(Copy right protected by Dr. G.S. Tripathy)
Vedas as the supreme Authority, have been recognized by all religious denominations in different ages, except for certain non conformist cults. From the earliest times on wards the texts of the four Vedas, samhitas have been regarded as the most precious religious documents. A field unequalled in the history of human race for the last five thousand years or more has been hanged down by oral traditions. To the Upanishads or the epics of the works of Sanskrit literature the same attention has not been paid by the classical Sanskrit writers.
In spite of great social and political upheavals and terrific onslaughts on it from age to age , it is equally surprising in the fact that the vedic religion should have survived through these thousand of years. On its inner power a consideration of these onslaughts and of the reaction of the religion to them may throw some light in a natural fashion.
In the 6th century B.C , the great impact was that of Buddhism , a non conformist sect of the vedic religion which arose in India and in the other part of the world. By renouncing ritual and meta physics , it persuaded India about one half of India to accept the original religion in a restricted ethical sense. Little trace of Buddhism as an independent religion was left in this country and within a few centuries India absorbed the new sect in to the parent body. It adopted many of the new attractive features of Buddhism like temples, image worship etc and also some of the ethical points in the course of time like the emphasis on non violence. As the vedic religion nationalized among the people of India, Hinduism had adopted the theory of “Avataras” which is known as divine incarnations. In accordance with this theory Buddha was accepted by some as the ninth in the line of ten avataras which is totally wrong as Goutam was a human being only and he was the son of a Jamindar in then Kapilavastu in Kalinga.
Hinduism has flourished with a strange vitality over the last five thousand years or so with standing very severe onslaughts from the Islam and Christianity. In the beginning , Hinduism received a few shocks no doubt from these onslaughts , But great leaders of Hinduism appeared and produced a feeling of pride among its followers in its venerable antiquity and noble heritage and its unique position in the world.
To the poorest and most backward communities the activities of the Christian missionaries were limited, particularly the aborigines from among which they have still been effecting conversion, through the means adopted by them even not always purely religious. By way of contrast, it may be stated , especially among the educated class conversion to Christianity is on a much larger scale in China and Japan than in India.
It should be noted also, how Hinduism acquitted itself in the days of triumph and how it treated others who were at its mercy while considering the successful defense of the religion against foreign attacks. No historical record is there to show that hindus practiced acts like the inquisition of Christians, that Buddhists were massacred or non conformists driven out of the land. There is clear evidence of religious harmony. On the other hand in India. Take an example in this connection, Ellora rock temples belong to three different religions, they are Brahminsm, Buddhism and Jainism and they are in a continuous line. An ordinary visitor is unable to distinguish where one religion ends and another begins . In Khajuraho , where Hindu and Jain temples stand together, again the same is the case . Not a single case of the forcible conversion of a religion to Hinduism is reported to have occurred in these parts of India which were re-conquered by Hindus from the Muslims. Admitting others to its fold, in fact Hinduism had stopped. On Muslim no tax was imposed corresponding to the JiJia etc.
In spite of great social and political upheavals and terrific onslaughts on it from age to age , it is equally surprising in the fact that the vedic religion should have survived through these thousand of years. On its inner power a consideration of these onslaughts and of the reaction of the religion to them may throw some light in a natural fashion.
In the 6th century B.C , the great impact was that of Buddhism , a non conformist sect of the vedic religion which arose in India and in the other part of the world. By renouncing ritual and meta physics , it persuaded India about one half of India to accept the original religion in a restricted ethical sense. Little trace of Buddhism as an independent religion was left in this country and within a few centuries India absorbed the new sect in to the parent body. It adopted many of the new attractive features of Buddhism like temples, image worship etc and also some of the ethical points in the course of time like the emphasis on non violence. As the vedic religion nationalized among the people of India, Hinduism had adopted the theory of “Avataras” which is known as divine incarnations. In accordance with this theory Buddha was accepted by some as the ninth in the line of ten avataras which is totally wrong as Goutam was a human being only and he was the son of a Jamindar in then Kapilavastu in Kalinga.
Hinduism has flourished with a strange vitality over the last five thousand years or so with standing very severe onslaughts from the Islam and Christianity. In the beginning , Hinduism received a few shocks no doubt from these onslaughts , But great leaders of Hinduism appeared and produced a feeling of pride among its followers in its venerable antiquity and noble heritage and its unique position in the world.
To the poorest and most backward communities the activities of the Christian missionaries were limited, particularly the aborigines from among which they have still been effecting conversion, through the means adopted by them even not always purely religious. By way of contrast, it may be stated , especially among the educated class conversion to Christianity is on a much larger scale in China and Japan than in India.
It should be noted also, how Hinduism acquitted itself in the days of triumph and how it treated others who were at its mercy while considering the successful defense of the religion against foreign attacks. No historical record is there to show that hindus practiced acts like the inquisition of Christians, that Buddhists were massacred or non conformists driven out of the land. There is clear evidence of religious harmony. On the other hand in India. Take an example in this connection, Ellora rock temples belong to three different religions, they are Brahminsm, Buddhism and Jainism and they are in a continuous line. An ordinary visitor is unable to distinguish where one religion ends and another begins . In Khajuraho , where Hindu and Jain temples stand together, again the same is the case . Not a single case of the forcible conversion of a religion to Hinduism is reported to have occurred in these parts of India which were re-conquered by Hindus from the Muslims. Admitting others to its fold, in fact Hinduism had stopped. On Muslim no tax was imposed corresponding to the JiJia etc.
