Prologue continues .....

The Hindu religion, or Sanatan Dharma as it was known in ancient times, is perhaps the oldest religion of mankind. Its philosophical profundity and eclecticism have attracted scholars all over the world.

Hinduism represents the totality of the thoughts, experiences and insights of all major races that inhabited here. It is so all-embracing that even the atheistic traditions of the Lokayatas are a part of a larger Hindu civilizational narrative. One of the Hindu philosophical systems, the Sankhya, rules out the existence of any form of God. Therefore, it is difficult to define Hinduism in terms of any conventional religion that the world is familiar with. Theism, atheism, monism, pluralism, dualism, non-dualism, all are parts of this faith system. The reason may be found in the historic process of fusion of different races, each of which contributed to the making of the Hindu religion.

Dr Radhakrishnan, the renowned philosopher, says:

“Hinduism is an inheritance of thought and aspiration living and moving with the movement of life itself, an inheritance to which every race in India has made its distinct and specific contribution.

The Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagwad Gita are inalienable parts of this culture.

The influence of these sacred scriptures on the minds of Indians is incredibly deep and abiding. The Vedas, the earliest scriptures of man, essentially represent the Yagna mode of worship and contain hymns invoking the primeval forces of nature for the protection and well-being of man.

The Vedic Indians did not create any complex faith system. They were really overawed by the mighty forces of nature.

So they started propitiating these forces with oblations of butter, milk, etc., through the medium of fire, which itself was regarded as a god. The Rigveda begins with an invocation to Agni (fire god), ‘Au–m, Agnime –e–le puro hitam’.

To be continued...