srivatsa@smsun4.crd.ge.com (Rajan Srivatsan) (03/19/90)
The following article was intended for an Indian audience, but readers of "soc.religon.eastern" may also find it of interest. ****************************************************************************** "Are you proud of being a Hindu?". If confronted with the contradictions and inequities in modern hindu society, and then forced to answer such a question, many educated hindus would probably be embarassed. Some may be defiantly fanatic in their affirmation, some others may claim indifference to the issue, and a few may even deny outright that they are hindus at all! But a large majority would defensively prevaricate. The hindus are the descendants of the proud practicioners of "arya dharma" (literally, the religion of the Aryans); the rich philosophies contained in hindu "vedanta" (comprising the Upanishads, Srimad Bhagawadam, and the Brahma Sutra) are probably unsurpassed in the world; hindu society also has a unique tradition of tolerance and openness, that has over the centuries assimilated the profound and revolutionary thoughts of the Buddha, the richness of persian culture that came to India through invading Islamic hordes, and even the finer aspects of the imperialistic British. And yet, many hindus, the rightful heirs of this glorious tradition, would today prefer that their "hinduness" remain a nameless entity in the background. The study of the physical sciences, engineering and modern medicine seems to have formed the new "religion" in a hindu's life. In the name of secularism and modern science, the traditional study of hindu scriptures has been abandoned by our educational institutions. Few hindus know Sanskrit - the language of the Vedas and the Upanishads. In-depth understanding of hindu philosophy is rare. In fact, the only hinduism that seems to be practised today, consists of empty and elaborate rituals, and strange tales from hindu myhtology, which one is often asked to accept as fact! When did hindus forget the distinction between "avidya" (empty ritualistic observances) and "vidya" (knowledge of the philosophy behind the rituals)? Where is the hindu society that openly admitted even atheistic schools of thought (the Carvakas, for example) into its fold? What has happened to the hindu tradition of "vada - vivada" (open debate)? And when did the hindu get to be narrowly defined as a beleiver in the trinity of gods - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva? The crying need of the hour is for new ideas. We do *not* need endless repetitions of the Ramayana and Mahabaratha in our movie themes, and now on television! What is needed is a reinterpretation of the eternal message of the "veda" in a modern context. The common man, if forced to accept the idioms of the past in toto, tends to lose contact with reality. And the intellectual of today, trained as he/she is in the methology of western science, will reject and abandon as "mumbo-jumbo", all practice of hindu rituals. The tyranny of "brahminism" needs to be shattered! The study of Vedanta is not the exclusive right of a select group of people. Any aspiring individual should be given the freedom to read and reinterpret the message of the hindu scriptures in the light of his/her own understanding. In fact, such new perspectives on the ideas of the past, need to be encouraged. The fear of society that makes so many people conform, in all kinds of irrational and meaningless ways, needs to be ended. The prognosis is clear: if hinduism does not rise to the challenge of western science and technology, it is destined to an ever-diminishing role in Indian society. Given the rich traditions of hinduism, this would be a tragedy. The time to correct that is now! The person to do that will be the Modern Hindu! R. Srivatsan/.. * Usual disclaimers apply *