Sampradaya

Sampradaya

सम्प्रदाय, sampradāya

Sampradaya is a living historically established tradition of spiritual knowledge, a chain of continuity of knowledge transmission by verbal and (not necessarily) written way.

Sampradaya comes fr om the Sanskrit word सम्प्रदा sampradā, meaning "gift”, “giving", "giver", also "generous”, “free”, “transfer by tradition”, “to bequeath".

Sampradaya is a living stream of transmission of traditional or theological knowledge in the context of Hinduism. This term is broader than the related term parampara, wh ere transmission takes place from the Guru to his disciples. The sampradaya can be represented by many paramparas.

Examples of Sampradayas are:

• Vaishnava Sampradaya

• Shiva Sampradaya

• Advaita-vedanta Sampradaya

Sampradaya is like a tree, usually having as its root a chief philosopher – Guru, or even a Deity. Each sampradaya has its own authoritative sources of knowledge – texts (Upanishads, Tantras, Puranas, etc.), strong teachers who bring something new, develop the teaching, compose and comment on texts, as well as their own special traditions in teaching, clothing, daily routine.