Sampradaya (Sanskrit: सम्प्रदाय; IAST: Saṃpradāya), 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