The word Hindu (in the form ‘Hidu’) appears to have been applied by the Persian Emperors Darius (522-486 B.C.) and Xerxes (486-465 B.C.) to the territory and people to the west and to the east of river Sindhu, while the Greeks referred to the people in the same region as ‘Indoi’ from which comes the word Indian. The ancient Parsi scripture- Vendidad mentions sixteen lands, the fifteenth being Hapta Hindu (Sapta Sindhu). The Sanskrit ‘Sa’ is changed to ‘Ha’ even now in some parts of India.1 Panini uses the word ‘Sindhu’ as the name of a country. Saindhava means one who or whose ancestors lived in the Sindhu country.2
From Geographical connotation to Religious connotation
It is most striking that people we now call Hindus never used this term to describe themselves. The Vedas, the Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita which today are seen by many as the religious texts of the Hindus, do not employ the word Hindu. The term was first used by the Achaemenid Persians to describe all those people who lived on or beyond the banks of river Sindhu. It was only under the Muslim rulers of India that the term began to gain a religious connotation (from the earlier geographical connotation). But it was not until colonial times that the term Hinduism was coined and acquired wide currency as referring collectively to a wide variety of religious communities, some of them with distinct traditions and opposed practices. Communities like the Shaivites, Vaishnavites and Lingayats, each with their own history and specific view of the world were tied together under the blanket category Hinduism. Simultaneously, cultural, administrative and political changes, particularly social mobility, census operations, missionary activities and the rise of new groups like Arya Samaj endowed the term with meanings that we have come to associate with it today.3
Rajaram Mohan Roy, the first Hindu to use the word Hinduism
The term Hinduism seems first to have made an appearance in the early 19th century and gradually gained provenance in the decades thereafter. Eighteenth century references to the religion of the Gentoos were gradually supplanted in the 19th century by references to the religion of the Hindus. A preference for the Persian as opposed to the Portuguese designation of the Indian people. (Heathens was another word used to designate the Hindus by Christian missionaries). However it was not until the 19th century proper that the term Hinduism became used as a signifier of a unified all-embracing and independent religious entity in both western and Indian circles. The Oxford English Dictionary traces Hindooism to an 1829 reference in the Bengalee (vol-45) and also refers to an 1858 usage by the German Indologist Max Muller. Dermot Killingley however cites a reference to Hindooism by Rajaram Mohan Roy in 1816. As Killingley suggests Rajaram Mohan Roy was probably the first Hindu to use the word Hinduism.4
The word Hindu used as a title and as a religious connotation even earlier
The rulers of Vijayanagara kingdom like Bukka I, Devaraya II and Krishnadevaraya and the ruler of Mewar, Maharana Kumbhakarna had the title- hinduraya suratrana, that is, Sultan among Hindu kings and Maharana Pratap Simha of Mewar had the title, hindu kula kamala divakara, that is, the sun which brings bloom to the lotus of the Hindu nation.5 The word Hindu as a religious connotation was used in vernacular Hindu literature by poet-saints like Ekanath (1533-1599 A.D.), Kabir (1450-1520 A.D.), Vidyapati (1352-1448 A.D.) and Anantadas (born 1488 A.D.) in their works. According to David N Lorenzen, the beginning of medieval and modern Hinduism took shape when the mythology of gods like Vishnu, Shiva and Devi were composed in the Puranas around 300-600 A.D.6
Hinduism, a combination of religious ideologies
Hinduism is not a single religion like Islam or Christianity. It is a universe of religions. It represents the religious responses of different races and classes at various stages of cultural evolution. It includes the religious response of the aborigines, of persons who are bound down by custom and superstition and that of persons who have transcended them.7
In the words of P.V.Kane, Hinduism is a combination of many systems and religious ideologies including Vedic ritualism, Vedantic thought, Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and primeval cults, adapted to the requirements of different men and communities with great disparities of intellectual and spiritual attainments.8
The capacity to incorporate and amalgamate other religions and alien cults in Hinduism is possible because of two basic Hindu doctrines: that God or Brahman is within everything, and can therefore appear everywhere, and that whoever is born in India is essentially a Hindu. The incorporation of aboriginal cults has occurred in Hinduism from the very beginnings. However, such incorporations became particularly prevalent in post-Buddhist times. To give examples, the Jagannath temple at Puri, one of the most important temple of India and patronized by many kings enshrines a deity of tribal origin. Similarly the most important features of the mythology and cult of Durga developed only in early medieval times taking up aboriginal elements. The sacrifice offered to Devi, for instance, is different from the Vedic form of sacrifice and even occasionally retains the idea of human sacrifice.9
Hinduism offers choice to its adherents
Hinduism comprises monism, pantheism, monotheism, polytheism, animism and even atheism (nirishvaravada) of the Samkhya type. Even those who are monotheists have the choice to worship God in the form of either Shiva, Vishnu or Shakti. With regards to prayers also Hinduism offers choice to its adherents. One may pray through Vedic hymns or non-Vedic hymns or even choose to compose one’s own prayer. It is not even necessary to pray to God and one may choose to contemplate him. The path to the realization of God is through bhakti, karma and jnana. Bhakti may manifest itself through prayer, song or dance or idol worship. Karma may be ritualistic or non-ritualistic and even rituals practiced may not be the same. Even the scriptures considered holy by the Hindus are divergent. For some it is the Vedas, for others it is the Puranas. But majority of the Hindus depend for their religious instruction mainly on custom, tradition and popular songs.10
Characteristics of Hinduism
Hinduism does not venerate any particular person as its sole prophet or founder nor recognize any particular book as its absolute authoritative scripture. Further Hinduism does not insist on any particular religious practice as being obligatory nor does it accept any doctrine as its dogma.11
By the very nature of its origin and growth, Hinduism has been exceedingly tolerant. As Hindu worship is personal rather than congregational in character, Hinduism allows its adherents freedom to worship his chosen divinity (ishtadevata).12
Hinduism is a dynamic religion which has exhibited, throughout history, a remarkable elasticity and responsiveness to the needs of different communities and to the demands of different ages and regions. It has never hesitant to sponsor new scriptures, new gods and new institutions.13
By and large, Hinduism has always tended to incorporate and assimilate new ideas and practices. It is a religion untrammeled by any fixed creeds, dogmas and rituals.14
One of the basic assumptions of Hinduism is that though religious practices and beliefs were bound to change according to different times and different climes, they could all be comprehended within a larger unity. Accordingly, Hinduism has always been variable, elastic and receptive.15
Lastly Hinduism is in a sense, an ethnic religion. It is not either propagated among or imposed upon the people. The Hindus are verily born and grow in Hinduism though many of them do not believe in many of its doctrines and practices. But this does not forfeits their claim to be called as Hindus.16
Does Hinduism discriminate against people based on caste?
Caste exclusiveness and caste discrimination was practiced by the followers of Vedic cult. It was these followers who later composed Dharmasastras which denied the Shudras to study the Vedas or partake in Vedic sacrifices. But Vedic cult is a part of Hinduism and not Hinduism itself.
As Wilhelm Halbfass has observed, the Vedic texts contain no Hindu dogma, no basis for a creed of Hinduism, no clear guidelines for the Hindu way of life. The Vedic texts provide no clear identifiable basis for the cyclical world-view, the doctrine of Karma and rebirth, the ethical principle of ahimsa and the doctrine of final liberation (Moksha). Also the Hindu pantheon, the forms of worship and devotion and the temple cult are not Vedic.17
According to R.N.Dandekar, historical Hinduism arose as a kind of reaction against the peculiar religio-philosophical conditions which had been engendered by Vedism- particularly by its later phases. But being realistic and pragmatic the sponsors of historical Hinduism did not alienate completely from it and professed an allegiance to the Veda to encounter with the so-called heretic religious movements of the early post-Vedic period.18
How did the impression that Hinduism is discriminatory gained ground
The earliest written religious texts of India written in Sanskrit like the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and Dharmashastras belonged to the Vedic cult, whose main followers were the Brahmins. When the Europeans including the English wanted to gain information about Hinduism, they approached the Brahmins as they alone knew Sanskrit and could explain to them about the contents of their texts. The Brahmins of that period though professing allegiance to various sects like Smarta, Vaishnava, Shaiva and Shakta provided information contained in the Vedic texts and an impression was created that Hinduism was Vedic religion. The Europeans had these texts translated into European languages including English and highlighted the discriminatory practices found in these texts. This information naturally entered in the history text books meant for schools and colleges where Hindu religion was equated with the Vedic religion. Hence the impression that Hinduism was a religion based on discriminatory practices was firmly implanted in the minds of the educated class. Also research on popular sects like Shaivas, Vaishnavas, the role of Tantras, assimilation of folk deities in Hinduism and similar such subjects had not taken place. Therefore intellectuals like Baba Saheb Ambedkar criticized Hinduism for its discriminatory practices. Probably Ambedkar was not aware of the Lingayat sect popular in the then southern parts of Bombay Presidency. Otherwise he would have surely embraced the Lingayat faith which is based on equality and bereft of superstitious ideas.
Hence it is this false notion of equating Vedism also called Brahmanism with Hinduism which has led people to believe that Hinduism is discriminative in nature. But the fact is Vedism is only a part of Hinduism which contains various Mathas (religious viewpoint) and Sampradayas (religious sects). Also as all religious sects of Hinduism (except for the Vedic cult) provides spiritual access to the Shudras and admit them into their orders, the allegation that Hinduism is discriminatory is totally wrong.
Why is the caste system still in India?
Now a question arises if only the followers of Vedic cult practiced caste exclusiveness, how come the Shudras themselves are divided into hundreds of castes and do not enter into matrimonial alliance with each other? The answer to this probably lies in the assumption that from time immemorial people of India engaged in different professions had formed into separate groups. Probably to protect the skills of their trade/professions, they married among themselves and this later became a custom. But unlike the Brahmins these groups never considered themselves superior to other groups and demeaned them nor claimed special privileges. This shows that Hinduism as a religion has nothing to do with caste, which was a social organization.
Reference
P.V.Kane – History of Dharmashastras, vol – 5, part 2, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona, 1962, p.1613
Ibid, p.1614
Harjot Oberoi – The Construction of Religious Boundaries : Culture, Identity and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition, The University of Chicago Press, 1994, pp:16,17
Richard King – Orientalism and the Modern Myth of Hinduism, Numen, vol 46, no. 2, 1999, p.165
Sitaram Goel – Hindus and Hinduism- Manipulation of Meanings, Voice of India, New Delhi, 2003, pp: 7-9
David N Lorenzen – Who invented Hinduism? Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol.41, No.4, October, 1999, pp: 648,655
G.Hanumantha Rao – What is Hinduism?, in Prof. M.Hiriyanna Commemoration Volume, Published by Prof. M.Hiriyanna Commemoration Volume Committee, Mysore, 1952
P.V.Kane, Op.Cit, p.1621
Anncharlott Eschmann, Hermann Kulke, Gaya Charan Tripathi, Edited – The Cult of Jagannath and the Regional Tradition of Orissa, Manohar Publication, New Delhi, 1986, pp:79,80
G.Hanumantha Rao, Op.Cit, pp: 22,23
R.N.Dandekar- Insight into Hinduism, Ajanta Publication, Delhi, 1979, p.1
Ibid, p.5
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid, p.2
Wilhelm Halbfass – Tradition and Reflection, Explorations in Indian Thought, State University of New York Press, 1991, pp:1,2
R.N.Dandekar- Op.Cit, p.13
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