Is Hinduism Created by the British?

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Nithin Sridhar
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1. It is a modern fad to allege that, there was no religion called "Hinduism" before British came.
 
2. They claim that it was British who created Hinduism by giving it a working structure & framework.
 
3. They also claim that, it was British who decided that Vedas, Gita etc must be designated as core books!
 
4. Further, it is said that, before the dawn of British, Indians were practicing only pagan superstition!

5.it is true that,name Hindu was not existing before Persians use it.Does it mean the Hinduism did not exist?
 
6. "Hindu" may be the name given by foreigners, but we Hindus called our system "Dharma".
 
7. It was called "Sanatana Dharma" because it was based on eternal principles of life & Universe.
 
8. It was also called "Arya Dharma"- Nobel Dharma because it took a person towards highest Truth.

9. Those who say that,numerous sects, traditions and cults are unrelated to each other are simply ignorant.

10. It is the principles of Dharma that Unite every kula, every sampradaya, every Darshana.

11. To the Q how do they unite? They unite by taking every person towards highest goal of Moksha.
 
12. It is in this context the Vedas claim, God/Truth is one, Paths are many.

13. But, these paths are not exclusive. They are complementary & supplementary to each other.

14. Further, some paths act as foundation steps that lead to higher paths.

15. It is for this reason Swami Vivekananda says "One travels from lower truth to higher truth".

16. And this argument that various Hindu philosophies were exclusive were shown as false in 13th century itself!!

17. Sri Vidyaranya in his famous Sarva-darśana-saṅ̇graha (A Compendium of Speculations) demonstrates how schools were not exclusive.

18. He sketches 16 Hindu philosophies in their ascending order,one leading to other & culminating in Vedanta.

19. Even if one does not agree with his conclusion, it goes on to show how they are not exclusive.
 
20. All Hindu philosophies have their own importance & pave way for evolution of an Individual towards Truth.

21. So, there was always a united cultural, spiritual tradition called "Sanatana Dharma".

22. But, this unity was unlike that of west. The unity was not in means but in the goal.

23. As the western religions consider Unity to be of both means & goal, they term Hinduism as a way of life.

24. But, Hinduism is both a way of life & a religion in the sense of that which unites.

25. Here, the Unity is not in sameness of means, but only in the goal- Moksha.

26. It may be argued that, even Moksha is defined differently in various schools.

27. True, but every philosophy is only an indirect means aimed at inducing direct Realization.

28. So, whatever be philosophy, it is aimed at taking a person to Atma-Jnana.

29. The moment one attains Direct realization, all doubts, all differences vanish!!

30. Hence,Hinduism is not creation of British,but is Eternal Dharma tht takes everyone towards highest Truth.

The Need for Indian Narrative

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Nithin Sridhar
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(Also watch Rajiv Malhotra's lecture on "India's Grand Narrative"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9iObjKR5yI)


1. The issue of withdrawal of Wendy Doniger's book "The Hindu" and subsequent drama again shows the need for Hindu/Indian Narrative and Scholarship.

2. Those who are traditionally trained lack knowledge of modern scholarship. Further their numbers are dwindling fast.

3. The people with modern education largely has superficial understanding of Hindu religion and allied subjects.

4. We need to do two things- 1. Revive the traditional system of education of Veda, Vedanta, Tarka, Agama etc.And support the practitioners. 2. We need to create Indian narrative/analysis of not only Indic religions and traditions but also of world religions.

5. The traditional teaching through Sanskrit using mimamsa & tarka & Modern scholarship & research techniques must be carried simultaneously.

6. Further, we need create means of livelihood for those who learn & teach Vedas and dedicate their life for performing of vedic rituals.

7. The lack of Indian/Hindu narrative and purva-paksha as Rajiv Malhotra suggests is the source of problem which has manifested as Wendy etc.

8. Only way this lacunae can be rectified is by supporting Vedic learning & those who dedicate life to teach & practice Vedic tenets.

9. And with help of those traditional pandits, scholars well versed in modern methodology can create Indian Narrative.

10. We need to implement this approach in all branches of Sanatana-Dharma- from theology to science, from astrology to astronomy.

11. We need to create scholarly, objective research in Sanskrit, English & other vernacular languages.

12. Those who study in Gurukulas have no means to support themselves.A person who learns Vedas and wishes to practice Vedic karmas whole life has no means to support himself.

13. And there are hardly few gurukulas that teach Vedanta, Tarka, Mimamsa in traditional way because only few people go to it. Whatever is being maintained of Gurukula system is with great difficulty and generous donations.

14. Further, Learning Veda or Vedanta, Tarka or Mimamsa etc in themselves take up more than 10-15 years. Hence, there is little scope for students to pursue modern education simultaneously.

15. Further, those who study in Veda pathshalas have very little means of livelihood. Hence, Govt and others should support such people who want to pursue vedic way of life, who involve in learning, practicing and teaching Vedic mantras and doing Vedic Karmas.

16. Similarly, the modern education has no time or scope including traditional subjects in elementary or high school level.

17. We can only include certain elements like teaching of basic English etc in traditional gurukulas and including Sanskrit in modern system.

18. We must parallelly create traditional gurukula system where teaching is in Sanskrit of all branches from veda to tarka, to agama, to Ganita/Maths to Jyotishya and the Modern education that is as it is practiced but with curriculum to reflect unbiased truth.
 
19.Arts and Humanities must be supported and encouraged, so that students who pursue it, later can work with traditional pandits and create PhD thesis, research work etc on various branches.

20. By such collaboration of those learned in modern methodologies and those learned in traditional methodologies, we can create an Indian Narrative and Scholarship in Sanskrit, English as well as in Vernacular languages.