Understanding Hinduism's Finer Nuances
To define Hinduism is to confine Hinduism in some set academic pattern, denying its vastness, variant colours and shades. Tracing its roots is like tracing the growth of human consciousness - of the human propensity to move from the unreal to the Real, from ignorance to wisdom.
Instead of being called a religion in the Semitic sense, Hinduism, an anglicised term for Sanatana Dharma , should be seen as Dharma in its comprehensive meaning of truth, righteousness and cosmic order. It is sanatana, ‘eternal’ for its ability to absorb fresh ideas to become new again.
Instead of being called a religion in the Semitic sense, Hinduism, an anglicised term for Sanatana Dharma , should be seen as Dharma in its comprehensive meaning of truth, righteousness and cosmic order. It is sanatana, ‘eternal’ for its ability to absorb fresh ideas to become new again.
In his maiden speech at the World’s first Parliament of Religions, 1893, Swami Vivekananda described Hinduism as the mother of religions which had taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance . He narrated how India had given shelter to the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and lands. ‘We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true.’ To prove his point, he quoted from the Bhagavadgita, IV.11, and from the Shivamahimanah Stotram,verse 7 which says : ‘As different streams having their sources in different places , all mingle their water in the sea, Oh Lord, so the different paths which men take, through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.’
Hinduism does not have doctrinal homogeneity but it represents continuity in man’s attempts to unfold the mystery of existence. Different schools of thought – theist, atheist, agnostic, henotheist, pantheist, polytheist, monotheist, monist, and many others, coexist in it. The hoary faith does not believe in a single revelation, or a single prophet to whom everyone must pay obeisance. It professes that the Supreme Reality can reveal itself to any number of people. God cannot be patented, monopolised, or circumscribed to one place, direction, body, configuration, gender or group. The formless is portrayed in form but adoration is made not to images but to Him alone.
In its comprehensive meaning, Hinduism stands for a civilisation as old as mankind, for a mosaic of cultures shaped in different historical milieus, for a righteous way of life, for a social system, and for a wide variety of philosophic schools and religious streams, each unique in itself and having its own raison d’etre. It encompasses the whole corpus of higher values which go under the name of Indian culture .
Hinduism shows the way to abhyudaya, worldly excellence, as well as nihshreyasa, spiritual fulfilment. It recommends that one should adopt satya, truth, as a value of life, adhere to rita, Eternal Order, see divinity in humanity, and stay whole in mind, body and spirit. Science is built into its philosophy, philosophy into mythology and mythology into rituals which embody a deeper truth than can be observed on the surface.
Being open, flexible and adaptable, Hinduism has discarded outworn beliefs and institutions, absorbed the finer elements of fellow cultures and reinterpreted itself in changing milieus. Annie Besant wrote, ‘Without Hinduism, India has no future. Hinduism is the soil into which India’s roots are struck and torn out of that she will inevitably wither as a tree torn out from its place...’
Authored by: Satish K Kapoor
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