To be certain, I was born a Hindu. By sheer accident of birth, I
am a Hindu but that's not all. Lately, I've come to believe that I am a Hindu
by choice. This has compelled me to ask the most obvious question, "Why?
Why am I a Hindu?" This blog post is an attempt to weave the thin strands
of thoughts that burst open on asking that question.
To answer this question I naturally began by asking what Hinduism was in the first place. Many Hindus answer, "It is not a religion but a way of life. It is a Dharma." To all those Hindus out there who believe and say this as a motif, you are not wrong but you are not helpful either. Most religions in the world call themselves a 'way of life'. Their adherents believe the same. So Hinduism is no different from other religions, isn't it? Hinduism as an idea can only be uncovered through learning and analysis of its history.
Was it in 1893 when Vivekananda introduced Hinduism to the world?
Was it during the 1820's when Raja Rammohan Roy denounced idolatry and Avataras and called Brahmoism the true Hinduism or later when Dayanand Saraswati gave a call to fellow Indians to go "back to the Vedas" claiming that Vedic knowledge alone was Hinduism?
When was Hinduism born?
Was it when Veer
Savarkar coined the term Hindutva meaning 'Hindu cultural nationalism'?
Was it on the arrival of the Europeans and with them, the arrival of orientalists and western scholars studying eastern cultures? Was it founded by Shivaji who built a Hindu force against the Mohammedan Moghuls?Or was it during Kabir? Or Guru Nanak? Or Tulsidas? Or Tansen? Who taught that devotion and love were the only way towards realizing God.
Much before….. Was it during Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabho?
Did Ramanuja found Hinduism? Or was it Madhvacharya whose words that God and Man were distinct countered all radical ideas?
Better… Was Adisankara the founder? Wasn’t he the man who wrote odes to the million Gods and brought millions of people into one fold?Where did Hinduism originate from? The Manusmriti? The Puranas? The Prabandhas? The Brahamanas?Were the Upanishads the root of the religion? Or were the Vedas?
What about the mendicant on the Harappan seal who is called “Pashupathy”?
When was Hinduism born? There is clearly no answer to this question. This is because Hinduism has no single founder or sacred text. It is a loose amalgamation of a galaxy of cultures and civilizations. Does this mean that Hinduism does not exist? As an institutionalized religion, no. As a concept, yes and no.
Now that I've come to this point let me dwell a little on what I mean when I say that I am a Hindu. What is the central idea of Hinduism? For that we need to look into its prime religious texts. The Bhagavad Gita? Not really. Following history shows us that the Gita was not in fact the chief text of this large culture. It emerged to earn its current status only about 200 years ago. This was a result of the activities of reformers, spiritualists, and saints who sought to project a certain image of the Hindus to the west: An image of a spiritual nation which tolerated to its best but protested and fought like a lion on molestation and torture. The Gita is only the chief text due to the context both in terms of time and place. If we were to ask a different pool of people from a different time period, they would probably identify a different text or a different canon. All this makes Hinduism a very complicated religion to study. To many the Vedas are the holy scriptures, to others: the Upanishads. Agama Shastras, Prabandhas, Puranas, and Vedangas are all holy scriptures to different people. Gita Govindam for quite sometime enjoyed the status that Bhagavad Gita does today. What about the Tulsidas' Ram Charit Manas? Even to this day, to many, it is the primary literary monument that gives access to the divine.
Where do we find the absolute philosophy? Most Hindus seek to unite with the Brahman. Tantric sects, however reject the idea of Brahman. Are they not Hindus? They are. Karma is a recurring concept too and escaping it can be considered an idea. Can Buddhism and Jainism be considered sects of Hinduism then? Yes and no. Again, we cannot say what the basic idea of Hinduism is. This is what I consider the essence of my religion. Diversity.
Being a Hindu, one can believe all that he/she wants. He may believe that man and God are the same (Advaita) or that they may become the same (Visishtadvaita), or that they are not and cannot (Dvaita). One can believe in a form-less God and an almighty devoid of any qualities (Nirguna). One can believe in a powerful God with supreme qualities (Saguna). Polytheism and Monotheism are both entertained. Any means and any number of means to realisation of God are entertained. Sacrifice, Fire, devotion, song and dance, penance, bodily activities, and surrender have all been preached in different sections of this religion. God and divine experience can take any gender. They can be purely masculine or feminine or be independent of Gender. Nothing is sinful in true Hinduism. This is what inspired me in this religion. Ultimately one can even be any atheist (under the Charvaka school) being a Hindu.
Diversity, heterogeneity, and freedom are truly the core principles of Hinduism. If Hinduism has evolved into a religion it is only because of its tolerance. It has learned a lot from other external religions. Therefore, a real Hindu is one who respects other doctrines, cults, cultures, faiths, and religions. Conversely, one cannot call oneself a Hindu when he despises, detests, and disrespects other faiths.
Going back a few steps, heterogeneity is the soul of Hinduism and the biggest threat to it is homogeneity. This brings me to a controversial subject of today: Hindutva. True, it is a threat to India's secularism but I argue that it is a threat to the religion that it claims to uphold. What destroys the soul of Hinduism is minimizing it to particular clothing, temple, food, colour, idea, symbols, and objects. What destroys the whole of Hinduism is bringing it down to one fundamental world view. What destroys Hinduism is Hindu fundamentalism and hostility. What destroys Hinduism is Hindutva itself. Hinduism is much more than all that. It is much more than a cliche phrase. It is not a way of life. It is a multitude of ways of life.
Hinduism like India is a place of uncertainties, contradictions. inconsistencies, and complexity. Let it be that.
To answer this question I naturally began by asking what Hinduism was in the first place. Many Hindus answer, "It is not a religion but a way of life. It is a Dharma." To all those Hindus out there who believe and say this as a motif, you are not wrong but you are not helpful either. Most religions in the world call themselves a 'way of life'. Their adherents believe the same. So Hinduism is no different from other religions, isn't it? Hinduism as an idea can only be uncovered through learning and analysis of its history.
Was it in 1893 when Vivekananda introduced Hinduism to the world?
Was it during the 1820's when Raja Rammohan Roy denounced idolatry and Avataras and called Brahmoism the true Hinduism or later when Dayanand Saraswati gave a call to fellow Indians to go "back to the Vedas" claiming that Vedic knowledge alone was Hinduism?
When was Hinduism born?
Was it on the arrival of the Europeans and with them, the arrival of orientalists and western scholars studying eastern cultures? Was it founded by Shivaji who built a Hindu force against the Mohammedan Moghuls?Or was it during Kabir? Or Guru Nanak? Or Tulsidas? Or Tansen? Who taught that devotion and love were the only way towards realizing God.
Much before….. Was it during Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabho?
Did Ramanuja found Hinduism? Or was it Madhvacharya whose words that God and Man were distinct countered all radical ideas?
Better… Was Adisankara the founder? Wasn’t he the man who wrote odes to the million Gods and brought millions of people into one fold?Where did Hinduism originate from? The Manusmriti? The Puranas? The Prabandhas? The Brahamanas?Were the Upanishads the root of the religion? Or were the Vedas?
What about the mendicant on the Harappan seal who is called “Pashupathy”?
When was Hinduism born? There is clearly no answer to this question. This is because Hinduism has no single founder or sacred text. It is a loose amalgamation of a galaxy of cultures and civilizations. Does this mean that Hinduism does not exist? As an institutionalized religion, no. As a concept, yes and no.
Now that I've come to this point let me dwell a little on what I mean when I say that I am a Hindu. What is the central idea of Hinduism? For that we need to look into its prime religious texts. The Bhagavad Gita? Not really. Following history shows us that the Gita was not in fact the chief text of this large culture. It emerged to earn its current status only about 200 years ago. This was a result of the activities of reformers, spiritualists, and saints who sought to project a certain image of the Hindus to the west: An image of a spiritual nation which tolerated to its best but protested and fought like a lion on molestation and torture. The Gita is only the chief text due to the context both in terms of time and place. If we were to ask a different pool of people from a different time period, they would probably identify a different text or a different canon. All this makes Hinduism a very complicated religion to study. To many the Vedas are the holy scriptures, to others: the Upanishads. Agama Shastras, Prabandhas, Puranas, and Vedangas are all holy scriptures to different people. Gita Govindam for quite sometime enjoyed the status that Bhagavad Gita does today. What about the Tulsidas' Ram Charit Manas? Even to this day, to many, it is the primary literary monument that gives access to the divine.
Where do we find the absolute philosophy? Most Hindus seek to unite with the Brahman. Tantric sects, however reject the idea of Brahman. Are they not Hindus? They are. Karma is a recurring concept too and escaping it can be considered an idea. Can Buddhism and Jainism be considered sects of Hinduism then? Yes and no. Again, we cannot say what the basic idea of Hinduism is. This is what I consider the essence of my religion. Diversity.
Being a Hindu, one can believe all that he/she wants. He may believe that man and God are the same (Advaita) or that they may become the same (Visishtadvaita), or that they are not and cannot (Dvaita). One can believe in a form-less God and an almighty devoid of any qualities (Nirguna). One can believe in a powerful God with supreme qualities (Saguna). Polytheism and Monotheism are both entertained. Any means and any number of means to realisation of God are entertained. Sacrifice, Fire, devotion, song and dance, penance, bodily activities, and surrender have all been preached in different sections of this religion. God and divine experience can take any gender. They can be purely masculine or feminine or be independent of Gender. Nothing is sinful in true Hinduism. This is what inspired me in this religion. Ultimately one can even be any atheist (under the Charvaka school) being a Hindu.
Diversity, heterogeneity, and freedom are truly the core principles of Hinduism. If Hinduism has evolved into a religion it is only because of its tolerance. It has learned a lot from other external religions. Therefore, a real Hindu is one who respects other doctrines, cults, cultures, faiths, and religions. Conversely, one cannot call oneself a Hindu when he despises, detests, and disrespects other faiths.
Going back a few steps, heterogeneity is the soul of Hinduism and the biggest threat to it is homogeneity. This brings me to a controversial subject of today: Hindutva. True, it is a threat to India's secularism but I argue that it is a threat to the religion that it claims to uphold. What destroys the soul of Hinduism is minimizing it to particular clothing, temple, food, colour, idea, symbols, and objects. What destroys the whole of Hinduism is bringing it down to one fundamental world view. What destroys Hinduism is Hindu fundamentalism and hostility. What destroys Hinduism is Hindutva itself. Hinduism is much more than all that. It is much more than a cliche phrase. It is not a way of life. It is a multitude of ways of life.
Hinduism like India is a place of uncertainties, contradictions. inconsistencies, and complexity. Let it be that.
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