Hindu Sects, Caste and Modern Movements

This lesson examines the internal organisation of Hinduism — its major sectarian traditions, its social structure (the caste system), the medieval bhakti movement that reshaped popular practice, the modern reform movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, and the contemporary forms of the religion.

The three major sectarian traditions

Hinduism's internal diversity is structured by three principal sampradayas (traditions), each centred on a different supreme deity.

Vaishnavism

The largest of the three, focused on Vishnu and his avatars (incarnations). Vaishnavas hold Vishnu as the supreme Brahman. The most influential sub-traditions:

• Sri Vaishnavism — founded by Ramanuja (11th century), articulating Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism).
• Madhva tradition — founded by Madhva (13th century), articulating dualism.
• Gaudiya Vaishnavism — founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (16th century), centred on devotion to Krishna and Radha. ISKCON (the Hare Krishna movement) is its modern global form.
• Pushtimarg — founded by Vallabhacharya (15th century), centred on Krishna in his child form.

The avatars of Vishnu — traditionally ten (dashavatara) — include Rama and Krishna, the heroes of the two great epics. The Bhagavad Gita is its central scripture.

Shaivism

The second-largest tradition, focused on Shiva. Shaivas hold Shiva as the supreme reality. Major sub-traditions:

• Shaiva Siddhanta — predominantly Tamil, articulating a devotional Shaivism.
• Kashmir Shaivism — a non-dualist Shaiva philosophy.
• Lingayat / Veerashaivism — founded by Basavanna (12th century), explicitly rejecting caste and emphasising direct worship through the personal lingam.
• Nath tradition — yogic Shaivism associated with Gorakhnath.

Shiva's symbolic vocabulary includes the lingam (the column representing creative power), Nataraja (the cosmic dancer), and the meditating ascetic. The festivals of Maha Shivaratri and Shravan-month observances are central.

Shaktism

The third major tradition, focused on Shakti — the divine feminine, in the forms of Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Parvati and other goddesses. Shaktas hold Shakti as the supreme reality.

Major sub-traditions:

• Sri Vidya — centred on the Sri Yantra and the goddess Tripura Sundari.
• Kali tradition — particularly strong in Bengal and Assam, focused on Kali in her fierce form.
• Tantra — a body of practice and theology that, in Shakta context, emphasises the union of Shiva and Shakti.

The Devi Mahatmya and the Devi Bhagavata Purana are central scriptures.

The smarta tradition

A fourth significant tradition, the smartas, follows a non-sectarian approach worshipping five deities (panchayatana) — Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti, Surya (the Sun), and Ganesha. The 8th-century philosopher Adi Shankara is associated with smarta tradition; his Advaita Vedanta has been particularly influential.

The four philosophical paths

Within sectarian traditions, the four yogas identified in the Bhagavad Gita represent paths to liberation suited to different temperaments:

These paths are not exclusive; an individual may combine them.

The varna system and caste

The traditional Hindu social structure — the varna system — divides society into four classes:

Varna	Role	Origin (per Rigveda Purusha Sukta)
Brahmin	Priests, scholars	Mouth of the cosmic person
Kshatriya	Rulers, warriors	Arms
Vaishya	Merchants, agriculturists	Thighs
Shudra	Servants, labourers	Feet

Below the four varnas, the ati-shudras or "untouchables" (now constitutionally referred to as Scheduled Castes or Dalits) were historically excluded from the social system altogether.

Varna vs Jati

The actual social structure of historical and contemporary India is more complex than the four varnas. The lived system is one of jati — thousands of endogamous, occupation-linked sub-castes that map only loosely onto the four varnas.

Caste and modern reform

The caste system has been a central object of religious and social reform for over a century:

• Modern reform movements (Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj) directly challenged caste exclusion.
• B.R. Ambedkar (1891–1956), the framer of the Indian Constitution and a Dalit, led mass conversion movements out of Hinduism into Buddhism in protest against caste exclusion.
• The Indian Constitution (1950) abolished untouchability and provided constitutional protections and reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• Contemporary debate continues over the persistence of caste discrimination despite legal abolition.

For comparative purposes, the relationship between caste and Hindu religion is contested: traditional defenders argue caste is a social arrangement separable from Hindu doctrine; critics argue caste is bound up with the religious legitimation provided by the Dharma Shastras and the Manusmriti.

The bhakti movement

The bhakti (devotion) movement transformed Hindu practice between the 6th and 17th centuries CE. Its central insight: that direct devotional love of the personal deity is available to all, without need for ritual specialism, learned scripture or caste-based access.

Key figures and traditions:

Figure	Period	Region	Tradition
Alvars	6-9th century	Tamil Nadu	Vishnu devotion
Nayanars	6-9th century	Tamil Nadu	Shiva devotion
Ramanuja	11th century	Tamil Nadu	Sri Vaishnavism
Basavanna	12th century	Karnataka	Lingayat
Jayadeva	12th century	Bengal	Krishna devotion (Gita Govinda)
Kabir	15th century	North India	Sant tradition (Hindu-Muslim synthesis)
Mirabai	16th century	Rajasthan	Krishna devotion
Tulsidas	16th century	North India	Rama devotion (Ramcharitmanas)
Chaitanya	16th century	Bengal	Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Tukaram	17th century	Maharashtra	Vithoba devotion

The bhakti movement was, among other things, a populist religious movement — composing devotional poetry in vernacular languages (Tamil, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali) rather than Sanskrit, accessible to the unlearned, and often explicit in rejecting caste exclusion.

The Sant tradition

A particularly notable strand of bhakti was the Sant tradition of north India, which emphasised:

• A formless (nirguna) supreme reality.
• Devotion (bhakti) over ritual.
• Equality of all devotees regardless of caste, gender or community.
• Influence from both Hindu Vaishnava and Islamic Sufi sources.

Kabir (15th century) is the iconic Sant; his couplets remain widely recited across religious lines. Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the founder of Sikhism, drew on the Sant tradition.

The modern reform movements (19th–20th century)

The colonial period produced a series of Hindu reform movements responding to encounters with Christian missionary critique, Western rationalism, and rising nationalism.

Brahmo Samaj (1828)

Founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in Calcutta. Brahmo Samaj advocated:

• Monotheism and rejection of idol worship.
• Rejection of caste exclusion and untouchability.
• Reform of practices including sati, child marriage and polygamy.
• Engagement with Western rational and ethical thought.

Arya Samaj (1875)

Founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati in Bombay. Arya Samaj advocated:

• Return to the Vedas as the sole authoritative source.
• Rejection of post-Vedic accretions (idol worship, polytheism, ritualism).
• Caste reform — the Vedas, in Dayananda's reading, supported a varna system based on aptitude rather than birth.
• The reconversion (shuddhi) of those who had converted away from Hinduism.

Ramakrishna Mission (1897)

Founded by Swami Vivekananda in honour of his teacher Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. The Mission combined:

• Vedanta philosophy.
• Service (seva) as religious practice.
• Engagement with the modern world.
• Acceptance of the validity of multiple religious paths.

Vivekananda's 1893 address at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago was a watershed moment in the global presentation of Hinduism.

Theosophical Society

Founded by Madame Blavatsky and Henry Olcott (1875), with significant Indian engagement under Annie Besant. The Theosophical movement contributed to the Indian cultural renaissance and the Indian National Congress.

The Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS

The 20th century saw the emergence of explicitly Hindu nationalist movements:

• Hindu Mahasabha (founded 1915) — political party advocating Hindu interests.
• Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — founded by K.B. Hedgewar in 1925 as a cultural organisation; has since become the centre of a wider family of organisations (the Sangh Parivar) including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Contemporary Hinduism

Three trends define contemporary Hindu practice:

1. The global diaspora

The post-1965 migration of Hindus to North America, Europe, the Gulf, East Africa and Southeast Asia has created a global Hindu presence. Major temples, schools, festival celebrations and yoga centres now operate worldwide.

2. The political form

Hindutva — the political articulation of Hindu identity — has become a major political force in India. Whether this represents a continuation of Hindu tradition, a transformation of it, or a departure from it is the subject of substantial intellectual debate.

3. The yoga and wellness diffusion

Yoga, meditation and Ayurveda — all originally Hindu practices — have diffused globally as wellness practices, often largely separated from their religious roots.

What CSS questions on this topic typically demand

Three exam shapes:

1. Sectarian — "Discuss the major sects of Hinduism and their distinctive doctrines."
2. Social — "What is the caste system in Hinduism, and how have reform movements addressed it?"
3. Modern — "Discuss the major reform movements within Hinduism in the 19th and 20th centuries."

A strong answer combines accurate historical detail with engagement with the contemporary forms of the tradition.

What you take from this topic

Hinduism is internally diverse — three major sectarian traditions, four philosophical paths, a complex social structure, and a 19th-century reform inheritance that continues to shape contemporary practice. The next topic — Buddhism — examines the sister tradition that emerged from the same Indian religious milieu.