PritPal Kaur
What it means to be a Hindu in today’s times, especially in India is a question many of us would find difficult to answer. I can be either a Bihari or a U. P. wala or even a Bhopal wala or may be a Chennai Brahmin to be able to claim to be a Hindu. But even then, even after I have the right to claim my origins to be from some Hindu clan of some part of the ancient India, is it really easy to say that I am a Hindu?
Honestly speaking, I have my doubts. I may be a baniya, or a Brahmin or a Punjabi or a Thakur, even may be a Rajput. But Hindu? Let me think.
Hinduism is older than all the Semitic religions of the world. When Christ was born about two thousand years ago, Hinduism had already entered into adulthood. It had been through the vedic period and was passing though it’s classical age, in other words the epic pauranic age.
This was the time when the two Epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, and subsequently the Puranas were written. The famous Bhagavad Gita is part of the Mahabharata.
The idea of ‘dharma’ or duty or ‘the truth’ which is central to Hinduism was expressed in a genre of texts known as ‘Dharma Sutras’ and ‘Shastras’. If we translate the word ‘Dharma’ it means, “jo dharan karne yogya ho” In English it means, “any aspect or way of life that is worthy of being followed.”
So by it’s strict definition it has to be explored and found as we move along in life, as we progress in time and space and then adhered to in our mundane lives. It is not something that can be described at one point of the time and can be applicable for all times. It is a relative term, just like the relativity theory of Physics, proposed and subsequently proved by Albert Einstein.
We can safely say that Hinduism may not be essentially a religion, for religion is an English word which means- the belief and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially God or Gods. But the word ‘dharma’ which we loosely use to translate the English word religion goes beyond this definition. It is more scientific and more modern. It defines theory of relativity in it’s own unique way. It explains relativity on a completely different platform. The law of nature which is among the most fundamental laws of the universe, we are a part of.
If we move further ahead into the realm of Hindu diaspora. We come across various constituents of Hinduism. Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism etc. are essential parts of Hinduism. Gautam Budha, clearly stays silent when asked about the existence of a God. He asks his disciples to search for themselves. Jainism seems to deny the existence of a God. Sikhism believe in only one God. Whereas different other sects of Hinduism believe in multiple Gods. According to one approximate assumption there are as many Gods as there are people in India. For as we move around the country the dialect changes at a few kilometres and so does the God being worshipped.
Let’s come back to the original question. Who is a Hindu? Someone who visits one particular temple or someone who does not visit any temple? Someone who worships one God or someone who doesn’t believe in a superhuman God, but believes in good deeds, humanity and charity?
In India our social fabric teaches us to respect all sects and religions, to provide space for all sects and religions to prosper and flourish. We allow anyone to built any place of worship even at the cost of the convenience of general public. We go out of our way to allow the worshippers to cause mayhem and discomfort in order to propagate their religion. But still we are at a loss when we feel the need to define a Hindu the way any Christian or Muslim or Jew can easily define themselves.
This ambiguity is the strength of Hinduism as well as the sheer weakness. Hindu doesn’t get offended if someone impersonates different Gods and Goddesses. In fact Ram Leela and Krishna leela are a part of our cultural heritage. Where individuals play the parts of Ram, Sita , Krishna etc. And these cultural events are highly revered in almost all parts of the world wherever Hindu live.
With the modern times and the modernization of the life where we would have expected Hinduism to be heading towards more modern and liberal path, instead we are witnessing some very disturbing trends. The discourses, both religious and social has given way to the forcible acceptance of certain mannerism and rigid doctrines being passed by some heads of religious bodies on the lines of fatwa that are prevalent in Islam.
In the modern times with the competition that Hinduism faces from Christianity and Islam's fundamental ways, Hinduism too is turning a relatively new leaf of radicalization. Today's Hindu feels the need to be the part of some political branch, it needs some socio-political definition to find a place in this jargon of social and political sects our Indian society has been segregated lately. All thanks to the caste politics that decides the rulers and governments at regional level in India.
If we talk about old scriptures many of us would argue that this is not essentially about Hinduism. Then what is Hinduism in it’s true sense? Does a person who is born in India is a Hindu? Does this mean that who are not born in India but are the offspring of at least one Hindu parent are Hindus? But by a strict definition of patriarchal hierarchy we follow, one’s religious identity is decided by the religion of one’s father. Or a person born to ‘both’ Hindu parents born only in India is a Hindu? In that case those not born in India, but to Hindu parents; what religious identity should they prescribe to? Obviously they are Hindus. But their beliefs and cultural ethos are much different than those who are born in India’s deep centre. Then who is a good and perfect Hindu?
Moreover in this largest democracy on the political map of today’s world, who essentially is a Hindu? All those who are born to Hindu parents? How do we define a Hindu? If we go by the old scriptures, Hindu is divided into many categories. Namely Brahman, kshatriya and vaishya. And if we try to understand further, then shudras too fall into the category of a Hindus but they are not allowed to do what other Hindus expect and demand as their birthright.
Today’s Hindu feel the need to know the caste he is born into. Women generally are spared this dilemma for in Indian society they automatically adapt the husband’s religious identity after getting married. But a good part of women too face this challenge as the educated urban woman of today is finding comfort and stability in life outside the marriage. Though that is another chapter we need not discus here.
The Hindu has to be born into some family. Some caste that falls into the Hindu category. Whereas Hindu as from the history of Hinduism goes, was known by the task or business he would take upon on adulthood. His religious identity was defined by his ‘karma’. The very same ‘karma’ that defines the rules about the transient phase of the soul when it passes away from this world to the other dimension and finds it’s way back into another human form; and his place and destiny was supposed to be defined by the virtue of the ‘karma’ he performed during his previous lifetime as the human being.
If we go by this definition we do find Hinduism to be the most modern and scientific religion that ever was. Yet we find ourselves at the crossroads while trying to describe and classify Hinduism into a narrow eqaution that can culminate into one strict definition.
And that I must say is the beauty of being a Hindu in today’s times.
