Hindu word as we hear from historians has its roots in the name of
great river of undivided India, Sindhu. The Persians started calling anyone who
lived beyond Sindhu and below Himalayas as Hindu.
But for times immemorial the word and the "religion"
associated with it has evoked not just confusion but also has fueled passion
both for and against.
So who is a Hindu. What does he /she believe in? Is Hindu a term
defining a religion? If it does, then there is not one book which can be said
to be a basis of it. There are contradicting philosophies within so called
Hindu religion. Then there are people who point out that since Hindu term has
come to being much later than recorded Vedic literature, Hindu is either not a
religion or at-least not a Vedic religion! People who call themselves Hindus,
believe in different Gods. What's more there are unbelievers who call
themselves Hindus too!
Due to this diversity of belief systems there are people who go to
the extent of saying there is nothing called Hindu. It’s just a name of a group
of people who happen to live in a subcontinent but have different belief
systems.
While no one can deny that Hindu term is relatively new when
compared to Vedic literature. In Vedic literature there was no name for the
religion it preached. There are two reasons for this -
1. There was no name for the concept it
preached because when Vedic literature was written rest of the world was trying
to learn how to roast meat. So unless you need to differentiate something from
other similar things, you don't need names. The literature itself has evolved
few thousand years ago in a period that could well have spread across few
centuries. The nearest the proponents of Vedic literature came to naming it
when they called it "Sanatan Dharm". This means iternal
"Dharma" (I am not using religion and the reason will be known in
second point below).
2. There is a fundamental difference between
the "Dharma" which is preached by Vedic literature and that which is
preached by Semitic religions like Islam, Christianity or Jewish. The
difference is that Dharma defined by Vedas was an individual Dharma of a
person. The duty of a person in a given situation which will take the person to
the highest goal. The highest goal was defined as finding the unity of
individual with the whole universe (Moksha). The nearest universe known
to the individual would always be the society he / she lives in. So the
individual Moksha was always tied to larger good of society. The way of
following that Dharma could be different. Vedic Dharma always believed that
path to achieve Moksha was irrelevant as every path would lead to same reality.
Therefore there are umpteen number of ways once can follow this Dharma.
Any Semitic
religion on other hand stresses upon salvation through prescribed way of
worship and anything outside of that is a blasphemy. It goes just as far where
heaven and hell are defined for good and bad deeds. The concept of unity within
the universe is something not existing in these religions.
Therefore all the confusion on the nature and ways of Hindu is a
resultant of trying to fit into the framework of Semitic religion. When it does
not fit this framework they try to deny the very existence of Hindu as an
entity.
So again, who is Hindu. Anyone who is born in Indian subcontinent
and believes in following can claim to be Hindu -
1. My good is associated with the good of larger society (or
universe) as we all are manifestation of one reality.
2. This land (Bharat) is my mother and its well being is my first
priority
3. Whatever be the God or book i believe in, my first and only
loyalty is with this land.
Anyone following these criteria is a Hindu. The culture is same
across India and across religions. This culture is unmistakably same as that
preached in Vedic literature. In fact the religious groups like Parasi or Jew
who settled here much later have also adopted this culture. Due to geography
you can call it Hindu or you can choose to call it Vedic culture or Sanatan
Dharma. Calling Sun by any name does not change its brightness.
