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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.
Author : Shripaty Sastry
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