Who is a Hindu????

[phaedrus]

yup

Was wondering who is a Hindu in todays world??

This religion which was the genesis of many other eastern religions and philosophies....The same religion and philosophy which has withstood the onslaught of invaders and their cultures(i can only recollect Judaism to be the other religion which has withstood the travails of time)...who are the folks who follow it? is the common man a hindu? is he or she a temple goer and a stickler of traditions??...the god men and the bjp and the rss??? Are these true hindus??

Most have never read the vedas or upanishads or the bhagavadgita(actually how can anyone? they were written in that dead language...Sanskrit....Most remember God or the temple when it suits them..Most use the religions' name when it suits them...

What about those second generation indians who are living away from the home land...what do they identify with?? somehow the confusion is more there i think

Please dont take this up as an religious issue...i care two hoots for any religion....but as an observer what i have seen is the eastern countries have done a wonderful job of integrating the philosophies developed by the minds with their religions very well which is not really the case in the western countries...i perfer to think 'indianness' originates fm 'hinduness' not in a religious sense ....but the fact that whoever lived in this country long enough have somehow changed to adopt to those origianl philosophical ideas which have been so adriotly mixed with religion so that the common man can understand those thoughts using the myths as a tool....so be it if he or she believes in those myths...but still the purpose is served...

So who is a hindu? any definitions/ thoughts???

[phaedrus]

umm was hoping this would not happen...

rakhwala.....i asked who do u think in today's world is a hindu??

i guess ur a hindu? so u call urself a hindu coz of birth or coz of ur beleif in the texts of hindu religions ...teh upanishads..vedas....bhagawad gita...do u agree and are convinced about the underlying hindu philosophy of these ancient texts..

do u hate other religions coz they caused u harm or u think ur religion is superior to them on a spiritual and philosophical level?..

i will just give u a line westerners say about oriental religions including islam.....they say christianity is better coz it is the christiains who have created the modern world...science which helps u and me communicate in this fashion is a product of the western world...not coz of the heathens and the pagan religions.....

any comments?(here again i wud appreciate if others would answer the original post...or unfortunately i have to stand by my current understanding of hindu religion...no one in the current generation actually understands it....they follow coz tradition is its own warrant)

[laal_langot]

posting after a long long time and that too because I agree with your line of thought phaedrus but:
if the argument used by weterners is to be considered there are two fundamental flaws
one they are nowhere as religious as the easterners and so their scientific developments owe more to their belief in logic and practiality than abstract philosophy

two if science is all we are concerned about then no religiong is superior to any other because Aryabhatta was a hindu as was C.V Raman as were many others and they I believe laid the fundamental foundations of many modern day sciences.

Anyway this is no the topic of discussion


As far as hinduism is concerned I think over the years we have had so many influences over what we today call hinduism and it has been around for so long that its more a school of thought or a faith if you like rather than a religion which has its bounds in terms of the permissible and non permissible.I am born to a hindu family and going by the fabric of prehistoric hinduism born in a caste thats supposed to be the harbinger of all learning and knowledge however people in my family drink smoke I have tasted beef so on and so forth and so I dont think that today hinduism is as conservative in its horizons as it was.

My personal perception from what I obseve these days atleast in liberal hindu families is that its more like a methodology for leading ones life rather than a mould into which you are cast and you are supposed to conform to.

Like you said visiting mandirs and praying in specified ways likes yagn's or hawan's is practiced sparingly these days and is reserved for special occassions which means that one of the more fundamental traits of a religion-a particular style of worship has been diluted to an extent and you are very right in saying that second generation Indians living away from home experience this more than the others and this is my personal experience and I have to say I have seen secdong generations Indiand in many parts of the world and somehow I cannot help but feel that somehow this effect operates more in Hindus when comparing the proportions because Sikhs for example and especially those living outside India have kids who are much more devout and knowledgable than their Hindu counterparts-they can perform kirtan's know verses from the guru granth sahib and same is the case for muslims.


So according to me I believe that hinduism today is a broad school of thought that accomodates diverse perceptions and beliefs.It advocates a particular structure that could be applied to ones life(like easy on non vegetarian food,non consumption of alcohol,particular norms of behaviour for example the relationship towards one's parents etc.)but at the same time it is liberal enough to not exclude and ostracise the non puritans(like myself).

And rakhwala bhai if you are going to attack this one too may I throw in the white towel before you have to start massaging and flexing your muscles.I do not agree with your right winged line of thought but I respect it and thats that.

[phaedrus]

hi laal...thanks for sharing ur views..nice to know people have more or less the same perspective...even the hinduism definition in britannica is the same more or less

if the argument used by weterners is to be considered there are two fundamental flaws one they are nowhere as religious as the easterners and so their scientific developments owe more to their belief in logic and practiality than abstract philosophy two if science is all we are concerned about then no religiong is superior to any other because Aryabhatta was a hindu as was C.V Raman as were many others and they I believe laid the fundamental
foundations of many modern day sciences.

umm...wont agree with the first point coz science and religion have been intertwined in the western world since the day church embraced aristotlean views on morality ...etc. They both went different paths...once darwin and then the others started questioning the very existence of God. yup logic and rationale of science is what brought them the modern day comforts but their main point is as ancient civilizatinos the eastern ones havent contributed much to the world except abstract philosopy...Though science and religion stand divided in teh world today...its again the western culture which has resulted in today's world.

Umm arya bhatta fine...he was there long ago...but cv raman?...indian born scientists have contributed to the world of science but how significatn quantity and quality wise it is? Maybe now that the last couple of decades have seen the indian minds move west, we can see more and more names cropping up.

my piece of understanding :)

[laal_langot]

Well phaed the thing is that I didnt mean just Indian scientists or anything that parochail.What Imeant was that you can look at the non westen civilisations where religion was more pervasive and find that those civilisations have contributed significantly and a prime example of that are the grand daddies of them all-the Jews.

What I meant to say was that its difficult to point to christianity and say right this is where the elixir of life stems from because the fact is christianity is very widespread and someof the regions where it prevails are as backward as any Countries like cambodia north korea etc being examples.

Western culture agreed-but one single religion I am sorry but I dont.

[The Real Deal]

Well lets have little humar.

As Manu says, Children of a Sudra women will always be a sudra no matter who is father of the son.
But Children of Sudra Man can be Out Cast(Chandal) too provided chemestry happen between Sudra Man and a Brahaman women ;)

Well going with same theory, Maha Kavi Nishad Vyasji was of a sudra caste. Since he was sudra his decender should also be sudra. POINT 1!!!

Now Satyawati was of a sudra caste, following Manu's theory by birth her children should all be sudra, no matter who is father. Now children born by either early son (Vyasji) of Satyavati or his son after marrage will again should consider as sudra as well according to Manu.

So all Kaurava and Pandava were all Sudra. :) Is their any hypocrasy in these statement? If Yes, then Manu's theory failed and if No, all decender of Kaurava and Pandava non other than sudra clause.

Since all Hindu theory given by Sudra, as matter of fact Vayasji and Valmiki were sudra ;)

So decender of Pandava and all sudra/outcaste are real Hindu as Brahamin are neither involved with these hindu epic as writer or in its theory in anyway. They just follow Manuism not Hinduism. Real Vedic Hindus are decender of Satyawati and all sudra. Decender of Satyawati (all Kaurova and Pandava) are todays Kshatrya caste.

This is probably why Kshatriya have always supported for equality in society, in form of Buddha or Mahavira etc ;)

Who is real Hindu? ;) Does that answer this question :):):)

[Edited by The Real Deal on 12-01-2000 at 01:37 AM]

[spunkygal]

Yes, Hinduism is a way of life. Its perfectly alright to say I don’t have faith in a God and still be a Hindu. So what is that way of life. Vivekanand explains through Vedanta, religion is through realization. There is one supreme soul in Universe and we are all manifestations or part of the same soul. To REALIZE that, we need to build a lot of compassion. When we can say there is no difference in another being and ourselves since we are all part of same divine Spirit and the eventual goal of our lifetimes is to realize that divinity and power of our own soul… till we feel we are One with other souls and with God, that infact we are all Gods. That in hurting another I hurt myself and in helping another I help myself. Isn’t that the basis of all morality in the world?

Anyone who conducts his life in such manner is a Hindu. He can follow any of the ‘dharmas’, also called ‘Swa-dharma’ (chosen by self) according to his temperament. Deliver ignorants through teaching (Brahaman), protect weak from powerful and cruel (Kshatriya), improve economy through trade (Vaishya), or be employed by others who actively pursue their swadharma (Shudra). His caste is by his actions and is self-chosen. That tolerant person who wants to ultimately raise his soul to the level of God, through actions, through REALIZATION, is Hindu. He can choose an ideal like Rama, Krishna or anyone... emulate their teachings and realize them through his own soul by becoming like them. Its also perfectly alright to chalk out your own path, define your own rules on the way to realization. Because it’s a religion with Man-to-God approach. We can follow what has been taught to us by other “mortals”, or define our own ideology. But the basis has to be compassion for other souls and the goal to ultimately realize that indeed we all are ONE and divine.

So are you a Hindu, rakhwala? Ever picked up a Gita and see what Krishna says about castes and Swadharma? Its sad really the so called Hindus and rakhwalas of dharma, don’t actually understand what their religion has been all about. With so much hatred and venom inside, and practicing politics which separates rather than joins… how can you say you believe in One supreme God and that it’s the same God in all of us?? And if you cant say that or haven’t even begun on way to that realization, what makes you the rakhwala/representative of religion that you actually trash, distort and ridicule. What is the meaning of word "yoga"?? To join... to become one with God and others. Not differentiate. There are many ways to do it... bhakti-yoga, karm-yoga... Krishna emphasises on Karma because its through active actions we can thrash out validity of principles we claim to follow.

As a software consultant I am employed by others and I am just helping out the economy through my actions. So that makes me a Shudra (although I put on my Brahmin chola when I have to teach other ignorants, like right now). I have not realized the divinity of my soul or One-ness with God yet, but the philosophy makes sense to me, and defines a way to conduct my life. I can work on my complexes, biases, iron out imperfections, try to raise my soul to a very compassionate level (where there's even acceptance for folks like rakhwala), try to become like God, ultimately realize the same eternity, power, wisdom in my own soul till it becomes ONE with others... That makes me a Hindu.

[viking]

Spunky gal.I understand that Rakhwala sometimes goes too far
in expressing his thoughts but let me tell you that we Hindus lacked aggressive elements like him in the past,as a result of which we were mauled by whoever came to India..
Alexander,Turks,Mughals,French,British,Portuguese,Dutch, you name them and they were there.

I believe entirely in what you say about Hinduism.But during
the past some mistakes were made as a result of which people
like the Dalits criticise Hinduism, as a matter of fact just about anyone criticises Hinduism with such a vengence.

I for one believe in having a caste free Hindutva in India.
Where everyone is equal even talking about caste should be banned.And any sort of discrimination whether from upper castes or lower castes should be awarded with a death penalty.I also believe that since every other religion has a country of it's own the vast majority of Hindus too should have a rightful country of their own and that should be Hindustan.

A Hindu is one who is tolerant and open to new Influences,
thats the reason why I can say that Hinduism although it has been around since thousands of years is still the youngest religion! .However in Hinduism too all it's deities are shown with weapons, these weapons were used by the deities to vanquish evil.Force should be used when it is required to be used, Tolerance is not the only hallmark of Hinduism.

Jai Hind!...Jai Shri Ram!

[echarcha]

Since I am a Hindu too, I liked the thread going on here. I too had never thought of the Hindu religion the way people have been replrying here.

spunkygal talked about Hindusim and its roles of Brahman and Shudra and Vaishya, etc.. How these roles are symboic of every person's role in society...It was informative.

llal_langot and phaedrus should also be commended. Viking is also talking some present time necessitites of Hinduism.
And offcourse, our rakhwala is a missile as usual;)

Well, sadly our buffons in power have totally screwed up the true meaning of caste and religion and have created rightly-irate groups of people like Dalits and other castes.

Well, please go ahead and let us know more on what you feel.

[phaedrus]

laal : the process started coz of christians...is what their claim is....anyhow it aint worth discussin....

others : umm...nice words...nice asides...well for people who think hindus have been passive, they have to realise they have had an advantage compared to other religions coz what was handed down to them as a very nice words on how to live life. In order to make it easy to understand and follow, the multitude of gods and rituals and myths and legends were introduced.Well if this religion was so spineless i wonder how it survived time and so many invaders....as i said earlier only judaism has been able to do it other than hinduism

If u go to any of the atheist sites, one clear characterstic u can see is that while christianism and islam get bashed ....very rarely do u see eastern religions or philosophies get criticized. the reason being they are flexible comapared to the other religions. Whatever rituals or caste systems or superstitions have creeped into the religion is not because of some original commandments or parables. As usual some smart ass somewhere took advantage of the masses "faith" and exploited them. Manu's varna vyavstha was created for a particular time in history...it is sad that it has been continued for so long and people are discriminated...But dont blame the religion...blame the people who took shit for such a long time..if they stood against discrimination the first time around...such erroneous cultural disparity would not have been around today.

umm..my take is simple ....i think most of the hindus in today's world are hindu's coz of birth. Most of them will not fit the text book defintion of a hindu...one who understands and believes in vedas/upanishads/puranas/epics like bhagwad gita and ramanayana....bloody hell most of us cant even read these in the original language...sanskrit and have to read english translations. We as indian owe a lot to the german philsospher who made a great effort to understand our philosphy and have actually kept records and now these works acutally stand as the latest source on indian philosophy.I as an individaul reject most of the vedas as useless...i beleive the gist of indianess is in the upanishads which introduced the concept of "brahaman" (pls not the caste brahmin) the ultimate reality which is everything and nothing ...and this nothing is the source of life and essence of all forms.

All these gods and rituals and castes are just mutations or manifestations of the same reality which is beyond the intellectual and linguistic cage.

[laal_langot]

Dont know if the vedas are so irrelevant phaed.I think that because the concept HINDUISM that today is free of any particular mould or form started off as a RELIGION therefore they did need to have these artefacts which are the hallmark of any RELIGION in the conventional sense.All religions have their heroes and their mythology and gods and deities and what not.The only difference is WE PROBABLY HAVE ONE TOO MANY(chattees karod if I remember rightly).But then again they havent ever been glorified or used in any way to ignite any form of negative behaviour or feelings.As far as I know being mere artefacts they still have served useful purposes-most of the philosophy that makes part of the criptures for example is a consequence of episodes that occur involving these gods and devtaas.Dont know much about the vedas as such but I believe that dharmved and atharvved do serve as useful guidelines to an extent.
As far as the rigidity is concerned which manifests itself in the form of rituals and the caste system like spunky gal said the concept has been disfigured beyond recognition.It was all to do with ones role not with ones parents when it became prevalent, and in todays world these boundaries too have become blurred because we are all performing different roles at different times.In the morning you clean up your own bathroom which makes you a chamaar-and after 9 you are writing code for a fortune 500 company which makes you a brahmin.
By the way from one of your lines Phaed I remembered something:
You said 'my take is simple.......'and uss se yaad aaya
humhein sirf ek take milta hai sirf ek take or uss take mein agar mis take ho jaati hai to gandmasti ke saamne e charcha ghutne take deti hai.

[me]

Today's Hindu are the most confused lot of people.(I sometimes think that they are unaware about their confused state.) At any point, they refer to scriptures to make point, but forget to give a good links to substanstiate their stand. Consequently people go on passing bullshit theories of caste , karma, dharma in the way they like, and claim it to be in Vedas.

I as a child read mythological stories even before the advent of mythological story series on Television. I found them enchanting and sometimes full of bullshit. My mother a staunch Hindu never gave a hint of Vedas. I never felt that there was any ideal in those stories whom I can follow.

Those people here whose slogans are 'Jai Ram ...", I cannnot understand them. I never liked character of Ram, forget making an ideal. One thing I didn't like drastically was forsaking Sita.
Today's Hindu , since have no specifice ideals , sometimes cite Vedas, sometimes give name of Krishna in the form of Mahabharata and sometimes Rama.

I understand at least that those characters have ideological differences and cannot be followed both at the same time. And thus you see confused bunch of people interpreting things in context of their own whims.

[The Real Deal]

ME : Nice post buddy, I agree with you about lack of any specific ideals in Hindu society.

-I even agree with you about your disagreement with some character. Infect confusion will continue as A god like Rama role about Sita and associated story of Sudra.

-This all theory will die as all are based on discrimination and Hindu society itself will refuse to accept its discrimination at a point of time.

-I can get two best scenario to survive, Indian culture.

1. All should start adopting Buddha which provide us best ideals of Indian culture.

2. We should start working on Vedic theory and fins out righteous approach provided by the same. Here I do not agree with you that these are merely a mythology.

We also have attitude like when ever we want we try to define things according to just and only just our gain.

As earlier we discuss about Vedic theory earlier in other thread, I explained you even if it describe that four varna origin theory, its not bad as thats not based on caste. We people have redefine those theory and fixed that on birth.

There is nothing wrong in calling a teacher/purohit as 'Brahman an Army people as 'Kshatriya' a Vyapari Community as 'Vaishya' and a Labor class as 'Sudra' as long as we stop it as based on caste, and which is the right theory.

In past context people may have describe it one class is superior than other, we must stop this, but its very obvious that all people will give due respect to TEACHER, will praise a KSHATRIYA and VAISHYA community will keep enjoying its money/trade power and labor will be labor. But non of them are based on caste.

Again we as in US, I believe, most people are treated equal oftenly, hence treating labor class in same manner will be only thing which we need to develop. Otherwise I don't think any Vedic theory is that bad.

There is problem in every theory but, Vedic theory is more mature than any other theory(religion) I can think about (excluding Buddha, who mostly have adopted righteous approach taught by Veda, the only written book available that time.

-I'm pretty much sure about this that if we really wish, then we can find out path for the theory of hindu survival in Veda.

[phaedrus]

hey laal :)

vedas...well what can i say...of what i read about them...apart from a way of life...they have been badly misinterpreted
ek take hi milta hain...but in our efforts to make the best out of it ...we shouldnt forget the big picture...
my scribblings on the matter ..."people come ..people go...in all their enthusiasm..they wish to leave something indelible..but was that the purpose?":)nice to have shared views with yaa mate..

. We should start working on Vedic theory and fins out righteous approach provided by the same. Here I do not agree with you that these are merely a mythology.

There is problem in every theory but, Vedic theory is more mature than any other theory(religion) I can think about (excluding Buddha, who mostly have adopted righteous approach taught by Veda, the only written book available that time.

-I'm pretty much sure about this that if we really wish, then we can find out path for the theory of hindu survival in Veda.

umm...vedic theory from what i have read and understood doesnt make much sense too me...here is a brief understanding of mine...

cant say i am an expert on the issue...but anyhows here is my understanding..
vedas : the original hindu literature...written basically to explain the various rituals and praises for the aryan gods...mainly the rain and fire and thunder/war chaps(indira/varuna..) ..then music/melodies for these chants...the sacrifices to be made to gods...rites...magical spells and incantations

upanishads : deal with the mystical part and introduce the concept of never ending ...undefinable reality "the brahman"..these contain the philosophical and practical content of the relgion

puranas : deal with the various gods and genealogy of royal sects...(here the vedic gods like indira et al loose signficance and give way to our trinity...vishnu/shiva/brahma et al)

then come the epics like ....mahabharata and ramayana...and in the end bhagwad gita...there are lot more in the middle...i can dish out the list...but these are the major constituents of hindu literatue....as i can see upanishads make more sense to me coz they talk more about the philosophy rather than the rituals and all that....
my understanding....will be more than glad to be corrected :)






[Edited by phaedrus on 12-04-2000 at 10:23 AM]

[spunkygal]

phaedrus,

Upanishads are the summary of teachings of Vedas. The same ideas are re-iterated in Gita. The crux of teachings is what I explained in my previous post. The belief that there is one supreme soul in Universe. And that our own souls are divine too.... the ultimate goal of our life or life-times is the yoga(join) or become one with that supreme soul... or in other words acquire God like attributes in ourselves, wake up to the divinity inside us. That we are not helpless, weakling mortals who need to be "saved" by a messiah or God. We are Gods ourselves, we need to realize this by conquering weaknesses inside.

The more I read about other religions, the more it seems almost all religions point towards this fact. Christians say "God made man an image of Himself". Sufis, tend to regard God as a lover and talk about becoming 'one' with that lover. There is a poem by Maulana Rumi, a 13th century turkish sufi poet i really like...

The moment I heard my first love story
I began seeking you.
Not realizing the search was useless.
Lovers don't meet somewhere along the way...
They are in one another's souls from the beginning.

Lover here is God, and intent is that He is not a separate entity... He is us.

Guru Granth Sahib also is a compilation of works of mostly Sufi saints of that time and talks about one-ness of God and people.

Gita tells more about sixteen (or more?) types of yogas and how to reach that stage (of one-ness), which can also be called Nirvana. Which is useful. Like I said, Karmayoga is most emphasised upon.

If you want more information on Vedic philosophy, read any of books by Vivekananda. Inspirational, and explained in a simple manner. I particularly liked his "To the Youth of India". See if you can get hold of it. Well, Vedic philosophy is what makes most sense to me, among all spiritual reading I have done. It defines a fine way how Universe works, and how everything falls in place.

All the best! (from one God to another... ;-))

[Siraj]

Listen to any Pakistani radio, watch any Pak TV, read any newspaper or listen to Pak Politicians, They all refer to our country as Hindustan, rather than using India or Bharat. :(

It is quite surprising that we (and our government) seldom use the world Hindustan. (I am not sure, but according to our constitution, our contry name is like "India, that is Bharat", recorded). :confused:

Pakistan by blasting trains, and buses, attaching temples and mosques, killing people proves that it belives all Indian as Hindus (or atleast anti-muslim). :mad:

Historically the word Hindu came from the river Sindhu and was given by Europeans (or some others). Now as the river Sindhu flows from Pakistan, All Pakistanis are Hindus! ;)

So the Hindus are the people living in India and Pakistan.

In this case Hindu is not the religion but a way of life. Hindu religion has got many gods, Just pause and look at the list, you will surprise to see that some of them are really constrasting. Why? They all have contributed to the wellfare of the people, and so people put them at par with god.

If Mohmmad Paygamber or Jesus Christ were born in India, they might also have been regarded as gods by the Indian people. :cool:

Here I would like to mention the society of the Indonesia . Majority of them are Muslims and still they worship Ram and Play Ramayan. Reason? Because Islam was not forced on them, it was adopted by one popular king and so people followed him.

Why in India we don't have cohesive society where inspite of different methods of worship all can stay peacefully and contribute to the nations development?

[phaedrus]

err...Spunx...tried to read vivekananda...he didnt turn me on...too preachy...anyhow let me try to put the record straight

While historically Upanishads might have been defined as elaborations in prose and verse of the Vedas, indian philosophy originated from Upanishads rather than vedas..Upanishads are considered the last stage of vedic tradition and hence teachings based on them were called "Vedanta".

As i already mentioned...upanishads are very distinctive from vedas which concerned themselves with ritualism and how different phenomena interact with each other....Upan...It is in the upanishads that the quest for "knowledge" started.. They are different from other hindu literature coz of their mystical questioning and philosophical nature rather than those vedic rites..etc..
Sankara one of the most acclaimed indian philosophers was from the same period as of the later upanishads. Hindu philosophy is widely regarded to be advanced coz of upanishads not coz of vedas which are nothing but mostly native hindus concerns about gods which have origins in the nature and sacrifices and rituals and all that....for me that is not hinduism and hence i reject them and so did the religions which sprung from hinduism...buddhism and jainism....

[phaedrus]

err...Spunx...tried to read vivekananda...he didnt turn me on...too preachy...anyhow let me try to put the record straight

While historically Upanishads might have been defined as elaborations in prose and verse of the Vedas, indian philosophy originated from Upanishads rather than vedas..Upanishads are considered the last stage of vedic tradition and hence teachings based on them were called "Vedanta".

As i already mentioned...upanishads are very distinctive from vedas which concerned themselves with ritualism and how different phenomena interact with each other....Upan...It is in the upanishads that the quest for "knowledge" started.. They are different from other hindu literature coz of their mystical questioning and philosophical nature rather than those vedic rites..etc..
Sankara one of the most acclaimed indian philosophers was from the same period as of the later upanishads. Hindu philosophy is widely regarded to be advanced coz of upanishads not coz of vedas which are nothing but mostly native hindus concerns about gods which have origins in the nature and sacrifices and rituals and all that....for me that is not hinduism and hence i reject them and so did the religions which sprung from hinduism...buddhism and jainism....

*transfer of views from one soul to another* God is a bastardized word...i prefer soul just for connotation sake :)

[Mr India]

If I remember right,

the word Hindu was a coined word meaning person from the land of the Indus river.

If so guess what?

Every one in India is a hindu.
Every Muslim
Every Christian
Every Sikh
Every Jew
Every Parsi


Jai India.

[aryaputra]

actually,

What the world refers to when they day Hindu is the followers of the Sanatana Dharma!

As mentioned, Hindu is actually Sindu (persian invaders had no diffrentiaton in 'S' or 'H' - just like people of Surat)!!

[Mr India]

And what does Sanatana Dharam nean?

[aryaputra]

Originally posted by me


Those people here whose slogans are 'Jai Ram ...", I cannnot understand them. I never liked character of Ram, forget making an ideal. One thing I didn't like drastically was forsaking Sita.


too bad!!

Ram never forsaked Sita, For your kind infomation :D

It was Sita who walked out of Ram's life when the situation arose so as not to have anyone point a finger at Ram as the King.

Better read your Comic books properly :D

[aryaputra]

Originally posted by Mr India
And what does Sanatana Dharam nean?

The word Hindu is a geographic rather than a religious term. Hindus call their religion Sanatana Dharma - 'Eternal law'.

It is based on the practice of Dharma, the code of life. Since Hinduism has no founder, anyone who practices Dharma can call himself a Hindu. Hinduism lays emphasis on direct Experience rather than on authority. The aim is not intellectual conformity to inherited doctrine, but one of attainment of knowledge. He can question the authority of any scripture, or even the existence of the Divine. Despite being the oldest religion, the truth realized by the seers prove that the Truth and path provided by Hinduism is beyond time. Its concern is with the absolute Truth, not with systems of belief. The absolute Truth is universal, and forever impersonal. No one has a proprietary claim to it. Hinduism is a religion that bears a great intellectual heritage with six schools of classical philosophy.
Hinduism extends into every aspect of the believer's life.

more later on!

[ravi prakash]

A new forum has arived which is for healthy discussion it seems. It is inteligently managed and presented http://www.nishad.com/

[aryaputra]

Sure. But does not feel like Echarcha.com :D

I guess because Echarcha is now part+parcel of my daily life!!

[Mr India]

Do they leash rabid bigots-burnt out ashes???!!!

Hahahaha

[aryaputra]

what is that supposed to mean?






http://www.atributetohinduism.com/images/ganeshb40.gif