya are fruitless. Therefore, in Kali Yuga, there will be four bona-fide Sampradāyas.[4]

Each of them were inaugurated by a deity, who appointed heads to these lineages:

During the Kali yuga these sampradāyas appear in the holy place of Jaganatha Puri, and purify the entire earth.

Various sampradāyas emerged from these four, which are quite different from them. There are also other sampradāyas, such as Swaminarayan Sampradaya, which are not linked to these four sampradaayas.

The lineage of Sri Bramha Madhava Gaudiya Sampradāya founded by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu falls under the lineage of Bramha sampradaaya.

There are three main saivite sampradayas known as "Kailasa Parampara" (Lineage from Kailash)- Nandinatha Sampradaya, Adinath Sampradaya and Meykanda Sampradaya.[5]

In Balinese Hinduism, Dutch ethnographers further subdivided Siwa (shaivaites) into five – Kemenuh, Keniten, Mas, Manuba and Petapan. This classification was to accommodate the observed marriage between higher caste Brahmana men with lower caste women.[6]

The Nandinatha Sampradaya traces its beginning to at least 200 BCE. Its founder and first known spiritual preceptor was the Maha Rishi Nandinatha. Nandinatha is said to have initiated eight disciples (Sanatkumar, Sanakar, Sanadanar, Sananthanar, Shivayogamuni, Patanjali, Vyaghrapada, and Tirumular) and sent them to various places to spread the teachings of non-dualistic Shaivism all over the world.[5] Saiva Siddhanta Church of Hawaii identifies itself as principle Matha or monestory of lineage . Spiritual lineage of the Nandinatha Sampradaya : Maharishi Nandinath→ Tirumular→→→ unknown→Kadaitswami→ Chellappaswami→ Siva Yogaswami→Sivaya Subramuniyaswami → Bodhinatha Veylanswami [5][7][8]

Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta philosophy is known as the descendant from the teaching of Sanatkumara, one of the Kumaras.(Sanatkumara→Satyanjana Darshini→Paranjyoti rishi→Meykandar.[9]

Nandinatha and Meykandar Sampradayas are associated with the Shaiva Siddhanta while Adinath Sampradaya is associated with Nath Shaivism. Other popular Saivite sampradayas are Veerashaiva Samprdaya, Lingayat Sampradaya and Srouta Sampradaya

Dashanami Sampradaya, "Tradition of Ten Names", is a Hindu monastic tradition of ēkadaṇḍi sannyasins (wandering renunciates carrying a single staff)[17][18][19] generally associated with the Advaita Vedanta tradition. They are distinct in their practices from the Saiva Tridaṇḍi sannyāsins or "trident renunciates", who continue to wear the sacred thread after renunciation, while ēkadaṇḍi sannyāsins do not.[note 5]

The Ekadandi Vedāntins aim for moksha as the existence of the self in its natural condition indicated by the destruction of all its specific qualities.[20] Any Hindu, irrespective of class, caste, age or gender can seek sannyāsa as an Ekadandi monk under the Dasanāmi tradition.

The Ekadandis or Dasanāmis had established monasteries in India and Nepal in ancient times.[web 2] After the decline of Buddhism, a section of the Ekadandis were organized by Adi Shankara in the 8th century in India to be associated with four maṭhas to provide a base for the growth of Hinduism. However, the association of the Dasanāmis with the Sankara maṭhas remained nominal.

(Vidyashankara temple) at Sringeri Sharada Peetham, Shringeri

Adi Sankara founded four Maṭhas (Sanskrit: मठ) (monasteries) to preserve and develop his philosophies. One each in the north, south, east and west of the Indian subcontinent, each headed by one of his direct disciples.

According to Nakamura, these mathas contributed to the influence of Shankara, which was "due to institutional factors".[21] The mathas which he built exist until today, and preserve the teachings and influence of Shankara, "while the writings of other scholars before him came to be forgotten with the passage of time".[22]

The table below gives an overview of the four Amnaya Mathas founded by Adi Shankara, and their details.[web 3]

The current heads of the mathas trace their authority back to these figures, and each of the heads of these four mathas takes the title of Shankaracharya ("the learned Shankara") after Adi Sankara.

According to the tradition in Kerala, after Sankara's samadhi at Vadakkunnathan Temple, his disciples founded four mathas in Thrissur, namely Naduvil Madhom, Thekke Madhom, Idayil Madhom and Vadakke Madhom.

There are 2 Shakta Sampradayas, which are 1. Kalikula : Prevalent in Bengal, Assam, Nepal & Odisha. Primary deity is Kali 2. Srikula : Prevalent in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala & Sri Lanka. Primary deity is Lalita Devi

Buda sampradaya or Buddha sampradaya is a classification based on the observance of Dutch ethnographers of Brahmana caste of Balinese Hinduism into two: Siwa and Buda. The other castes were similarly further sub-classified by these 19th-century and early-20th-century ethnographers based on numerous criteria ranging from profession, endogamy or exogamy or polygamy, and a host of other factors in a manner similar to castas in Spanish colonies such as Mexico, and caste system studies in British colonies such as India.[6] This concept of Budha Sampradaya could be applied to all Buddhist communities.

• Federico Squarcini, 2011, Boundaries, Dynamics and Construction of Traditions in South Asia.
• Leela Prasad, 2012, Poetics of Conduct: Oral Narrative and Moral Being in a South Indian Town.
• Monika Horstmann, Heidi Rika Maria Pauwels, 2009, Patronage and Popularisation, Pilgrimage and Procession.