I was born in a Hindu family like millions of people in India. I grew keep watching my mother practicing Hinduism throughout her life until she died. She never missed her puja even a single day and other family members, including me, joined her on many occasions. So I got my Hindu identity by my mother or my family. I went to many Hindu sacred place like Vaishnodevi, Kamakhya temple and Kali Mandir in Calcutta with my family.
Whereas I had also visited Ajmer Sarif Dargah, Golden Temple in Amritsar, Jain temple in Jaipur, local church in my town and it never endangered my Hinduism or my Hindu identity. On the other hand as soon BJP came to the power they also emphasised on Hindu identity but I feel it is different that what I got from my family or society like many Hindus. In fact BJP’s preached Hindu identity is based on the hatred of Muslims and other religion as it is obviously seen in our country nowadays. So a question naturally comes to your mind that is it the same dharma which comes from thousands of years or is it different.
Indeed if you go in search of finding the roots of Hinduism or sanatan dharma you reached the period as earlier as 1500 B.C. The religious belief, spiritual seeking, philosophical inquires of Hindus comes from the sacred book like Vedas, Upanishad, Purana, etc. In fact it is not just a religion but a way of life which keep coming from the thousand of years because of its adaptability, resilience and inclusivity.
The Hinduism or sanatan dharma evolved in a long period of time and it went through so many phases. The Vedic periods saw the development of four Vedas which consist ritualistic hymns, philosophical inquires, mantras. Afterwards Upanishad came to existence which emphasised on philosophical seeking and inquires. It goes in search of relationship between atma and Brahma. The period of epics and purana saw the development of Ramayan, Mahabharata and purana which are eighteen in number. It is the period (300 BCE to 300 CE) when Hindu mythology came to being.
However bhakti movement evolved as early as 6th century to 17th century CE. It emphasised on the complete devotion towards the supreme lord and it flourished in two forms as sagun and nirgun bhakti. Sagun bhakti means someone believe in some certain form of a god and have devotion towards it whereas nirgun bhakti refers to a devotions in a formless God. Although modern Hinduism started in 18th century AD when Arya samaja and Bhrama samaja like organization started reform of Hinduism. They even emphasized on rectifying the evils of Hindu dharma like sati pratha, bal vivah, jati pratha. Later Vivekananda added nationalism with sanatan dharma to counter foreign rule.
Indeed Hindusims always show a pluralistic approach towards spiritual realisation and gives acceptance to different approaches such as dhyan, tapa, japa, devotion etc for philosophical or spiritual seeking. At the same time it validates other religious traditions as anyone could seen in 6th century B.C when more than fifty spiritual or religious sects came to fore front as Buddhism, Jainism, charak darsan, ajivak and so on along with santan culture. Actually it often promotes tolerance and co -existence with other religions.
Over the period of time Hinduism has incorporated or assimilated the various religious tradition , rituals and festivals which blends in local customs and beliefs. As we can see in the temple built in south east Asia which exhibits the Hindu and Buddhist architectural style. Moreover the scriptures like Geeta emphasized on dialogue between different faiths and religion and respects for each other. It also says about the universal truth and unity of all being. In the point of view throughout the history we witnessed the tolerance and coexistence of other religions protected by Hindu rulers like Ashoka, kaniska, Pulkiesin second of chalukya and Amoghversa of Rastra Kuta dynasty.
Vice versa Muslim ruler as Akbar and ruler of Adilsahi dynasties known for its religious harmony. Sanatan dharma or culture purely emphasised on non violence and rightousness. Actually Hindu leaders and people promotes peace, harmony and understanding among different religions.Hindu festivals like Divali, Holi, Dashara reflects the cultural diversity because people from different religion or culture celebrate it with enthusiasm.
Thus Sanatan Dharma exhibits elements of secularism and respect for other religions and cultures throughout it’s history and it provides a broad identity to its followers.
On the contrary, RSS or BJP preached Hindu identity is nothing more than a complete false perception of santan dharma or Hinduism .In fact it is called Hindutva coined by Vinay Damodar Savarkar in early twenties century. Hindutva was brought against the radical Islam. So it has no self identity.
Moreover it’s identity is distortion and manipulation of Hinduism or sanatan culture just for a political gain.it choose selective approaches to create a narratives from past .in fact it creates a myth about golden Hindu rule and foreign invasion neglecting diverse and complex India’s history. Having a political or electoral gain hindutva propagates violence and militancy among its followers so as Hindus can be polarized for social and political gain.
Indeed they are the same elements who subjugated Dalits and women in the past and as early as twenty century it loose its grip over them because of invent of modern education and socio- religious reforms. So by introducing Hindutva they wanted to tighten it’s grip over society again. Hindutva undermines the secular fabric of India by advocating for a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation), where religious identity is prioritised over civic rights and individual freedoms as we had witnessed a hatred and violence towards Muslims and other religion in India nowadays.
This contradicts the pluralistic ethos of Sanatan Dharma, which upholds the ideal of sarva dharma samabhava which is perfect for the such a diverse democratic nation like India. But unfortunately for a decade and so a so called political party or cultural organisation keep playing the game in the name of my religion or our religion (santan dharma )just for political or electoral gain which certainly leads towards the disintegration of unity and diversity of our nation. I hope this time India will fight back.