| The Hindu
tradition has never been attached to mere names. Both Indra and Shiva have many names, as
do other Vedic and Puranic deities. We moderns, however, are attached to names. We think
that two different names must indicate two radically different thing. This is only
materialistic thinking and cannot comprehend the spiritual vision of the Vedas and
Puranas. This type of name-oriented thinking
is part of exclusivist religions which insist that there is only one true name for God,
one true holy book and one true prophet or savior.
Such thinking is contrary to the universalist Hindu vision
which says that the Divine transcends all names and also contains all names and can never
be limited to a single approach. Hence a name-oriented approach to Hindus traditions like
the Vedic and the Shaivite has failed to understand the most basic principle of these
teachings.
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