Hindutva or Hinduism is not a dogmatic or structured way of religion or culture or God worship. It is not a way of narrow-minded restricted living. Hindutva is a method to search for the ultimate truth or spirit. It is the most original and ancient way to reach God. Every other religion has something or the other that is originally not theirs, but being a Hindu means being an original.Religion is not something that you are when you are in your mother’s womb. It is something that is given to inherit from your parents. So if you are born to parents of a particular religion, then you you belong to that religion by default. It is supposed to guide us through the blacks and whites of our life. But Hindutva is not a religion and is a way of living, so it can be a part of your life even when you are deep inside your mother.
Every religion has a God and they have to believe in that one God irrespective of their likes and dislikes. Many believe in God because they are scared of being punished. But in Hindutva you can choose your God from among the many and the fear factor is restricted to a few forms of God. In most of the religions it is believed that they will obtain salvation only if they follow their particular religion and God. But Hindutva never speaks about saving Hindus. It speaks for the whole of the mankind or rather the whole of the universe. Every living and non-living thing is the same in the eyes of God.
May be Hinduism, if it can be called a religion as so adamantly insisted by many, is one among the very rare religions in which there is no fixed evil. In Hindutva there is no name for the evil one, because, there is no devil. Good and evil are two things that co-exist in the universe. If that is so, then how can Indian culture be good and western culture be evil? When God sees Indians and Americans as the same, then why would he put forth different standards of Good and Evil?
But before that we must understand that there is no White or Black as such in Hindutva. Everything is in shades of grey. You can belong to a darker shade or a lighter shade all according to your actions. Like any other religion or practice Hindutva also urges to fight the evil. The evil that is mentioned here is not a separate entity like a different country or culture. The evil resides within all of us and we have to fight against this inward ugliness to reach a lighter shade of grey. To fight this evil we have to recognize its existence within ourselves and experience it. Without experiencing evil one cannot fight it.
Every religion or mythology or epic mentions about Holy wars. A holy war is not fought against someone else. It is not a war in which a few people fight against some others with weapons. It is a war that each and every one of us has to fight against all those factors within us, which are distancing us from reaching the ultimate truth of life. So the greatest war was not the one between the Pandavas and Kouravas, it was the war that Arjuna had within himself. To fight or not to fight. And Lord Krishna showed him the way. Mahabharata is not just a story. It is a lesson and the most important chapter is the Geethopadesham. Any Hindu who has understood the
In all the epics and mythical stories that lay the foundation of Hindutva, there are only a few things to learn.
One
No man or woman is good or bad by birth, it is their Karma that makes them do what they are doing and whatever they do, it has been previously decided by God almighty. No one can do anything against the will of God.
Two
Everything that happens, happens for a reason and no one can stop it from happening and if anything is stopped at all, it is because it was meant to be stopped.
Three
Man is a simple creature in comparison to God and man can be closer to God only by fulfilling his karma and dharma.
Four
Above all, Hindutva is all about respecting, humbleness, simplicity, love, understanding and broadmindedness.
(To be continued...)
