“THEY” SAID IT:
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Dr. Radhakrishnan, ex-President of India and an eminent interpreter of Hinduism, as quoted in India: An Introduction by Khushwant Singh, New Delhi, 1990.
[Hinduism is] “… a name without any content… Its content, if any, has altered from age to age, from community to community. It meant one thing in the Vedic period, another in the Brahmanical, a third in the Buddhist [1] - one to Saivite, another to Vaishnavite and Sakta.”
(Dr. Radhakrishnan was the second President of independent India).
Jawaharlal Nehru, *The Discovery of India, New Delhi, 1983, p.75. *
“Hinduism, as a faith, is vague, amorphous, many-sided, all things to all men. It is hardly possible to define it, or indeed to say definitely whether it is a religion or not, in the usual sense of the word. In its present form, and even in the past, it embraces many beliefs and practices, from the highest to the lowest, often opposed to or contradicting each other.”
(Pandit Nehru was the first Prime Minister of independent India during 1947-64).
M.K Gandhi,* Hindu Dharma, New Delhi, 1991, p. 120. *
“Hinduism does not rest on the authority of one book or one prophet, nor does it possess a common creed - like the Kalma [sic.] of Islam - acceptable to all. That renders a common definition of Hinduism a bit difficult.”
(Mahatma Gandhi is known as the Father of the Nation, India).
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, *What Congress and Gandhi have done to Untouchables? *
“Hinduism is a veritable chamber of horrors. The sanctity and infallibility of the Vedas, Smritis and Shastras, the iron law of caste, the heartless law of karma and the senseless law of status by birth are to the Untouchables veritable instruments of torture which Hinduism has forged against untouchables. These very instruments which have mutilated; blasted and blighted the lives of the Untouchables are to be found intact and untarnished in the bosom of Gandhism."
(Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was the first Law Minister of independent India. He was the head of the committee that drafted the constitution of India, and he is known as the Father of Indian Constitution.).
Swami Dharma Theertha, History of Hindu Imperialism, Madras, 1992, p. 178.
“Frankly speaking, it is not possible to say definitely who is a Hindu and what is Hinduism. These questions have been considered again and again by eminent scholars, and so far no satisfactory answer has been given. Hinduism has within itself all types of religions such as theism, atheism, polytheism, Adwitism, Dwaitism, Saivism, Vaishnavism, and so forth. (emphasis added). It contains nature worship, ancestor worship, animal worship, idol worship, demon worship, symbol worship, self worship, and the highest god worship. Its conflicting philosophies will confound any ordinary person. From barbarious practices and dark superstitions, up to the most mystic rites and sublime philosophies, there is place for all gradations and varieties in Hinduism. Similarly, among the Hindu population are found half barbarian wild tribes, and depressed classes and untouchables, along with small numbers of cultured, gentle natures and highly evolved souls.”
Khushwant Singh, India: An Introduction, New Delhi, 1990, p. 19.
“Hinduism defies definition… It has no specific creed.”
Ardersir Sorabjee* as quoted in Swami Dharma Theertha, History of Hindu Imperialism, Madras, 1992, p. 178.*
“Their (Hindus’) religion is a standing travesty of ancient Hinduism, consisting as it does of rank idolatry mixed with superstition and fetishism of the most degrading type. They believe in the worship of their innumerable devas or good spirits and the propitiation of an equally large number of demons and evil spirits, both of which they assume have their resting places on earth in their idols of stone and marble, gold and silver.”
Sir Alfred Lyll* as quoted in Modern Hinduism by Wilkins, London, 1975, p. 310. *
“… the religion of the non-Mohamedan [2] population of India is a tangled jungle of disorderly superstitions, ghosts and demons, demi-gods, and deified saints, household gods, local gods, tribal gals, universal gods, with their countless shrines and temples, and the din of their discordant rites; deities who abhor a fly’s death; those who still delight in human sacrifices.”
P. Thomas, Hindu Religion, Customs and Manners, p.21.*
“Hinduism is not a religion established by a single person. It is a growth of ideas, rituals and beliefs so comprehensive as to include anything between atheism and pantheism. (emphasis added). Having grown out of the practices and speculations of various communities that were admitted into the Hindu fold at different times, Hinduism, as it stands at present, has very few set of dogmas. A formal recognition of the Vedas as revealed wisdom is all that is required for a Hindu to be known as such. But the latitude permitted in interpreting the Vedas is so wide that the atheistic Sankhya philosophy of Kapila and the polytheism of the Puranas are both recognized as Orthodox.”
Percival Spear, India: A Modern History, Michigan, 1961, p.40.
“The more Hinduism is considered, the more difficult it becomes to define it in a single phrase… A Hindu may have any religious belief or none; he may be an atheist or an agnostic and still be an accepted Hindu… It is public opinion working through the caste system which determines whether someone shall or shall not be regarded as a Hindu.”
The Economist, June 8, 1991, p. 22, col. l.
“Hinduism is far more unstructured than most other religions. It has no archbishops, chief rabbis, grand muftis. Each Hindu decides for himself which manifestations of God are most important to him, what scriptures to accept as authentic, which holy man to follow. The one ineluctable certainty is a person’s dharma.”
Footnotes:
[1] Buddhism founded by Gautoma Buddha is a religion different from Hinduism but the Brahmans made Buddha an incarnation of Hindu god Vishnu in order to make Buddhism a part of Hinduism.
[2] There is no such thing as ‘Mohamedan.’ The name of the religion is Islam and its followers are Muslims.
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V~V~VHe came, He saw, He conqueredV~V~V**