Hindu - A Parliament of Religions
India is an ancient nation, perhaps the most ancient.
Withstanding all the shocks of cruel history, India has
lived a long civilised life united by a common culture
which, for many centuries has been characterised by
remarkable continuity. During the course of this mighty,
long history numerous religious beliefs were propounded
and numerous religious practices were evolved in India.
A large number of people hold the Vedas as the source of
their religion, they are Hindus. A considerable section
of our countrymen reject the Vedic authority but they are
also Hindus. A majority of the people of this country
are image-worshippers, yet they are Hindus. Quite a few
people like the Arya Samajis decry the wisdom of image-
worship but they are Hindus still. Those who call
themselves as agnostics are also Hindus. There is a
school of thought propounded by an ancient Indian sage,
Charvaka by name, which refuses to believe in the
existence of God. They are pure materialists but they
are Hindus. Hindu is not the name of any form of worship
but a confederation, or a parliament of numerous
religious practices sharing in common the love of this
country, its history and its cultural heritage.
Christianity in India has not, yet federated itself with
it. I visualise a time, in the distant future when it
will become a sister federated unit. A Hindu does not
visualise God as a Christian God or a Muslim God or a
Buddhist God or a Jain God. To a Hindu, God is God pure
and simple. A Hindu does not distinguish ideas of God
as true and false, adopting one particular idea as the
standard for the whole human race. He accepts the obvious
fact that mankind seeks its goal of God at various levels
and in various directions. He feels sympathy with every
stage of the search and accepts all religious notions as
facts.
Therefore, people professing various religions abound in
this country and as Hindus we take pride in this
situation. If, tomorrow, one of our countrymen wants to
practice a particular religious faith and if there is no
scope for it, as a Hindu, I think India has grown the
poorer for it. But never did our fore-fathers believe
that the religions that were greeted with welcome would
one day throw a mortal challenge to the unity, integrity
and happiness of this country.
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