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>
> The calls for Hindu nationalist pride are the most obvious
> example of this new form of Hinduism and is a trend that is
> completely alien to the tradition of which they are heirs.
>
> The originators of this modern movement (started 19th century)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> include Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Swami Vivekananda, and others
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> in pre and post revolutionary India.
>
> The non-English speaking, traditional Hindus in India
> find this form of Hinduism completely irrelevant to
> their lives; unfortunately, this is the new face of
> Hinduism to the rest of the world, precisely because of
> its modern, English-speaking roots.
A good article, but I'd like to offer some comments on the sentences I
have underlined. The smArtha-s in TN do not consider Swami Vivekananda
or his movement as irrelevant. While one may not (at least I do not)
agree with all his views, he has some very good points to make,
especially in the context of actually practicing religion. Dry
ratiocination is not uncommon among the so called intellectuals and
Swamiji has done much to point out this problem. Moreover there was a
reason why Swamiji was pointing out repetedly the greatness of hinduism.
It was because movements like Brahmo Samaj etc were trying to
christianize Hinduism. Such comments of Swamiji must be seen in the
context they were uttered. It is very easy for the "liberal, broad
minded, non-hindutva brigade" hindu to denounce Swamiji, and it's
certainly very fashionable these days. But consider how the psyche of
the Indian in those days was filled with a sense of "shame" on being a
hindu.
Further the Ramakrishna Mission is hardly irrelevant. Rather, they have
been doing signal service (at least from the smArtha point of view) by
publishing various texts, veda-s, works of shrI sha.nkara and the
quality of translations, printing etc are in general extremely good. Go
to any smArtha household which practices even a bit of religion in Tamil
Nadu. You'll find most households have their standard texts like
vishhNu, lalita sahasranAma-s, sUktAni, rudram etc only from the
Ramakrishna Mission. Not bad for a "modern, English speaking"
organization.
I am aware that Vivekananda bashing is a favorite sport in this forum,
but most of it is unwarranted. Mostly these people are not smArtha-s
and/or people who have not been much in India. Thus they have really no
idea that the RK mission and Vivekananda can hardly be called
irrelevant. One need not agree with all the views of Swamiji, but that
does not warrant calling him irrelevant.
Ramakrishnan.
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