Yes.Mr.Srinivasan is correct.The enemy of hindus are hindus themselves.We donot have the courage(sufficient) to rise and raise.We need more Sri RAMAKRISHNA AND VIVEKANADA to bring back the glory.
I had replied to the comments posted by some christians like Jose. Rediff seems to have no problems in publishing any comments by christians critizing Hinduism; But seems to be afraid to publish any comments which exposes the true attitude of Christians. So why invite comments in the first place if you are not prepared to give fair treatment. From akrnair@rediff.com
I normally skip through your articles. As most of them seem to a bit on the extreme. But in this article I share your thoughts. All other religious organizations in India also convert people by exhorting that the Hindu gods are demons. I realized after sharing a room from one who has converted recently. I also has an relative who got converted and put the picture of his died father in a trash can saying that they do not believe in respecting died person as the died are equivalent to demon. I think god can be reached in many ways and different religions have given different ways to reach god. If some one says that Hindu gods are not gods then the same goes with other gods too. As most of the religions were born in last 5000 years where as theory of evolution says that humans were started evolving from apes for more than 60,000 years. This has been dealt very balanced by Kenneth C Davis in "Don't know Much about Mythology".
I would be glad to see if you can write an article on reforming the Hinduism. I think castes are a bane for Hinduism. In Bhagavt Gita itself the lord says that a person cannot become a Brahmin by birth, but only by beliefs and practices.
I always believed that any topic on religion or politics can be discussed endlessly. While I agree to some extent with rajeev,I strongly believe that the hindus are responsible for the state that they find themselves in.It has got nothing to do with some other religion dominating or suppressing Hinduism.It is we Hindus who are responsible for diluting and mis-intepreting the principles of hinduism,especially the upper castes.We have not been able to gather the escence of Hinduism and pass it down to the younger generations.Instead we have created castes, sub-castes and untouchability.Hinduism is a great religion which cannot be understood so easily.The vedas and upanishads which run into volumes have described the way an individual has to live life.How many Hindus know it and how many follow it is a million dollar question.The simplest way to approach life is to be human.No matter what religion, everything boils down to humanitarianism.It is time we stop discussing about religion and behave as humans so that we can make this world a better place to live.
Rajeev Srinivasan's article incorrectly portrays the world-view on Hinduism. True, there are some bigots in the western world who have nothing better to do than deride other religions and races. But let's face it - no religion is without its flaws. Hinduism too has its own contradictions especially with its practical interpretations in society.
While the inappropriate chanting in Eyes Wide Shut is totally ridiculous, we have the equally inspiring use of Upanishads in the closing credits of Matrix Revolutions.
One cannot expect a universal appreciation of Hinduism from around the world. After all, as the author himself suggests, even Indians do not unequivocally accept Hinduism's pre-eminence. Thats part of Hinduisms appeal its unique tolerance.
Lets not forget that large parts of the world still see India as a place of depressing poverty, frequent religious riots, caste-based politics, and chaotic cities.
Lets put our house in order first - the rest of the world will take notice, and respect and adoration for Hinduism will follow.
An eye opener... Are the influential / politicians reading these articles?? If yes, are they doing/willing to do anything abt. things like Russian temple demolition?
RE:Excellent Article
by sgpal on Feb 20, 2006 07:21 PM Permalink
Hindu is the word coined by the persians.(nothing to do witht he present day Iranians)There is no sound Sa in Persian language.Sa is replaced by the sound Ha.Hence sapta ( seven) becomes hapta and sindu becomes hindu.The persians called all those people who lived on the other side of river sindu as Hindus and incidentally includes pakis as well!
Hinduism is the name given by britisher to those people who follow vedas and agamas and accept baghavdgita and Ramayana as Sacred text, There is nothing called Hinduism as such,
As you can see how many people follow this religion is very very few. How many people know sanskrit or studied vedas and followed all the religious duties.
Now a days Hinduism exist only in theory and not in practice.
Those who call themselves as hindus and form a group speak about thier rights, basically are groupism
RE:hinduism
by DTR on Feb 06, 2006 09:45 PM Permalink
Hey buddy, you are wrong.
Hindu name came from Arabic/Persian culture. They called people who lived beyond Sindhu river, 'Hindus'. Probably Greeks have their contributions too. They didn't realize at the time, that people who lived beyond Sindhu river had very different cultural and linguistic traditions.
I fully appreciate the sentiments expressed by you. It is true that Hindus are not very welcoming to the converts but that is probably due to the fact that for Hindus converts to their religion are not a normal thing and they simply do not have a policy towards them. In your case, the cool reception you had from your husband\\\'s family is more to do with him not marrying a South Indian Brahmin, South Indian or an Indian girl. Even if you were a \\\'wrong kind\\\' of Indian, you would have faced the same problem. It has something to do with the ignorance of some Hindus rather than their religious intolerance. You come across as such a mature person that sooner or later your in laws would realise their mistake.
It is because the Hindus seem to look inwards that they they have no time for a \\\'Hindu cause\\\' and must blame themselves for the injustice and redicule mated out to them. It it a shame that the ancient Hindus gave this wonderful edict \\\'Vasudhaivya Kutumbkam\\\'which is not followed by the modern day Hindus who can\\\'t see beyond their own caste or community. Let us hope that your decision to became a Hindu makes you a happy person in the end. All the best.
