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Re: ARTICLE : Who decided that all vaishnavs are not hindus?
Pranams,
rajaroy@ecf.toronto.edu (Roy Raja) writes:
> If some vaishnavs are not hindus, then who are they? Are they
christians
> or muslims or jews or atheists ? Is Vishnu a non-hindu deity? Does
> Bhagvatam say that all vaishnavs are not hindus.
Well you seem to be standing on some wrong idea that seems to be
indicating that you have seen somewhere in Bhagavatam the word 'hindu'.
Name of Visnu is there in
the Vedas and that means that Vaisnavas are also bona fide in the same way
and as long as Vedas are accepted as original scripture of a mankind
Vaisnavas who are worshipers of Visnu are not 'muslims' or 'jews' or of
any of other so-called dhama.
The term 'hindu' however came much later in the historical contex of
muslims having a different dharma. So the reason for your seemingly
difficult question is that devotees of
Vishnu sometimes do protest if they are labeled as 'hindu' as it sets
a wrong historical and philosophical angle of vision.
However they are actually hindu, as pure principles of hindu dharma are
not different from the Vaisnava and Vedas. In the same time it is also
true that anyone who is a true devotee of God and have developed love or
Bhakti to the Supreme is a Vashnava. That is not a minimization of the
hindu dharma. No. It is a right way to establish that principles of
original hinduism are the original for the mankind and not of any
temporary/historical/social character.
Also important to understand that Visnu Himself is far beyond the category
of
hindu. 'Hindu' is the word for a phenomenon of the temporarly social
realm. Anyhow God doesn't fit in the national frame. This is the major
mistake of the most of religionists, thinking that God (Vishnu) belongs to
a particular group. He is not.
Why should you put Visnu under the category of 'hindu deity' or 'non-hindu
deity'?
Isn't it said in Bhagavatam that Visnu is Adhoksadja or transcendental to
all this social and historical definitions?
Hope this find you well.
Chaitanya Chandrodaya Das
