Within the Smarta tradition, the divine is approached through what is known as the Panchayatana, the worship of five principal deities understood as equally valid manifestations of the one ultimate reality, Brahman. These deities are not seen as rival powers but as distinct faces of a single, all-encompassing truth, allowing the practitioner to honor unity through diversity. This framework provides a theological bridge between devotion to a chosen form and recognition of an underlying, non-dual reality.

The five deities honored in this way are Vishnu, Shiva, Devi (or Shakti), Surya, and Ganesha. Vishnu is revered as the preserver, associated with order and righteousness; Shiva as the transformer, linked with renunciation and inner change. Devi or Shakti embodies the divine feminine principle, the power and energy that animates creation, often envisioned in forms such as Durga or Parvati. Surya, the sun god, represents light, vitality, and knowledge, while Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, stands for wisdom and auspicious beginnings.

In practice, these five are worshipped with equal reverence, yet a practitioner may choose one as an iṣṭa-devatā, a personally cherished form, without denying the sanctity of the others. The arrangement of the deities in Panchayatana worship, with one at the center and the others surrounding, symbolically expresses this balance between personal devotion and philosophical inclusivity. Through this pattern of worship, the Smarta tradition articulates a vision in which the many forms of the divine serve as complementary gateways to the same transcendent reality.