Indian Religion
¤ India - A Country of Diverse
Religion
Four main religion were born in India while the others came with
invaders, travellers and missionaries from abroad.
Despite the multitude of faiths prevalent in India, the country
has by and large, been free of any internecine strife. Hindus
constitute an overwhelming majority in the country and it is a creed
which is renowned for its catholicity of outlook.
For Hindus, religion is a tool to achieve a one-to-one communication
between god and man. However, Hinduism became too ritualistic; and in
the 6th century B.C., a great social churning took place in the
country – out of which emerged Jainism and Buddhism.
Jains place self-conquest above all else – it is one of the most
ascetic of faiths, with its votaries living in the most spartan manner
imaginable.
Buddhism, on the other hand was exported to the Far East, although
its philosophy was almost snuffed out in the land of its origin. An
iconoclastic faith like Buddhism could not compete with ritualistic
Brahminism that cleverly co-opted Buddha into their 'holy pantheon of
gods'.
¤ Dominance of Islamic Religion
By the 12th century, India began to get coloured with a distinctly
Islamic flavour as wave after wave of Islamic hordes descended on the
country. Drawing sustenance from the Koran and the Sunnah (sayings of
Prophet Mohammad), their missionary zeal was unmatched.
Although Islam (which has two main sects – the Shias and the
Sunnis) is as distinct from Hinduism as chalk from cheese, the two
faiths learnt to coexist with each other, cheek by jowl. and the
confluence of the two religions produced a cultural syncretism, which
is exemplified by the Urdu language – an amalgam of
Persian and Hindi. and out of the fusion of the two cultures
arose new religious denominations – uniquely Indian, which
characterised the Hindu-Islamic interface.
The best example of that synthesis are the Ahmediyas – a sect
that abides by the Holy Koran and the Prophet, yet practises idolatry
which is a decidedly Hindu custom. Christianity
and if you think that Christianity came to India with the Europeans –
you would be off the mark by 1500 years. For St. Thomas came to India
in 50 A.D. and brought the teachings of Jesus along with him –
even before the Messiah was adopted by Europe. But the Europeans did
bring with them a scientific temper and the Indian Renaissance of the
19th century, was largely due to their influence.
As Albert Einstein said "religion without science is mere
superstition" and men like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Swami
Vivekananda strove to inculcate a rational outlook among their
countrymen.
Vivekananda put it eloquently when he said that "I do not
believe that a god, who cannot provide me food to eat on earth will
ever give me paradise in heaven".
¤ India Used Religion In Positive Manner
Suffice to say in the end that we could actually work miracles if we
used religion in a positive manner. India is a land which has always
been tolerant of people belonging to different races and religions.
After all the Jews who have been persecuted the world over, have
never been discriminated against in India.
and the Zoroastrians fled Iran in the eighth century and sought
sanctuary in India, when they suffered maltreatment in the former
country. Small wonder then that most major religions have made their
presence felt in India. |
