Editing Ishtadevata (section)

==Smarta worship==
The "worship of the five forms" ({{IAST|[[pañcāyatana pūjā]]}}) system, which was popularized by [[Adi Shankara]] among orthodox Brahmins of the [[Smartism|Smārta]] tradition, invokes the five deities [[Ganesha]], [[Vishnu]], [[Shiva]], [[Shakti]], and [[Surya|Sūrya]].<ref>Grimes, John A. Ganapati: Song of the Self. (State University of New York Press: Albany, 1995) p. 162.</ref><ref>Dating for the pañcāyatana pūjā and its connection with Smārta Brahmins is from p. 163, Courtright, Paul B. {{IAST|Gaṇeśa}}: Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings. (Oxford University Press: New York, 1985). {{ISBN|0-19-505742-2}}</ref>  This system was instituted by Adi Shankara primarily to unite the principal deities of the five major sects ({{IAST|Gāṇapatya, Śaiva, Vaiṣṇava, Shakta and Saura}}) on an equal status. The [[Monism|monistic]] philosophy preached by Adi Shankara made it possible to choose one of these as a preferred principal deity and at the same time worship the other four deities as different forms of the same all-pervading [[Brahman]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Krishna: a sourcebook |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-514892-3 |editor-last=Bryant |editor-first=Edwin F. |location=Oxford New York |pages=313}}</ref>