The meanings of sect and communalism have changed a lot in modern times. Broadly speaking, those different parts of the society which have different ways of living, rules and methods of worship, etc., are called sects. It is important to understand the origin of sects in Indian culture in modern times.
In fact, what we call religion today originated from the tradition of sects. In this article, we will talk about the sects that have been established on the land of India. Among them also of Vedic sects, which are associated with theistic stream. Theism is the core of Indian culture, of course, theism got a beautiful opportunity to flourish here.
Swami Vivekananda said during one of his speeches in America-
If the world wants to learn religion and spirituality, then one should turn to India. He called VasudhaivaKuntubakam the origin of all theistic sects. In today’s era of communal conflict, the importance of Indian sects increases.
Those who believed in Shaddarshana were called astik communities and those who did not believe in Vedas and philosophies were called nastika philosophies. Like the Ajivak community which was fatalistic. Its main belief was that everything is predetermined and there is no specialty of karma. Although the core elements of the sect were not limited to this, this philosophy of the atheist sect gave rise to the Charvaka philosophy and later also the Buddhist and Jain sects. Here too, limited things from Vedas and Upanishads were written in their own way.
We are not talking about these sects in detail in this article. The purpose of this article is to summarize the major theistic sects of India. The first and most important part of the two parts of the sects is the atheist community.
A brief note on the second part atheist sect has been made above.
The sects which gave prominence to the Vedas were called astika sects. In the Padma Purana it is said-
The sect in which mantras are not important is of no use.
It is important to understand that even today, there is a big difference between understanding Mantras or Vedas and calling oneself Vedic. This was not the case at the time of formation of the community.
The sects were formed only by giving importance to mantras and Vedic knowledge. Modern social psychology makes use of ethnography etc.
Under this, living with a group is understood and then written about it. One way is to collect evidence on the basis of the texts written about him. If we talk about the astik community, then those who believed and followed the six Hindu philosophies are called astikdarshan.
Now understand the above point clearly. Today, if one calls oneself of any sect, then it is only on the basis of symbols and method of worship, whereas in the early period of the sects the importance of initiation was there. Mantra initiation meant understanding the interpretation of Vedic mantras. Even today, the same form of Guru-disciple tradition is seen, but of course now they are more symbolic. However, its origin is from the Guru-Shishya tradition itself.
