The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Hinduism:
Arya Samaj is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the sannyasi (ascetic) Dayanand Saraswati in the 1870s.
Swami Dayananda Saraswati was a renunciate monk of the Hindu Saraswati order of sannyasa. Pujya Swamiji as he was fondly known was a renowned traditional teacher of Advaita Vedanta, and founder of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulams in Pennsylvania, USA; Rishikesh, Uttarakhand and Coimbatore Tamil Nadu, India. He was also the spiritual Guru of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was awarded posthumously the Padma Bhushan,, for his exemplary service to the nation in the field of spiritualism in 2016.
Bhakti Charu Swami was an Indian spiritual leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He was also a disciple of ISKCON's founder A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Sampradaya, in Indian origin religions, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, can be translated as 'tradition', 'spiritual lineage', 'sect', or 'religious system'. To ensure continuity and transmission of dharma, various sampradayas have the Guru-shishya parampara in which parampara or lineage of successive gurus (masters) and shishyas (disciples) serves as a spiritual channel and provides a reliable network of relationships that lends stability to a religious identity. Shramana is vedic term for seeker or shishya. Identification with and followership of sampradayas is not static, as sampradayas allows flexibility where one can leave one sampradaya and enter another or practice religious syncretism by simultaneously following more than one sampradaya. Samparda is a punjabi language term, used in Sikhism, for sampradayas.
Jiva Goswami was an Indian philosopher and saint from the Gaudiya Vaishnava school of Vedanta tradition, producing a great number of philosophical works on the theology and practice of Bhakti yoga, Vaishnava Vedanta and associated disciplines. He is known as one of the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan and was the nephew of the two leading figures, Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami.
Adi Shankara, a Hindu philosopher of the Advaita Vedanta school, composed a number of commentarial works. Due to his later influence, a large body of works that is central to the Advaita Vedanta interpretation of the Prasthanatrayi, the canonical texts consisting of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras, is also attributed to him. While his own works mainly consist of commentaries, the later works summarize various doctrines of the Advaita Vedanta tradition, including doctrines that diverge from those of Adi Shankara.
Hindu atheism or non-theism, which is known as Nirīśvaravāda has been a historically propounded viewpoint in many of the Astika (Orthodox) streams of Hindu philosophy. Hindu spiritual atheists, agnostics or non-theists who affirm the sanctity of the Vedas and the concept of Brahman, as well as those who follow astika (orthodox) philosophies but reject personal god(s), are also called Dharmic atheists, Vedic atheists or Sanatani atheists.
Sri Vaishnavism is a denomination within the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. The name refers to goddess Lakshmi, as well as a prefix that means "sacred, revered", and the god Vishnu, who are together revered in this tradition.
Prabhākara was an Indian philosopher-grammarian in the Mīmāṃsā tradition of Kerala.
The Nimbarka Sampradaya, also known as the Kumāra Sampradāya, Hamsa Sampradāya, and Sanakādi Sampradāya, is one of the four Vaiṣṇava Sampradāyas. It was founded by Nimbarka, a Telugu Brahmin yogi and philosopher. It propounds the Vaishnava Bhedabheda theology of Dvaitadvaita (dvaita-advaita) or dualistic non-dualism. Dvaitadvaita states that humans are both different and non-different from Isvara, God or Supreme Being. Specifically, this Sampradaya is a part of Krishnaism—Krishna-centric traditions.
Hindu denominations, sampradayas, traditions, movements, and sects are traditions and sub-traditions within Hinduism centered on one or more gods or goddesses, such as Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti and so on. The term sampradaya is used for branches with a particular founder-guru with a particular philosophy.
The Advaita Guru-Paramparā is the traditional lineage (parampara) of divine, Vedic and historical teachers of Advaita Vedanta. It begins with the Daiva-paramparā, the gods; followed by the Ṛṣi-paramparā, the Vedic seers; and then the Mānava-paramparā, with the historical teachers Gaudapada and Adi Shankara, and four of Shankara's pupils. Of the five contemporary acharyas, the heads of the five Advaita mathas, four acharyas trace their lineage to those four pupils and one to Adi Shankara himself.
Vaduvur Veeravalli Srinivasa Desikachariar was an Indian scholar. He studied Sanskrit and published several books. In 2001, he received the Rashtrapathi Award from the President of India as a Sanskrit scholar, one of the highest awards awarded by the Indian state.
Uttarāmnāya Śrī Jyotish Pītham or Jyotir Math is one amongst the four cardinal pīthams established by the Ādi Śaṅkara to preserve and propagate Hinduism and Advaita Vedānta, the doctrine of non-dualism. Located in the city of Joshimath, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, it is the uttarāmnāya matha or Northern Āmnāya Pītham, amongst the four Chaturamnay Peethams and in later period, Moolamnaya Sarvajna Peetham was declared as Moolamnay by disciples which is in Kalady, Kerala, birth place of Adi Shankar.
Bhadreshdas Swami is a Sanskrit scholar and an ordained monk of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS). In 2007 he completed the Swaminarayan Bhashyam, a five-volume classical Sanskrit commentary on the Prasthanatrayi. This commentary on Hinduism's three canonical texts: the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma sutras, forms the interpretive foundation of the philosophy of Akshar Purushottam darshana, also known as Swaminarayan darshana, illuminating the Vedic roots of the Akshar Purushottama philosophy, which was propagated by the 19th-century Hindu leader, Swaminarayan and later by Shastriji Maharaj.
Shri Swami Keshwanand Satyarthi Ji Maharaj was an Indian guru of Shri Nangli Sahib lineage. The spiritual institution Paramhans Satyarthi Mission was led and governed by him. In 1985, Shri Paramhans Swami Ramanand Satyarthi Ji Maharaj anointed him as his spiritual successor and the patron saint of the Paramhans Satyarthi Mission. Swami Keshwanand Satyarthi Ji Maharaj travelled around the world and preached about spirituality and enlightenment. Swami Ramanand Satyarthi Trust, Shri Satyarthi High School, Shri Satyarthi Sevadal and Shri Satyarthi Sandesh Magazine were also administered under his guidance.
Swami Avdheshanand Giri is an Indian Hindu spiritual guru, saint, writer and philosopher. He is the current Acharya Mahamandaleshwar of Juna Akhara and is the first person of the Akhara. Hence, he leads the whole Akhara. Juna Akhara is the largest and most ancient Akhara for Naga Sadhus in India. Swami Avdheshanand Giri has initiated about one million Naga Sadhus and is their first Guru. His Ashram is situated at Kankhal, Haridwar. Swami Ji is the President of Hindu Dharm Acharya Sabha and also a board member of the World Council of Religious Leaders.
