Smartism holds together the richness of many forms of worship and the rigour of Advaita Vedānta by distinguishing between ultimate reality and its accessible expressions. At the highest level, there is only Brahman, the non-dual, formless, attributeless reality. The various deities—Śiva, Viṣṇu, Devī, Sūrya, Gaṇeśa and others—are understood not as separate, competing gods, but as manifestations of that one Brahman. In Advaitic terms, these are forms of saguṇa Brahman, Brahman “with attributes,” through which the mind can relate to what is otherwise beyond all form and quality. Thus, plurality in worship does not imply plurality in ultimate reality; it is a diversity of names and forms for a single underlying truth.

Within this framework, the concept of īśvara becomes a bridge between the abstract and the devotional. Īśvara is Brahman as reflected in māyā, appearing as a personal Lord who can be loved, supplicated, and meditated upon. Smartism allows each practitioner to choose an iṣṭa-devatā, a chosen deity, as the primary focus of devotion, while affirming that any such form is a valid doorway to the same Brahman. The pañcāyatana-pūjā, in which five principal deities are worshipped together on one altar, ritually enacts this insight: each form is honored as an equally legitimate manifestation of the one Supreme Reality, even if one receives special emphasis in personal practice.

This devotional multiplicity is held within a graded understanding of truth and spiritual practice. At the empirical level, deities are approached as distinct, personal presences, fostering bhakti, ethical discipline, and concentration. As understanding deepens, these distinctions are recognized as nāma-rūpa—names and forms—of the one consciousness that Advaita identifies as Brahman. Worship and ritual are thus seen as sādhana, powerful means for purifying the mind and preparing it for non-dual knowledge. When that knowledge matures, the apparent separation between worshipper, worship, and worshipped is understood to dissolve, and the many divine forms are seen as expressions of a single, all-encompassing reality.