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| The Hindu Phenomenon |
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HINDU NATIONALISM : THE FIRST PHASE |
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paper further wrote, "the groundwork of what may well be
called the composite culture of India is undoubtedly Hindu. Though
the present India nationality is composed of many races, and the
present Indian culture of more than one world civilisation, yet it
must be admitted that the Hindu forms its base and centre.... The
dominant note of Hindu culture, its sense of the spiritual and
universal, will, therefore, be the peculiar feature of this
composite Indian nationality.... And the type of spirituality that
it seeks to develop is essentially Hindu".
Similar sentiments were echoed by the Prarthana Samajists of western India. Ranade declared in the 1880's that there was little possibility of genuine reform unless the "heart of the nation... is regenerated, not by cold calculations of utility, but by the cleansing fire of a religious revival". In North India the Arya Samaj leader Lajpat Rai wrote: "In my opinion, the problem before us is in the main a religious problem -- but religious not in the sense of doctrines and dogmas -- but religious in so far as to evoke the highest devotion and the greatest sacrifice from us." "The spiritual note of the present Nationalist Movement in India," he said, "is entirely derived from... Vedantic thought." In South India the Theosophical Society leader, Annie Besant, proclaimed: "If there is to be an Indian nation, Patriotism and Religion must join hands in India."
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| About Hindu Nationalism: The First Phase |
