One of my Indian friends sent me this today. Comments from Hindus would be appreciated, thanks.
The Indian Express newspaper carried an article by O.P.Gupta, Ambassador of
India to Finland, id=16778, which is available via the Internet. The
following is a brief summary of the article, which you may find interesting
and help to improve your knowledge.
The percentage of Hindus in the world, as well as in India, is declining.
1951 - Hindus formed 84.98% in India
1971 - 82.7%
2001- 82.0%
He states that it is not appropriate to blame conversions by Muslims or
Christians, but to look at the Hindu priests who are unaware of Rig Vedic
norms but are armed with the Manusmriti. This has contributed to the decline
of the Hindu population, by making it difficult for Dalits to remain Hindus
with dignity.
Concepts of caste classification by virtue of birth are banned by the
Rigveda, Ramayan and Bhagwat Gita.That there is no mention of any
birth-based caste in Rigveda is evident from the simple fact that names of
none of the Rigvedic rishis carry any present day caste titles.
Vedas, Valmiki Ramayan and Gita are the 3 supreme religious scriptures of
Hinduism. All other scriptures like Brahamanas, Upanishads, Puranas, Sutras
and Smritis are only commentaries. All of these latter day scriptures
themselves acknowledge the supremacy of Vedas.
Macdonnel warns that the Smritis were written by private individuals
(Brahmins), and none of their works were approved by any religious
congregation.
In sloka (1.31) Manusmriti claims that for the growth of people
(lokanbridhi) Brahma created Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra. With a
view to create hereditary monopoly on the easy money of dakshina, priests
who came centuries after the Vedas concocted that as Brahmin was born from
mouth of Purusa, was the superiormost, and as Sudra was born from the feet,
an impure part, he was impure and the inferior most.
There are at least 10 Rigvedic richas showing that profession was not
hereditary.
Some claim that the 4 varnas were based on the colour of the skin. This is
not true, as Lord Rama and Lord Krishana are always depicted as dark
complexioned. Rishi Kanva, who richly contributed to Rigveda, was himself
dark-skinned. Lord Rama visited Shabri, called her mother, and ate food from
her hands. He lived for years amongst the tribal people. So why discriminate
against the Dalits?