Hindu Religious Traditions

An Introduction to Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smarthism

The Vedas include the foundational texts of theistic Hinduism, which are reflected in Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and other minor religious traditions. In the intractable pages of the Epics, Hindu beliefs started to really take root, and in the Puranas, their roots became more pronounced. With the works of the great early Hindu sages, they at last reached their apogee. The benefits of Hindu practice were developed on the foundation of this cumulative heritage. The most revered instructors of the tradition maintain that the truths contained in the "latter" texts are inherent in the earlier ones, and it is obvious why this is the case if one follows any of the traditional lineages. Nonetheless, the conclusions of scholarly research into Hinduism often disagree. This book briefly reviews the earlier books for the benefit of people not studying according to established traditions in order to understand what clues or predictions they provide on the Hinduism we know today.