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View Full Version : हू इज़ हिन्दू? (Who is a Hindu?)



mandeep333
November 3rd, 2011, 09:41 PM
जो बात मैने अख्ररै सै वा सै अपणे संविधान म्हे हिन्दू की कोई सपष्ट परिभाषा नही। सो मैनें लाग्गे से कि पहलम एक नया धागा शुरू करके यो जाण्या जा के हिन्दू कुण होवै सैं, किस नै इस देश का संविधान हिन्दू माने सै…अपणा संविधान अँगरेज़ी में लिख राख्या सै और उसका हिन्दी अनुवाद (जहाँ तक मुझे पता है) भारत के सर्वोच्च न्यायालय में मान्य नहीं है। इस लिए इस धागे को यह शीर्षक दिया है।

mandeep333
November 4th, 2011, 11:39 AM
It is believed by many scholars that the word Hindu is derived from the Sanskrit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit) word Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_River) in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_subcontinent). The Sindhu River is praised in theRig Veda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rig_Veda). Later, inArabic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic) literature, the term al-Hind referred to the land of the people who live across the river Indus. By the 13th century, Hindustān (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindustan) emerged as a popular alternative name of India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_India), meaning the "land of Hindus".


Originally, Hindu was a secular term which was used to describe all inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent (or Hindustan) irrespective of their religious affiliation. It occurs sporadically in some 16th–18th century Bengali (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_language) Gaudiya Vaishnava (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudiya_Vaishnavism) texts, including Chaitanya Charitamrita (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaitanya_Charitamrita) and Chaitanya Bhagavata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaitanya_Bhagavata), usually to contrast Hindus with Yavanas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yavana#Later_meanings) or Mlecchas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mlecchas). It was only towards the end of the 18th century that the European merchants and colonists referred collectively to the followers of Indian religions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_religions) as Hindus. Eventually, it came to define a precisely religious identity that includes any person of Indian origin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India) who neither practiced Abrahamic religions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religions) nor non-Vedic Indian religions, such as Jainism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism), Sikhism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism) or Buddhism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism), thereby encompassing a wide range of religious beliefs and practices related to Sanātana Dharma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San%C4%81tana_Dharma).


The term Hinduism was introduced into the English language (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language) in the 19th century to denote the religious, philosophical, and cultural traditions native to India.

mandeep333
November 4th, 2011, 11:49 AM
I have collected this information from internet and all this seems to me worth discussion if any.

Hinduism does not have a "unified system of belief encoded in declaration of faith or a creed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creed)" but is rather an umbrella term comprising the plurality of religious phenomena originating and based on the Vedic traditions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic_civilization).


The term Hindu in origin is a Persian word in use from the time of the Delhi Sultanate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi_Sultanate), referring to any tradition that is native to India as opposed to Islam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam). Hindu is used in the sense of "Indian Pagan (ऐसा मनुष्य जो आपके भगवान में विश्वास नही करता)" in English from the 17th century, but the notion of Hinduism as an identifiable religious tradition qualifying as one of the world religions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_religion) emerged only during the 19th century.


The characteristic of comprehensive tolerance to differences in belief, and Hinduism's openness, makes it difficult to define as a religion according to traditional Western conceptions.

To its adherents, Hinduism is the traditional way of life and because of the wide range of traditions and ideas incorporated within or covered by it, arriving at a comprehensive definition of the term is problematic. While sometimes referred to as a religion, Hinduism is more often defined as a religious tradition. It is therefore described as both the oldest of the world's religions, and the most diverse. Most Hindu traditions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_denominations) revere a body of religious or sacred literature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sastra), the Vedas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veda), although there are exceptions. Some Hindu religious traditions regard particular rituals as essential for salvation, but a variety of views on this co-exists. Some Hindu philosophies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_philosophies) postulate a theistic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theism) ontology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology) of creation, of sustenance, and of destruction of the universe, yet some Hindus are atheists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism_in_Hinduism) (=who denies the existence of god). Hinduism is sometimes characterized by the belief in reincarnation (samsara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara)), determined by the law of karma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma), and the idea that salvation is freedom from this cycle of repeated birth and death. However, other religions of the region, such as Buddhism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism), Jainism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism) and Sikhism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism), also believe in karma, outside the scope of Hinduism. Hinduism is therefore viewed as the most complex of all of the living, historical world religions.

Despite its complexity, Hinduism is not only one of the numerically largest faiths, but is also the oldest living major tradition on earth, with roots reaching back into prehistory.

mandeep333
November 5th, 2011, 07:09 PM
A definition of Hinduism, given by the first Vice President of India, who was also renowned scholar & theologist Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarvepalli_Radhakrishnan), states that Hinduism is not "just a faith", but in itself is related to the union of reason and intuition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition_%28knowledge%29#Intuition_and_spirituali ty). Radhakrishnan explicitly states that Hinduism cannot be defined, but is only to be experienced. Similarly some academics suggest that Hinduism can be seen as a category with "fuzzy edges", rather than as a well-defined and rigid entity. Some forms of religious expression are central to Hinduism, while others are not as central but still remain within the category. Based on this, Ferro-Luzzi has developed a 'Prototype Theory approach' to the definition of Hinduism.



Problems with the single definition of what is actually meant by the term 'Hinduism' are often attributed to the fact that Hinduism does not have a single or common historical founder. Hinduism, or as some say 'Hinduisms,' does not have a single system of salvation and has different goals according to each sect or denomination. The forms of Vedic religion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Vedic_religion) are seen not as an alternative to Hinduism, but as its earliest form, and there is little justification for the divisions found in much western scholarly writing between Vedism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedism), Brahmanism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmanism), and Hinduism.



A definition of Hinduism is further complicated by the frequent use of the term "faith (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith)" as a synonym for "religion". Some academics and many practitioners refer to Hinduism using a native definition, as Sanātana Dharma, a Sanskrit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit) phrase meaning "the eternal law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma)", or the "eternal way".

The characteristic of comprehensive tolerance to differences in belief, and Hinduism's openness, makes it difficult to define as a religion according to traditional Western conceptions.

vivsa44
November 8th, 2011, 05:24 PM
very well written and researched topic sir....lukin forward to see some more posts from you....

ravinderjeet
November 8th, 2011, 10:33 PM
आज के बखत ब्राह्मनिक कर्म काण्डआँ न मानन आले न हिन्दू कह्या करें | इह हिसाब तें आपां ते हिन्दू कोणी |

mandeep333
November 9th, 2011, 02:04 PM
आज के बखत ब्राह्मनिक कर्म काण्डआँ न मानन आले न हिन्दू कह्या करें | इह हिसाब तें आपां ते हिन्दू कोणी |
भाई जान
अपने मानने या न मानने का तो सवाल तो तब महत्वहीन हो जाता है जब भारतीय संविधान हमें इसकी इजाज़त दे। यो धर्म नाम की चीज हमारे जन्म लेण के साथ जुडी है और जन्म लेण पै आदमी का वश कोन्या चालै।

mandeep333
November 9th, 2011, 02:12 PM
Shruti (lit: that which is heard) primarily refers to the Vedas, which form the earliest record of the Hindu scriptures. While many Hindus esteem the Vedas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas) as eternal truths revealed to ancient sages (Ṛiṣhis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rishi)), some devotees do not associate the creation of the Vedas with a god or person. They are thought of as the laws of the spiritual world, which would still exist even if they were not revealed to the sages. Hindus believe that because the spiritual truths of the Vedas are eternal, they continue to be expressed in new ways.


There are four Vedas (called Ṛg-, Sāma-, Yajus- and Atharva-). The Rigveda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda) is the first and most important Veda Each Veda is divided into four parts: the primary one, the Veda proper, being the Saṃhitā (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhitapatha), which contains sacred mantras. The other three parts form a three-tier ensemble of commentaries, usually in prose and are believed to be slightly later in age than the Saṃhitā. These are: the Brāhmaṇas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmana), Āraṇyakas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aranyaka), and the Upanishads (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanishad). The first two parts were subsequently called the Karmakāṇḍa (ritualistic portion), while the last two form the Jñānakāṇḍa (knowledge portion). While the Vedas focus on rituals, the Upanishads focus on spiritual insight and philosophical teachings, and discuss Brahman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahman) and reincarnation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnation).

amitdeswal85
November 10th, 2011, 11:58 AM
Contitution is silent on definition of HIndu.If want to know the definition of Hindu bought Hindu Marriage Act,1955.

urmiladuhan
November 10th, 2011, 11:31 PM
If want to know the definition of Hindu bought Hindu Marriage Act,1955.

Very well said.

This Act has a very liberal view on its customs and practices.

ratendra
November 11th, 2011, 02:02 AM
constitution used d wrd hindu only once wen it ws discussing abt the fundamental right angaist untouchablity.. rest why u want hindu to b defined by a constitution???
our constitution hs no right to define any religion.. bcuz religion is one's own interaction wid d god

ratendra
November 11th, 2011, 02:09 AM
Contitution is silent on definition of HIndu.If want to know the definition of Hindu bought Hindu Marriage Act,1955.
sir hindu marridge act dstnt define hindu d way mandeep sir want to knw..
it include along wid hindu any person who is a Buddhist, Jain or Sikh by religion,any other person domiciled in the territories to which this Act extends who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion

amitdeswal85
November 11th, 2011, 11:40 PM
You are right Ratendra but According to law this is the right defination of Hindu.This defination don't tell us who is Hidu but it tells who are not Hindus.Simply a person who is not a Muslim, Parsi, Christian or Jew he is Hindu.

deshi-jat
November 12th, 2011, 12:26 AM
ना इतना कीमे लिबरल ना सै उर्मिला जी. बड़ा कोम्प्लीकेटिड सौदा सै यो हिन्दू विवाह अधिनियम, जाटां ताहि तो. इसमें गाया कै भैसां तैळै और भैसां कै गाया तैळै जिब्बै हो ज्या सै.

मैंने बूझी थी मंदीप जी तै दूसरी थ्रैड पै. मंदीप जी टैम लागज्या तो बताइयो उसके बारे मै. यो हिन्दू विवाह अधिनियम के फैसला करेगा इसे हालत मै, पोस्ट #17 http://www.jatland.com/forums/showthread.php?32997-Extra-marital-affairs-in-society (http://www.jatland.com/forums/showthread.php?32997-Extra-marital-affairs-in-society)


Very well said.

This Act has a very liberal view on its customs and practices.

urmiladuhan
November 12th, 2011, 07:45 PM
constitution used d wrd hindu only once wen it ws discussing abt the fundamental right angaist untouchablity.. rest why u want hindu to b defined by a constitution???
our constitution hs no right to define any religion.. bcuz religion is one's own interaction wid d god

We all know there is difference in what should 'ideally' happen and what 'really' happens. The constitution deals with religion - as evident from different rules/law regarding marriage and divorce for people of different religion.

urmiladuhan
November 12th, 2011, 07:47 PM
ना इतना कीमे लिबरल ना सै उर्मिला जी. बड़ा कोम्प्लीकेटिड सौदा सै यो हिन्दू विवाह अधिनियम, जाटां ताहि तो. इसमें गाया कै भैसां तैळै और भैसां कै गाया तैळै जिब्बै हो ज्या सै.

मैंने बूझी थी मंदीप जी तै दूसरी थ्रैड पै. मंदीप जी टैम लागज्या तो बताइयो उसके बारे मै. यो हिन्दू विवाह अधिनियम के फैसला करेगा इसे हालत मै, पोस्ट #17 http://www.jatland.com/forums/showthread.php?32997-Extra-marital-affairs-in-society (http://www.jatland.com/forums/showthread.php?32997-Extra-marital-affairs-in-society)

For example, for recognizing a Hindu marriage, the couple may only need to exchange rings in the presence of family/friends. No need for 7 feera etc - they may be done, but not mandatory.

mandeep333
November 21st, 2011, 10:14 PM
Very well said.

This Act has a very liberal view on its customs and practices.

I must say that Hindu Marriage Acts 1955 & 2005 have adversely culminated the North Indian Hindu Family traditions. We are directly influenced who inhabit the North India i.e. from the Punjab to Delhi; from Delhi adjoining UP(Western UP) to most of Rajasthan. Some other scattered areas in India. It is of magnanimous value for us to understand the Law of the Land. It is said that Law originates from age old customs and such other relevant things. There is no Uniform Civil Code in India. The drafters of the Constitution never paid any heed to the Local Customs popular among the people of above stated regions. Law is meant to provide maximum happiness to the maximum people. Now we need to analyze whether it is true or not.
The Constitution states that a person who is neither Muslim, nor Christian, nor Jew, nor Parsi, is Hindu. It means those who are Sikhs, Budhista, Jains and those who don't follow above sated religions are Hindus. We have been lured by the statement of English Scholar – James Dawson Mayne: “Hindu law has the oldest pedigree of any known system of jurisprudence and even now it shows no signs of decrepitude.”
But is the Indian jurisprudence up to the expectations of the Hindu Society in general and North Indians in particular.
A series of four major pieces of legislation were passed in 1955-56 and these laws form the first point of reference for modern Hindu law: Hindu Marriage Act (1955), Hindu Succession Act (1956), Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act (1956), and Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (1956). Though these legislative moves purported to resolve still unclear parts of the Anglo-Hindu law, the case law and interpretive tradition of British judges and Indian judges in the British employ remained and remains crucial to the application of modern Hindu law.

mandeep333
November 22nd, 2011, 07:24 PM
Interestingly I could find some materials on Hinduism & Hindu which follow:-

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_philosophy), religious (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_religions) and cultural (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_India) systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_subcontinent). As used in the Constitution of India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_India), the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_religion) (i.e. Hinduism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism), Jainism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism), Buddhism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism) or Sikhism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism)). In common use today, it refers to an adherent of Hinduism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism).

With more than a billion adherents, Hinduism is the world's third largest religion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups). The vast majority of Hindus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_India), approximately 940 million, live in India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India). Other countries with large Hindu populations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_by_country) include Nepal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal), Bangladesh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh), Sri Lanka (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka), Mauritius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritius), Suriname (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriname), Guyana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guyana), Trinidad & Tobago (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinidad_%26_Tobago), Fiji (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji) and the island of Bali (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali).
The word Hindu is derived from the Sanskrit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit) word Sindhu, first mentioned in the Rig Veda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rig_Veda), was the historic local appellation for the Indus River (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_River) in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_subcontinent)[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu#cite_note-3).
The Brihaspati Agama says:




हिमालयंसमारभ्ययावदिंदुसरोवरम्।

तंदेवनिर्मितंदेशंहिंदुस्थानंप्रचक्ष्यते।।

The land created by the gods which stretched from the Himalayas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalaya) to the Indu (i.e. Southern) ocean is called Hindusthan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindusthan), with the हिंदु (Hindu) mentioned in word हिंदुस्थानं (Hindusthan).







The usage of the word Hindu was further popularized for Arabs and further west by the Arabic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic) term al-Hind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hind) referring to the land of the people who live across river Indus and the Persian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persia) term Hindū referring to all Indians. By the 13th century, Hindustān (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindustan) emerged as a popular alternative name of India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_India), meaning the "land of Hindus".
Originally, Hindu was a secular term which was used to describe all inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_subcontinent) (or Hindustan) irrespective of their religious affiliation. It occurs sporadically in some 16th-18th century Bengali (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_language) Gaudiya Vaishnava (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudiya_Vaishnavism) texts, including Chaitanya Charitamrita (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaitanya_Charitamrita) and Chaitanya Bhagavata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaitanya_Bhagavata), usually to contrast Hindus with Yavanas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yavana#Later_meanings) or Mlecchas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mlecchas). It appears in South Indian and Kashmiri texts from at least 1323 CE, and increasingly so during British rule (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Raj). It was only towards the end of the 18th century that the European merchants and colonists referred collectively to the followers of Indian religions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_religions) as Hindus. Eventually, it came to define a precisely religious identity that includes any person of Indian origin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India) who neither practiced Abrahamic religions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religions) nor non-Vedic Indian religions, such as Jainism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism), Sikhism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism) or Buddhism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism), thereby encompassing a wide range of religious beliefs and practices related to Sanātana Dharma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San%C4%81tana_Dharma).

The term Hinduism was formed around 1830 to denote the culture and religion of the high-caste Brahmans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmans) in contrast to other religions. It was soon appropriated by the Hindus in India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_India) themselves as they tried to establish a national, social and cultural identity opposed to European colonialism in India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_India).

The notion of grouping the indigenous religions of India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_religions) under a single umbrella term Hindu emerges as a result of various invasions in India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_India) bringing forth non-indigenous religions such as Islam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam) to the Indian Subcontinent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Subcontinent). Numerous Muslim invaders, such as Aurangzeb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurangzeb), destroyed Hindu temples and persecuted non-Muslims (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus); some, such as Akbar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akbar), were more tolerant. Hinduism underwent profound changes, in large part due to the influence of the prominent teachers Ramanuja (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramanuja), Madhva (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhvacharya) and Chaitanya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaitanya). Followers of the Bhakti movement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti_movement) moved away from the abstract concept of Brahman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahman), which the philosopher Adi Shankara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Shankara) consolidated a few centuries before, with emotional, passionate devotion towards what they believed as the more accessible Avatars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar), especially Krishna and Rama.


(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indology)

mandeep333
November 22nd, 2011, 07:26 PM
Indology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indology) as an academic discipline of studying Indian culture from a European perspective was established in the 19th century, led by scholars such as Max Müller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_M%C3%BCller) and John Woodroffe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Woodroffe). They brought Vedic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas), Puranic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puranic) and Tantric (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra) literature and philosophy to Europe and the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States). At the same time, societies such as the Brahmo Samaj (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmo_Samaj) and the Theosophical Society (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophical_Society) attempted to reconcile and fuse Abrahamic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religion) and Dharmic philosophies, endeavouring to institute societal reform. This period saw the emergence of movements which, while highly innovative, were rooted in indigenous tradition. They were based on the personalities and teachings of individuals, as with Ramakrishna (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramakrishna) and Ramana Maharshi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramana_Maharshi). Prominent Hindu philosophers, including Aurobindo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurobindo) and Prabhupada (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._C._Bhaktivedanta_Swami_Prabhupada) (founder of ISKCON (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISKCON)), translated, reformulated and presented Hinduism's foundational texts for contemporary audiences in new iterations, attracting followers and attention in India and abroad.

Others, such as Vivekananda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivekananda), Paramahansa Yogananda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramahansa_Yogananda), B.K.S. Iyengar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.K.S._Iyengar) and Swami Rama (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Rama), have also been instrumental in raising the profiles of Yoga and Vedanta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedanta) in the West. Today modern movements, such as ISKCON and the Swaminarayan Faith (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swaminarayan_Faith), attract a large amount of followers across the world.
The Bhagavad Gītā (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita), a conversation between Lord Krishna (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Krishna) and Arjuna (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arjuna) before the start of the Kurukshetra war (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurukshetra_war), is one of the foremost Hindu scriptures and is described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy and beliefs.
The diverse set of religious beliefs, traditions and philosophies of the Hindus are the product of an amalgamation process that began with the decline of Buddhism in India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_Buddhism_in_India) (5th-8th Century), where traditions of Vedic Brahmanism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic_Brahmanism) and the mystical schools of Vedanta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedanta) were combined with Shramana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shramana) traditions and regional cults to give rise to the socio-religious and cultural sphere later described as "Hinduism".

mandeep333
November 22nd, 2011, 07:27 PM
While Hinduism contains both "uniting and dispersing tendencies", it also has a common central thread of philosophical concepts (including dharma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma), moksha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moksha) and samsara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara)), practices (puja (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puja_%28Hinduism%29), bhakti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti) etc.) and cultural traditions. These common elements are originating (or being codified within) from the Vedic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas), Upanishad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanishad) and Puranic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puranic) scriptures and epics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_epics). Thus a Hindu could:


follow any of the Hindu schools of philosophy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_philosophy), such as Advaita (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita_Vedanta) (non-dualism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualism)), Vishishtadvaita (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishishtadvaita) (non-dualism of the qualified whole), Dvaita (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvaita) (dualism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualism)), Dvaitadvaita (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvaitadvaita) (dualism with non-dualism), etc.
follow a tradition centred on any particular form of the Divine, such as Shaivism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaivism), Vaishnavism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaishnavism), Shaktism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaktism), etc.
practice any one of the various forms of yoga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga) systems; including bhakti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti) (Hindu devotional movements (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_devotional_movements)) in order to achieve moksha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moksha).

The Republic of India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_India) is in the peculiar situation that the Supreme Court of India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_India) has repeatedly been called upon to define "Hinduism" because the Constitution of India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_India), while it prohibits "discrimination of any citizen" on grounds of religion in article 15, article 30 foresees special rights for "All minorities, whether based on religion or language". As a consequence, religious groups have an interest in being recognized as distinct from the Hindu majority in order to qualify as a "religious minority". Thus, the Supreme Court was forced to consider the question whether Jainism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism) is part of Hinduism in 2005 and 2006. In the 2006 verdict, the Supreme Court found that the "Jain Religion is indisputably not a part of the Hindu Religion". In 1995, while considering the question "who are Hindus and what are the broad features of Hindu religion", the Supreme Court of India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_India) highlighted Bal Gangadhar Tilak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bal_Gangadhar_Tilak)'s formulation of Hinduism's defining features:
· Acceptance of the Vedas with reverence; recognition of the fact that the means or ways to salvation are diverse; and the realization of the truth that the number of gods to be worshipped is large, that indeed is the distinguishing feature of Hindu religion.
Some thinkers have attempted to distinguish between the concept of Hinduism as a religion, and a Hindu as a member of a nationalist or socio-political class. In Hindu nationalism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_nationalism), the term "Hindu" combines notions of geographical unity, common culture and common race. Thus, Veer Savarkar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinayak_Damodar_Savarkar) in his influential pamphlet "Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindutva:_Who_is_a_Hindu%3F)" defined a Hindu as a person who sees India "as his Fatherland as well as his Holy land, that is, the cradle land of his religion". This conceptualization of Hinduism, has led to establishment of Hindutva (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindutva) as the dominant force in Hindu nationalism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_nationalism) over the last century.

mandeep333
November 22nd, 2011, 07:28 PM
Ethnic and cultural fabric

Hinduism, its religious doctrines, traditions and observances are very typical and inextricably linked to the culture and demographics of India. Hinduism has one of the most ethnically diverse bodies of adherents in the world. It is hard to classify Hinduism as a religion because the framework, symbols, leaders and books of reference that make up a typical religion are not uniquely identified in the case of Hinduism. Hinduism is almost 4,000 years old. Most commonly it can be seen as a "way of life" which gives rise to many other forms of religions.


Large tribes and communities indigenous to India are closely linked to the synthesis and formation of Hindu civilization. People of East Asian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian) roots living in the states of north eastern India and Nepal were also a part of the earliest Hindu civilization. Immigration and settlement of people from Central Asia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asia) also found Hinduism attractive.

Hinduism is unique among the world religions in that it has no founder or date of origin. While most major religions derive from new ideas taught by a charismatic leader, Hinduism is simply the religion of the people of India, which has gradually developed over four thousand years. The origins and authors of its sacred texts are largely unknown.

Although today's Hinduism differs significantly from earlier forms of Indian religion, Hinduism's roots date back as far as 2000 BC, making it one of the oldest surviving religions. Because of its great age, the early history of Hinduism is unclear. The most ancient writings have yet to be deciphered, so for the earliest periods scholars must rely on educated guesses based on archaeology and the study of contemporary texts.

In the last few decades, the history of India's religion has also become a matter of political controversy. The history of any nation (or individual) is an important part of its self-identity, and this is especially true of India, which so recently gained independence after centuries of colonial rule. The controversy over India's history centers on the origin of the Aryan culture, as we shall see in more detail below.

mandeep333
November 27th, 2011, 07:16 AM
हिन्दू उत्तराधिकार कानून 1956 हिंदू उत्तराधिकार कानून-1956 में 2005 में हुए बदलाव से क्लास वन वारिसों की सूची में महिलाओं को वरीयता दी गई है। यह कानून स्वर्ग सिधार चुके हिंदुओं के उत्तराधिकारी से जुड़ा है और यह वैसे सभी लोगों पर लागू होता है, जो हिंदु धर्म से ताल्लुक रहते हैं। इसके अलावा यह कानून बौद्ध, सिख, और जैन समुदाय के लोगों पर भी लागू होता है। अगर कोई शख्स बिना वसीयत छोड़े गुजर जाता है, तो क्लास वन उत्तराधिकारी की सूची में शामिल लोगों को अन्य क्लास के उत्तराधिकारियों की तुलना में तवज्जो दी जाती है।
क्लास वन (1)उत्तराधिकारी
कानून में संशोधन से पहले इन लोगों को क्लास वन उत्तराधिकारी की सूची में रखा जाता था।
1.बेटा, बेटी, विधवा, मां
2.दिवंगत हो चुके बेटे का बेटा
3.दिवंगत हो चुके बेटे की बेटी
4.दिवंगत हो चुकी बेटी का बेटा
5.दिवंगत हो चुकी बेटी की बेटी
6.दिवंगत हो चुके बेटे की विधवा संशोधन के बाद कुछ और वारिसों को क्लास वन उत्तराधिकारी की सूची में शामिल कर लिया गया है:
1.दिवंगत हो चुकी बेटी की दिवंगत बेटी का बेटा
2.दिवंगत हो चुकी बेटी की दिवंगत बेटी की बेटी
3.दिवंगत हो चुकी बेटी के दिवंगत बेटे का बेटा
4.दिवंगत हो चुकी बेटी के दिवंगत बेटे की बेटी
क्लास दो (2) उत्तराधिकारी
क्लास टू के तहत कई कैटिगरी हैं। पिता को पहली कैटिगरी में शुमार किया गया है, जबकि नीचे लिखे वारिसों को कैटिगरी टू में शामिल किया गया है।
1.बेटे की बेटी का बेटा
2.बेटी के बेटे की बेटी
3.भाई-बहन
क्लास थ्री उत्तराधिकारी
क्लास थ्री उत्तराधिकारी कैटिगरी थ्री में इन लोगों को शुमार किया गया है
1.बेटी के बेटे का बेटा
2.बेटी के बेटे की बेटी
3.बेटी की बेटी की बेटी
4.बेटी की बेटी का बेटा क्लास टू की कैटिगरी 2 और 3 के वारिस वही हैं, जिन्हें क्लास वन की सूची में शुमार किया गया है। यह गड़बड़ी इसलिए है कि क्लास वन में संशोधन के बाद इस लिस्ट को क्लास टू से हटाया नहीं गया। यहां यह बात उल्लेखनीय है कि पिता को क्लास वन की सूची में शुमार नहीं किया गया है। इसके अलावा बेटे की बेटी के पुत्र और बेटी के बेटे के बेटे को क्लास वन की सूची में शुमार नहीं किया गया है। क्लास टू में 9 कैटिगरी हैं । अगर मृतक का इन सूची में वर्णित कोई भी उत्तराधिकारी नहीं पाया जाता है, तो नियमों के मुताबिक, सरकार उसकी संपत्ति का अधिग्रहण कर लेगी।
क्लास टू और क्लास थ्री के उदाहरण
उदाहरण 1 फर्ज कीजिए कि कोई शख्स अपने पीछे पिता-माता, विधवा, एक पुत्र और एक पुत्री छोड़ गया है। मृतक की एक और बेटी भी थी, जिसकी इस शख्स से पहले ही मौत हो चुकी है। इस दिवंगत लड़की के पति, पुत्र और पुत्री जीवित हैं। ऐसी हालत में मृतक के पिता और दिवंगत बेटी के पति को कुछ नहीं मिलेगा। उसकी संपत्ति में मां, विधवा पत्नी, और जिंदा बेटी को संपत्ति का पांचवा हिस्सा मिलेगा, जबकि दिवंगत बेटी के बेटे और बेटी को संपत्ति में दसवां हिस्सा मिलेगा। उदाहरण 2 अगर कोई पुरुष अपने पीछे माता, पिता, भाई और बहन को छोड़ जाता है, तो ऐसी हालत में उसकी पूरी संपत्ति पर पिता का हक बनता है। उदाहरण 3 अगर किसी शख्स की मौत के बाद उसके पिता, भाई और बहन बचते हैं, तो इस हालत में भी उसकी पूरी संपत्ति पर पिता का हक बनता है। उदाहरण 4 अगर कोई पुरुष अपने पीछे 2 भाई और 1 बहन छोड़कर मरता है, तो इस सूरत में संपत्ति का बंटवारा तीनों भाई-बहन के बीच बराबर-बराबर बांट दिया जाएगा। यहां बात गौर करने लायक है कि बेटी, बेटे जैसे शब्दों का मतलब वैध संतानों से है। इसमे गोद लिए हुए शख्स भी शामिल होते हैं, लेकिन इसमें सौतेले भाई-बहन शामिल नहीं होते।

urmiladuhan
December 4th, 2011, 06:24 PM
ना इतना कीमे लिबरल ना सै उर्मिला जी. बड़ा कोम्प्लीकेटिड सौदा सै यो हिन्दू विवाह अधिनियम, जाटां ताहि तो. इसमें गाया कै भैसां तैळै और भैसां कै गाया तैळै जिब्बै हो ज्या सै.

मैंने बूझी थी मंदीप जी तै दूसरी थ्रैड पै. मंदीप जी टैम लागज्या तो बताइयो उसके बारे मै. यो हिन्दू विवाह अधिनियम के फैसला करेगा इसे हालत मै, पोस्ट #17 http://www.jatland.com/forums/showthread.php?32997-Extra-marital-affairs-in-society (http://www.jatland.com/forums/showthread.php?32997-Extra-marital-affairs-in-society)

I think it is easy to prove marriage as per Hindu Rituals (even exchange of rings in the presence of family members is marriage as per Hindu Marriage Act) and therefore difficult to disprove marriage.

bhamboo
December 6th, 2011, 01:25 PM
WHY M I A Hindu??

http://skbwriter.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-i-am-hindu.html