The Hindu Religion

Hinduism is described as "the beliefs, practices, and socioreligious institutions of people known as Hindus (inhabitants of Indian subcontinent) that have evolved from vedism, the religion of the ancient Indo-European peoples who settled in India during the 2nd millenium BC" [Encyclopædia Britannica, 1989, Vol 5, P935]. It continues to say "Because it integrates a variety of heterogeous elements, Hinduism defies a precise definition." This, no doubt, gives us an understanding of what we call "Hindus" and "Hinduism" today.

Some of the recent commentaries write : "It is more than a religion in the doctrinal sense that the West understands religion. One can believe in any god or no god and still be a Hindu. It is a way of life, a state of mind. This is a more clearer and bold and even acceptable definition of "the Hindu".

But all these explain what we call "hindu" today and what is generally known as "hinduism" today.

But the term Hindu was first used by Persians and then the medieval Muslim invaders to describe the dwellers of the Indus valley. Then the term "Hindu" was applicable to the people and the country! Even now many in Turkey refers to India as just "Hindu"! [There is another question : what term did did the Romans and Greeks use for India?] At the same time, the origin of the belief we call "hinduism" today, dates back to pre-biblical times, and thus pre-dates the name "hindu"!

Indus Valley Civilization

It is obvious that the term "Hindu" and "India" originated from river Sindhu (Indus). This has been accepted by traditional Hindu Gurus too now.

Guru knew the Truth!

Many of us are learning this fact NOW from the Internet. Why was this not taught properly in the schools? It comes as a surprise to most of us that Narayana Guru already knew the truth about the name 'hindu'. Guru has seldom used the word 'hindu'. Guru was free from all religious and caste level thoughts. Guru knew very well the source of the name 'hindu'.

In a dialog with CV Kunjuraman (founder of Kerala Kaumudi) Guru has clearly mentioned that there is no such thing as hindu religion. The people of Hindustan were called the hindus. The religion of the people of Hindustan became 'hindu religion'.

Even this religious connection happened much later - in fact the first usage of the term hindu in a religious sense was made by the British in 1830! All through the Muslim Rule of well over 700 years Hindustan was the name of the country and it did not have a religious meaning! Persians called Hindustan just 'hind' and in Arabic it was 'al hind'.

Origin And Significance Of The Term

That part of the great Aryan race which migrated from Central Asia, through the mountain passes into India, settled first in the districts near the river Sindhu, now called the Indus, on the other side of the river. The Persians pronounced the word Sindhu as Hindu, and named their Aryan brethren Hindus. Hindu is only a corrupt form of Sindhu.

The Hindu Aryans spread themselves over the plains of the Ganga. Then the Persians gave the name Hindusthan, or abode of the Hindus, to the whole of those districts between Punjab and Benaras.(Latest historical researches have now proved that the Aryans did not come from outside India, but were the original inhabitants of India.)

[ALL ABOUT HINDUISM, Sri Swami Sivananda]

In a way it has nothing to do with the religion. The people were referred to as "hindus" by others, the region was refered to as "Hindu" by others. Whether the name was given by Turks in medieval times or Greeks in pre-biblical times, does n't change one thing: the term "hindu" did not have a religious meaning. Was the connection only to the Indus River or was it indeed related to the Indus Valley Civilization? If it is Indus Valley Civilization, then it complicates issues further! Indus Valley Civilization of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa are traditionally classified as "non-Aryan" (=proto-Dravidian?) whereas the "hinduism" represented by Vedic religion is "Aryan"!

This poses problems for the current definition of "hinduism". Even though one can argue that the terms "hindu" was accepted for the existing religion of India, it is not so simple when the term has meaning like "One can believe in any god or no god and still be a Hindu!" Some commentators tried to explain this paradox as follows: "But the culture we now know as Hinduism and which the Indians call Sanatana Dharma - Eternal Law - predates that label by thousands of years. It is more than a religion in the doctrinal sense that the West understands religion. One can believe in any god or no god and still be a Hindu. It is a way of life, a state of mind.

A Religion with no name!

One has to accept the fact that the "religion" of India had no name! This is a little surprising when we see that even a religion as old as Budhism ( ~ 500 BC) did have a name. What we had in India was not an organized religion, but a system based on castes known as "chatur varna" (four castes).

Emperor Asoka

It is well known that Emperor Asoka was a Budhist who spread Budhism to Ceylon. There is no mention of a religion resembling today's "hinduism" or olden days' "vedic religion" in any writings of these period.

Gupta Dynasty

Gupta Dynasty came to power in India some time in the 4th century AD. Later writings say that the Guptas were Hindus and their rule was the Golden Age of Hinduism. But this is an anachronism, since the term "hindu" did not exist those days! So what was the religion of Gupta Dynasty called?

Sankara

It is very often cited that Sankaracharya (c 700 AD) re-installed and re-juvenated Hinduism in India which had a long spell of Budhist period in the preceding centuries. If the term "hinduism" did not exist in Sankara's times, what religion did he rejuvenate? What term was used for that religion in the scores of books written by Sankara? One can refer to Vedanta and a vedic religion. But did this vedic religion encompass all the people of India? Was Sanakaracharya's world based on castes? If yes, did it include all castes? If not, what was the basis of classification?

The following is from a Hindu Site [http://hinduism.about.com/] on the net which underlines what Guruforum wrote years ago.

What is Hinduism? It's a religion. Not quite right. The most obvious misconception about Hinduism is that we tend to see it as a religion, a faith. Hinduism is a way of life, a Dharma. Dharma does not mean religion, it is the law that governs all action. Thus, contrary to popular perception, Hinduism is not a religion. For centuries the world has misinterpreted this, and out of this misinterpretation, has come most of the misconceptions about Hinduism.

Words like Hindu or Hinduism are ananchronisms. They do not exist in the Indian cultural lexicon. People have coined them to suit their needs in different points of history. Nowhere in the scriptures is there any reference to Hinduism.

Hinduism does not have any one founder, and it does not have a Bible or a Koran to which controversies can be referred for resolution. Consequently, it does not require its adherents to accept any one idea. It is thus cultural, not creedal, with a history contemporaneous with the peoples with which it is associated.

Writings we now categorise as Hindu scriptures include not just books relating to spirituality but also secular pursuits like science, medicine and engineering. This is another reason why it defies classification as a religion. Further, it cannot be claimed to be essentially a school of metaphysics. Nor can it be described as 'other worldly'. In fact one can almost identify Hinduism with a civilization that is flourishing even now.