What is the Definition of a Hindu?

garg_bharat

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Bharat's religion is Veda. That is it.

All other things are lies, misconceptions, greed.

Temple is a business, a place of greed. It is a 'khandani' business. Murders have taken place over ownership of temples.

As long as Veda remains forgotten, there is no hope for Hindu. Period.
 

garg_bharat

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Why Arya Samaj did not become very popular?

Because of hold of Pundits and their 'khandani' business. Pundits themselves are ignorant of Veda.

There is no end to lies. Unlimited lies can be crafted and sold as religion.

Mahabharat and Ramayan are history books; which contain some preach too. But these books are not books of religion.

I maintain again that only Veda is book of religion. Meaning and explanation of Veda is found in Upnishad.
 

Berkut

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Simple:

1. All of Sanatana Dharma
2. Reincarnation
3. Cow is holy
4. Geeta
5. Gayatri
6. Scientific Temper
 

S.A.T.A

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When Orientalists and Christian missionaries first encountered the baffling array of diverse religious traditions, philosophies, cultural practices, literature, language and social etiquette in India, they wanted to make sense of it all. It is strongly argued that modern 'Hinduism' is this orientalist enterprise to a construct monolithic religious tradition much in the spirit of the European Christian tradition. It is ironic that modern era neo-Hindu religious leaders and scholars, like Ram Mohan Roy, Vivekananda, Shraddanand, occupied, interpreted and argued from, different spectrums of this oriental construct, but rarely challenged its premise. While they may have taken cudgel with the missionaries and orientalists on questions of orthodoxy, reforms, etc, they almost never challenged their construct of unity called Hinduism. It was much later that nationalist intellectuals and historians began to challenge Hinduism as a uniform tradition. Nehru's dilemma was clearly evident when he said that 'Hinduism as a faith was amorphous us, vague, many sided and all things to all people, hence difficult to define as a religion. Ambedkar also recognized this dichotomy between the constructed intellectual uniformity and mutually exclusive and contradictory practices. So perhaps instead of asking a definition of a Hindu, it might be worthwhile to ponder what are the 'Hinduisms' and who are the Hindus that practice them.
 

A chauhan

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IMO in short :-

A Hindu is a person who believes in Karma not in blessings;
he follows the path of Dharma (righteousness) and not a "Religion" (A single path or a book).
 

Wisemarko

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IMO in short :-

A Hindu is a person who believes in Karma not in blessings;
he follows the path of Dharma (righteousness) and not a "Religion" (A single path or a book).
I like that! Don’t you think there’s a need to invite all the bigwigs of Hinduism and other experts to a conclave where Hinduism can be defined formally? Probably that will unite the fragmented society.
 

shankyz

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'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds'. The story of Oppenheimer's infamous quote

As he witnessed the first detonation of a nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945, a piece of Hindu scripture ran through the mind of Robert Oppenheimer: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”. It is, perhaps, the most well-known line from the Bhagavad-Gita, but also the most misunderstood.

Oppenheimer died at the age of sixty-two in Princeton, New Jersey on February 18, 1967. As wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, the birthplace of the Manhattan Project, he is rightly seen as the “father” of the atomic bomb. “We knew the world would not be the same,” he later recalled. “A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent.” Oppenheimer, watching the fireball of the Trinity nuclear test, turned to Hinduism. While he never became a Hindu in the devotional sense, Oppenheimer found it a useful philosophy to structure his life around. "He was obviously very attracted to this philosophy,” says Rev Dr Stephen Thompson, who holds a PhD in Sanskrit grammar and is currently reading a DPhil at Oxford University on other aspects of the language and Hindu faith. Oppenheimer’s interest in Hinduism was about more than a soundbite, it was a way of making sense of his actions.

The Bhagavad-Gita is 700-verse Hindu scripture, written in Sanskrit, that centres on a dialogue between a great warrior prince called Arjuna and his charioteer Lord Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu. Facing an opposing army containing his friends and relatives, Arjuna is torn. But Krishna teaches him about a higher philosophy that will enable him to carry out his duties as a warrior irrespective of his personal concerns. This is known as the dharma, or holy duty. It is one of the four key lessons of the Bhagavad-Gita: desire or lust; wealth; the desire for righteousness or dharma; and the final state of total liberation, or moksha.

Seeking his counsel, Arjuna asks Krishna to reveal his universal form. Krishna obliges, and in verse twelve of the Gita he manifests as a sublime, terrifying being of many mouths and eyes. It is this moment that entered Oppenheimer’s mind in July 1945. “If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendour of the mighty one,” was Oppenheimer’s translation of that moment in the desert of New Mexico.

In Hinduism, which has a non-linear concept of time, the great god is not only involved in the creation, but also the dissolution. In verse thirty-two, Krishna speaks the line brought to global attention by Oppenheimer. "The quotation 'Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds', is literally the world-destroying time,” explains Thompson, adding that Oppenheimer’s Sanskrit teacher chose to translate “world-destroying time” as “death”, a common interpretation. Its meaning is simple: irrespective of what Arjuna does, everything is in the hands of the divine.

"Arjuna is a soldier, he has a duty to fight. Krishna not Arjuna will determine who lives and who dies and Arjuna should neither mourn nor rejoice over what fate has in store, but should be sublimely unattached to such results,” says Thompson. “And ultimately the most important thing is he should be devoted to Krishna. His faith will save Arjuna's soul." But Oppenheimer, seemingly, was never able to achieve this peace. "In some sort of crude sense which no vulgarity, no humour, no overstatements can quite extinguish," he said two years after the Trinity explosion, "the physicists have known sin; and this is a knowledge which they cannot lose.”

“He doesn't seem to believe that the soul is eternal, whereas Arjuna does,” says Thompson. “The fourth argument in the Gita is really that death is an illusion, that we're not born and we don't die. That's the philosophy really: that there's only one consciousness and that the whole of creation is a wonderful play.” Oppenheimer, it can be inferred, never believed that the people killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki would not suffer. While he carried out his work dutifully, he could never accept that this could liberate him from the cycle of life and death. In stark contrast, Arjuna realises his error and decides to join the battle.

“Krishna is saying you have to simply do your duty as a warrior,” says Thompson. “If you were a priest you wouldn't have to do this, but you are a warrior and you have to perform it. In the larger scheme of things, presumably The Bomb represented the path of the battle against the forces of evil, which were epitomised by the forces of fascism.”

For Arjuna, it may have been comparatively easy for Arjuna to be indifferent to war because he believed the souls of his opponents would live on regardless. But Oppenheimer felt the consequences of the atomic bomb acutely. “He hadn't got that confidence that the destruction, ultimately, was an illusion,” says Thompson. Oppenheimer’s apparent inability to accept the idea of an immortal soul would always weigh heavy on his mind.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/manhattan-project-robert-oppenheimer
 

ssg_slayer

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Suppress the suppressed by showing the suppressed as oppressor. << This is what is happening with the Brahmins
 

bhramos

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Meet Fair skinned Divya Dwivedi (@Aloft_Incumbent ), who's an Assistant professor in IIT. Says Hinduism was "Invented in early 20th Century" claims Hindus are false majority. Talks about “Minority Caste” being larger Majority. What religion are minorty then? Oxymoron statement
 

hit&run

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Meet Fair skinned Divya Dwivedi (@Aloft_Incumbent ), who's an Assistant professor in IIT. Says Hinduism was "Invented in early 20th Century" claims Hindus are false majority. Talks about “Minority Caste” being larger Majority. What religion are minorty then? Oxymoron statement
Rajiv Malhotra has already decoded, actually warned about these breaking India cults many years back. Not surprised Randi TV is giving them a platform.

Sreenivasan Jain was the main pimp who accused Rajiv Malhotra of plagiarism on the instigation of a sick Troll Christian missionary when it was never the case.
 

hit&run

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The so-called Scholar is out on the street after being paid by ISI. Sali Sadak par uttar ayee hai.

Please sign the petition.
 

Bleh

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SCs & STs should all convert to classic Buddhism (no quotas)!

In Gujarat, 2 Dalit families convert to Buddhism, cite cancelled garba

Mahendra converted along with his wife Jagruti and two-year-old daughter. “My wife and I concluded that this discrimination was because of the caste-based hierarchy in Hindu religion. Hence, we decided to shun Hinduism and embrace Buddhism.”
Gandhinagar | October 10, 2019

Khambisar has a population of about 2,700 people, out of which about 2,000 are from Patidar community. Dalits have a population of nearly 150.

Two Dalit families from Khambhisar village in Gujarat’s Aravalli district converted to Buddhism in the neighbouring Sabarkantha district on Tuesday, allegedly after the Patidar-dominated village cancelled garba celebrations as the Dalits had expressed wish to participate in the event.

On May 12, an incident was reported from Khambisar in which stones were thrown at a wedding procession in which a Dalit groom was riding a horse. The two families are relatives of the Dalit groom, Jayesh Rathod. The heads of both families — Pankaj Rathod (30) and Mahendra Rathod (29) — are government employees. While Pankaj is a constable with the State Reserve Police Force, Mahendra is a revenue clerk.

Dalits have not been allowed into Navratri celebrations in the village for generations. This year, some people informally asked us to join the garba to promote harmony. We feared mischief and gave a formal letter to the sarpanch stating that we will participate in the festival and requested him to ensure that no untoward incident happens,” said Pankaj.

The sarpanch, he said, held a meeting of villages and it was decided that Navratri festival will celebrated together. “On the first day of Navratri, we realised that the celebration had been cancelled. When we asked the sarpanch, he said some people were opposing the celebration (with Dalits). We were disappointed and didn’t know what to do. Later, our women did garba in our locality,” he said.

“If Gods and Goddesses existed, we would not have faced such discrimination. Hence my wife Urmila and I decided to embrace Buddhism, following into the footsteps of Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he said. He also got ‘diksha’ for his one-year-old son and four-year-old daughter, said Pankaj.
Mahendra converted along with his wife Jagruti and two-year-old daughter. “My wife and I concluded that this discrimination was because of the caste-based hierarchy in Hindu religion. Hence, we decided to shun Hinduism and embrace Buddhism.”

Khambhisar Sarpanch Baldev Patel refuted the charge that the Navratri celebration was cancelled because Dalits wanted to participate. “They had given me an application. And I held a meeting of all the communities. We made all efforts to organise the celebration. But it was cancelled due to rain. Also, villagers were busy in the farming of groundnut,” the sarpanch said.


Before May 12, no Dalit in the village rode a horse in his wedding procession. Jayesh Rathod’s procession was taken out after informing the police in advance. Stones were thrown at the procession and several people, including Pankaj’s daughter, were injured.
 

Assassin 2.0

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There seems to be a clear need to codify basics, establish rules and laws, regulations, duties and long term vision of Hinduism
But this will take away the basic essence of dharmic religion /hindutva.
We are not followers we are the seekers.

We don't follow certain book or code even in our religious books their are many dilemma.

Dharmic person doesn't seek to go to the heaven or want to sit in the lap of god it's about seeking Moksha.
 

Assassin 2.0

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But this will take away the basic essence of dharmic religion /hindutva.
We are not followers we are the seekers.

We don't follow certain book or code even in our religious books their are many dilemma.

Dharmic person doesn't seek to go to the heaven or want to sit in the lap of god it's about seeking Moksha.
a middle Upanishadic era script dated to be about 2500 years old, is among the earliest expositions about saṃsāra and moksha. In Book I, Section III, the legend of boy Naciketa queries Yama, the lord of death to explain what causes saṃsāra and what leads to liberation. Naciketa inquires: what causes sorrow? Yama explains that suffering and saṃsāra results from a life that is lived absent-mindedly, with impurity, with neither the use of intelligence nor self-examination, where neither mind nor senses are guided by one's atma (soul, self).[34][35] Liberation comes from a life lived with inner purity, alert mind, led by buddhi (reason, intelligence), realization of the Supreme Self (purusha) who dwells in all beings. Kathaka Upanishad asserts knowledge liberates, knowledge is freedom. Kathaka Upanishad also explains the role of yoga in personal liberation, moksha.
 

asingh10_

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रहना नहीं देस बिराना है।

यह संसार कागद की पुड़िया, बूँद पड़े घुल जाना है।

यह संसार काँटे की बाड़ी, उलझ-पुलझ मरि जाना है।

यह संसार झाड़ और झाँखर, आग लगे बरि जाना है।

कहत कबीर सुनो भाई साधो, सतगुरू नाम ठिकाना है।
 

IndianYonko

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Meet Fair skinned Divya Dwivedi (@Aloft_Incumbent ), who's an Assistant professor in IIT. Says Hinduism was "Invented in early 20th Century" claims Hindus are false majority. Talks about “Minority Caste” being larger Majority. What religion are minorty then? Oxymoron statement
Just for refrence:


Screenshot_20210417-234558_Chrome.jpg

Just look at her academic record. She is from department of Humanities as I expected plus given her track record she may get fired/lose some perks.( No sure about IIT-D and its humanities departments)

No wonder she is spewing filth. Plus she is classic case of Indian elitism LSRCC+ white skin complex says alot about her.
 

asaffronladoftherisingsun

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Meet Fair skinned Divya Dwivedi (@Aloft_Incumbent ), who's an Assistant professor in IIT. Says Hinduism was "Invented in early 20th Century" claims Hindus are false majority. Talks about “Minority Caste” being larger Majority. What religion are minorty then? Oxymoron statement
Shes a mutt herself. Put her to coalburners job sab skin color dhul jayega.
 

asaffronladoftherisingsun

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Rajiv Malhotra has already decoded, actually warned about these breaking India cults many years back. Not surprised Randi TV is giving them a platform.

Sreenivasan Jain was the main pimp who accused Rajiv Malhotra of plagiarism on the instigation of a sick Troll Christian missionary when it was never the case.
Her account is suspended btw. This fair skin color is a fucking joke. Some demented women claim as if they are so special because of fair skin. This is a horseshit propagated by woke ka chodas. Cumskin doesnt make them any special.

Let me share facts . The light skin colour gene slc24a5 and other mutation called A111T both originated in Bharat some 30k years ago and 10k years ago respectively. This gene are found in all Bhartiyas and eurofags also and is responsible for the expression of melanin.

The Light Skin Allele of SLC24A5 in South Asians and eurofags Shares Identity by Descent.

See - https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1003912

Not surprised run d tv assistant professors of harvards and shit would only puke fake degeneracy but never the truth.
 

Paridhavi

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When I asked an Indian fellow what is the definition of being Hindu, he was taken aback. It took him few minutes of explanation to describe what being a Hindu meant to him. This came with a caveat that other Hindus may describe being Hindu differently. Also, the world Hindu was not even an Indian word- it’s a Persian word for people living beyond Indus (Sindhu) river!

Religion is a competitive business. It is a relentless process of influencing population and phasing out an alternative.

Organized religion is religion in which belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and formally established. Organized religion is typically characterized by an official codification of rules and practices.

All Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam are highly organized religions. Of these, Islam is organized in a socio-politico-military fashion with uniform rules, regulations and responsibilities while Christianity is organized more on social-political fashion. Judaism, being the oldest of all three is mostly socially and philosophically structured.

Eastern religions- all remarkably originating in India, are elastic social-cultural norms that never saw the need to be uniform during its ascent. Unfortunately, it couldn’t find the opportunity to be organized during its destruction by invading Muslims. What remained of this is a hodgepodge of beliefs, traditions, literature and identity.

This is all good and manageable as long it can survive. Lack of rigid rules gives space to new thinking and progressive society.

However, when such system is threatened, it is not easy to mount a united response. For instance, it is difficult to convert a Christian/Muslim to Hindu but much easier the other way around. In absence of clear rules, it is difficult to decide the response to say a destruction of a temple vs killing of a cow. A mob rule without clear mandate is not a good way to deal with systemic threat to religion.

Today, Hinduism is under grave danger- not so much from external enemies as nationalism will protect Indian boundaries. But the real danger to Hinduism comes from gradual dilution of Hindu values, tradition, language and cultural practices by coercion, manipulation and influence of other religions- most importantly Islam.

For instance: When Hindus wish each other “saal mubarak” for Diwali- New Year, a Persian-Arabic combination - for the most important Hindu festival- most don’t even know the correct Hindu greeting.

To many, this is not a big deal. But it is- as Jewish say, “how you handle small things will prepare you for the big things.”

Islam understands this very well. A Muslim will greet a Muslim in same words anywhere in the world regardless of their native language. Will follow the same diet, prayer, social rules etc.

As much as Hinduism is under threat, this is probably the only time in its entire history that almost 800 million people are alive to save it, protect it and possibly prepare it for coming centuries.

I strongly believe that Hinduism needs to define itself appropriately. There seems to be a clear need to codify basics, establish rules and laws, regulations, duties and long term vision of Hinduism. Geeta is just not enough to compete with bible or kuran.

A grand conclave needs to happen- May be at the holiest site of Hinduism. Just like in Roman era when they codified Christianity and wrote bible- almost 400 years after death of Jesus. Before that, Christianity was just like today’s Hinduism- with strong followers but weak set of guidelines.

All priests from all over India, Nepal and even Sikh, Jain and Buddhist monks need to be invited. The goal of such assembly should be to prepare complete architecture of Hinduism. It can follow Romans or even the writers of US constitution in how to do so. But at end of the day, it must clearly define and make every Hindu realize what it means to call himself/herself a Hindu.
I think that 'Being Hindu' can be defined as following the Hindu civilization. Let's not forget that Hinduism is actually a conglomerate of various faiths that emerged out from the evolving mixture that began with the Vedic ways. And since common Indians never needed a fixed boundary between these sisterly faiths, no such boundaries were developed between them. Instead of developing fixed boundaries (like Abrahamic religions), Hindu faiths developed into a spectrum of ideologies, allowing the followers to pick and choose the teachings before entering into debate with other people with their own chosen truths. And unlike religious wars of the Abrahamics, Hindu faiths established their superiority by questioning their opponents and answering the queries put by others.

I agree that religion is competitive. But, Hindu civilization accommodated others by claiming their gods as a form of some Hindu god (Balinese people are a good example). But this can only be done from a philosophically high position. Abrahamic faiths do not allow such high positions to anyone as they are fixated upon the superiority of some book written in past but people can be influenced even today. In fact, Hindu ways do influence people outside the Hindu sphere in many ways. Many American Christians have started believing in rebirth and Yoga. But, due to the strong influence of the Church and the fundamentalist movement, Hinduism fails to convert them.

There are several reasons behind this failure, including the multitude of seemingly self-contradicting beliefs, traditions, literature, and identity. People outside the Hindu sphere do not see the Hindu faiths as the spectrum that it is. They look through the Abrahamic lens and wanting to learn some fixed set of teachings and rules, they find contradictions.

While I agree that Hinduism is in grave danger, my concern is a little different from yours. I think that the danger to Hinduism comes from the dying scholarly tradition. Puranas and many other (often localized) stories allowed the common folk to understand, learn and pass the Hindu teachings to their children. But, in the modern era, those ways have become obsolete. Also, the system of Gurukula has almost died out, forcing the seekers to carve out their own path through second or even third-hand translations and commentaries. This leaves a major room for misdirection.

The examples you provided are pretty good. I remember a story written by Alphonse Daudet, titled "The Last Lesson". The story made me realize the importance of language for the continuity of any culture, nation, and civilization. I think that the primary need of Hindu civilization is control over the institutions of education and a focus on the language Sanskrit. If Hindus can connect back with their ancestral teachings then they'll be able to direct the future evolutions of Hindu faiths. And Abrahamic religions (and societies) understand this very well.

I think Hinduism can't define itself in simple terms. But, it can still come together by controlling education, by providing a platform for debates (with a motive to replicate the ways of Adi Shankara), and by networking the influencers. I think that Hinduism can actively control Indian society (similar to how Christianity and Islam do the same to their societies) by redefining temples as the center of social activities. If your child goes to some temple school, if your bank has its branch near temple premises, if social gatherings happen inside temple boundaries, if consultation sessions and Yoga centers become the reason to visit the temple premises, then the common folk will surely feel a connection with the building and the land. Temples were social properties.

I also agree with the idea of some grand conclave that establishes a set of guidelines for dealing with the multitude of social customs. Hinduism can't be strict like Christianity but I think that a decentralized system can be developed to control the Hindu society (i.e., the Anuragi and not the Vairagi). An assembly of scholars can be set up to guide such a system. Such scholars should agree to give up their yearning for liberation for the good of the rest of society and not interfere with the spiritual traditions. Such an assembly can set up cordial relations with the Jainas, the Buddhists, and the Sikhs or invite them to join them in this effort. Such an assembly may even engage with Abrahamic religions. I fancy a ruling council of seven (all from different parts of the spectrum of Hindu faiths and representing different parts of the subcontinent) and a system to harass the accumulation of power in their hands.

But I disagree with your last statement. Because such an assembly could not define Hinduism in fixed terms. Hinduism has evolved all through its life and must continue to do so. Such an assembly could, at most, give a temporary, transient definition that could be changed through debates.
 

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