[Cemeuncex]

appreciate ur reply shri Brahmanyanji. Here is another interesting article(its not mine)

Hindus take tremendous pride in the fact that their religion encourage true pluralism. According to Hinduism, all religions are true and they all lead to the same God. This leads to confusing conclusion leading some people to loose the significance of Hinduism itself. They wonder what makes Hinduism stand out. They question why can’t Krishna be called Allah or Jehovah.

Source-(Paradox of Different Paths Leading to One God | BangladeshiHindu.com)

Dear Sri Ramanujan,

That is an interesting article indeed. But again it is based on mixing up of spiritualism, philosophy, religion (western thought) and Dharma (most misunderstood word). It is an accepted fact that Hindu and Hinduism are the names given by outsiders to the people who were living other side of Sindhu (Indus) River and their way of life and spiritual thoughts. Interestingly there is no Sanskrit equivalent for the word Religion. Dharma and Panth are being used to denote Religion. But they do not mean Religion as the westerners understand. I am told the word Hindu is not found in Vedic literature or Itihasa Puranas.

Pundit Nehru in his Discovery of India, writes "That the word Hindu was first used in a Tantrik book of the 8th century and there the word ‘Hindu' is not referred to a religious section but rather to a group geographically located. In the same book Nehru continues "that it is hardly possible to define it [Hinduism] or indeed to say definitely whether it is a religion or not in the usual sense of the word. In its present form and even in the past it embraces many beliefs and practices from the highest to the lowest, often opposed to or contradicting each other."


According to Essentials Of Hinduism by Swamy Vivekananda, the word "Hinduism" is a misnomer and that the followers of this religion should be actually referred to as Vendantists.

Warm Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore