THE FACTS OF HISTORY
India is the most tolerant country in the world. She has a very expansive heart. She includes
all nations in the embrace of her love.
The Western nations are the descendents of the original Hindus or Aryans. They might have
forgotten their old connections with the Aryans and Hindu culture. They might have forgotten all
about their ancestors. But this cannot be effaced from the annals of history. Mother India, the
repository of Hindu culture, cannot forget her children beyond the seas. They are always dear to her.
Hindu culture and Hindu civilisation were at their zenith in the days of yore. Greeks and
Romans imitated the Hindus and absorbed Hindu thoughts. Even now Hindu culture and Hindu
civilisation stand foremost in the world. No religion has produced so many great saints, sages,
Yogins, Rishis, Maharshis, prophets, Acharyas, benefactors, heroes, poets, statesmen and kings as
Hinduism. Each and every province of the country has produced intellectual giants, poets and
saints. Even now India abounds in Rishis, philosophers, saints and high intellectuals. Even now she
abounds in sages and great souls.
The Hindus had to undergo severe hardships and tortures. They had to face fierce battles and
cruelties and yet they live today. Some mysterious power has preserved them. Some invisible force
has protected them. That power will protect them for ever.
REASONS FOR SURVIVAL OF THE HINDU RELIGION
Hinduism is neither asceticism nor illusionism, neither polytheism nor pantheism. It is the
synthesis of all types of religious experiences. It is a whole and complete view of life. It is
characterised by wide toleration, deep humanity and high spiritual purpose. It is free from
fanaticism. That is the reason why it has survived the attacks of the followers of some of the other
great religions of the world.
No religion is so very elastic and tolerant like Hinduism. Hinduism is very stern and rigid
regarding the fundamentals. It is very elastic in readjusting to the externals and non-essentials. That
is the reason why it has succeeded in living through millennia.
The foundation of Hinduism has been laid on the bedrock of spiritual truths. The entire
structure of Hindu life is built on eternal truths, the findings of the Hindu Rishis or seers. That is the
reason why this structure has lasted through scores of centuries.
ITS FUTURE
The glory of Hinduism is ineffable. It has within it all the features of a universal religion. Its
Dharmas are universal. Its doctrines are sublime. Its philosophy is grand. Its ethics is
soul-elevating. Its scriptures are wonderful. Its Sadhanas or Yoga-Vedantic practices are unique.
Glorious has been the past of this religion; still more glorious is its future. It has a message to give to
a world rent asunder by hatred, dissension and war—the message of cosmic love, truth and
non-violence, the gospel of unity of Self or Upanishadic oneness.
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ALL ABOUT HINDUISM
The more you know of India and Hinduism, the more will you come to regard and love it
and the more grateful to the Lord will you be in that you have got a taste for practising Yoga and that
you are imbibing the teachings and spirit of Hinduism.
Glory to India! Glory to Hinduism! Glory, glory to the Rishis and the seers who have kept
burning the flame of Hinduism with its extreme effulgence and splendour!
CHAPTER 2
HINDU SCRIPTURES
SANSKRIT LITERATURE
Sanskrit literature can be classified under six orthodox heads and four secular heads. The six
orthodox sections form the authoritative scriptures of the Hindus. The four secular sections embody
the later developments in classical Sanskrit literature.
The six scriptures are: (i) Srutis, (ii) Smritis, (iii) Itihasas, (iv) Puranas, (v) Agamas and (vi)
Darsanas.
The four secular writings are: (i) Subhashitas, (ii) Kavyas, (iii) Natakas and (iv) Alankaras.
THE SCRIPTURES
THE SRUTIS
The Srutis are called the Vedas, or the Amnaya. The Hindus have received their religion
through revelation, the Vedas. These are direct intuitional revelations and are held to be
Apaurusheya or entirely superhuman, without any author in particular. The Veda is the glorious
pride of the Hindus, nay, of the whole world!
The term Veda comes from the root Vid, to know. The word Veda means knowledge. When
it is applied to scripture, it signifies a book of knowledge. The Vedas are the foundational scriptures
of the Hindus. The Veda is the source of the other five sets of scriptures, why, even of the secular
and the materialistic. The Veda is the storehouse of Indian wisdom and is a memorable glory which
man can never forget till eternity.
Revealed Truths Without Beginning or End
The Vedas are the eternal truths revealed by God to the great ancient Rishis of India. The
word Rishi means a seer from dris, to see. He is the Mantra-Drashta, a seer of Mantra or thought.
The thought was not his own. The Rishis saw the truths or heard them. Therefore, the Vedas are
what are heard (Sruti). The Rishi did not write. He did not create it out of his mind. He was the seer
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HINDU RELIGION
of thought which existed already. He was only the spiritual discoverer of the thought. He is not the
inventor of the Veda.
The Vedas represent the spiritual experiences of the Rishis of yore. The Rishi is only a
medium or an agent to transmit to people the intuitional experiences which he received. The truths
of the Vedas are revelations. All the other religions of the world claim their authority as being
delivered by special messengers of God to certain persons, but the Vedas do not owe their authority
to any one. They are themselves the authority as they are eternal, as they are the Knowledge of the
Lord.
Lord Brahma, the Creator, imparted the divine knowledge to the Rishis or seers. The Rishis
disseminated the knowledge. The Vedic Rishis were great realised persons who had direct intuitive
perception of Brahman or the Truth. They were inspired writers. They built a simple, grand and
perfect system of religion and philosophy from which the founders and teachers of all other
religions have drawn their inspiration.
The Vedas are the oldest books in the library of man. The truths contained in all religions are
derived from the Vedas and are ultimately traceable to the Vedas. The Vedas are the fountain-head
of religion. The Vedas are the ultimate source to which all religious knowledge can be traced.
Religion is of divine origin. It was revealed by God to man in the earliest times. It is embodied in the
Vedas.
The Vedas are eternal. They are without beginning and end. An ignorant man may say how
a book can be without
beginning or end. By the Vedas, no books are meant. Vedas came out of the breath of the
Lord. They are the words of God. The Vedas are not the utterances of persons. They are not the
composition of any human mind. They were never written, never created. They are eternal and
impersonal. The date of the Vedas has never been fixed. It can never be fixed. Vedas are eternal
spiritual truths. Vedas are an embodiment of divine knowledge. The books may be destroyed, but
the knowledge cannot be destroyed. Knowledge is eternal. In that sense, the Vedas are eternal.