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Re: ARTICLE : Just say no to "Hinduism" (was Re: ARTICLE : On
H. Krishna Susarla (susarla.krishna@tumora.swmed.edu) wrote:
: I frankly do not understand the above statement, and I will not do you the
: disservice of interpreting your words for you. Who, praytell, is "we" in
: this case? Even more important, what do I truly think "we are?"
Dear Hari Krishnaji:
Thank you for your response. You are quite correct in judging what it
was that saddened me. I respect your freedom to hold the view that
Hinduism is an umbrella (I do not think so myself), but I was
interpreting your comments that you have reiterated again that whoever
disagreed with your views, are either do not have the benefit of the
intellectual faculty, or are not honest enough to accept the obvious.
This is what saddened me.
: Having read those verses before, and having done so again just now, I am
: afraid I do not see their relevance to this discussion. Nowhere in those
: verses is the term Hindu mentioned, what to speak of defined.
You are right about that too. However, for most of us I presume, Hinduism
is the modern name of sanAtana dharma. If this is acceptable to you, then
I will venture to say that whatever apears to be diverse in Hinduism has
been included by Sri kR^ishhNa as the one sanAtana dharma in the SBG, more
verses that convey this point are SBG 13.24-26.
: There are many Hindus who don't care for Krishna or His opinions, and
: even more who only think they do. Consequently, if you want to say that
: they are not Hindu, you will likely exclude a good majority of the
: readership of this very newsgroup.
Sri kR^ishhNa Himself answered this question. In SBG 9.23-24, He described
how He accepts them.
With best regards,
Dhruba.
: I continue to hold that Hinduism is not a religion, but an umbrella term
: encompassing various religions, many of which have some basis in the Vedas.
: Therefore, there are no unifying principles that bind these religions
: together other than perhaps the fact that they all flourished in the Indian
: subcontinent at one time or another. Does this sadden you?
: I also hold that there has been a trend in the last few hundred years for
: Hindu intellectuals (mostly Neo-advaitic swamis who were educated in the
: Western tradition) to redefine Hinduism as an amorphous, permissive
: religion rather than a cultural, umbrella term which is what it really is.
: These swamis may have the best of intentions, but that does not make them
: any more correct. In my opinion, it is not hard to see some of the
: different kinds of motivations that affect their thinking. Some scholars
: even think that this class of intellectuals are trying to "Semitize" the
: religion. While I think that remark is not entirely correct, there is
: nevertheless some truth to it.
: I am looking forward to an interesting discussion on this topic.
: regards,
: -- Krishna Susarla
