10-27-2008, 01:01 AM
http://www.twocircles.net/2008oct21/indian...l#comment-11333
<b>
Riddles of Hinduism : AK Singh and the difficulty of knowing</b>
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 23 October 2008 - 6:37pm.
AK Singh's recent fulminations trying to explain his cultural ethos had me reaching for Ambedkar's "Riddles of Hinduism". I have asked AK SIngh many times to explain what Hinduism has contributed to India. It draws a blank.
So he tries to distract by looking for something negative to say about Muslims.
But he has never been able to say what Hindus did that is positive - not even once !
A Muslim can say what Muslims contributed to India.
I can even write what Hinduism contributed to India, but Hindus like AK Singh cannot.
The validity of the observations we make here with AK Singh is confirmed by Ambedkar.
Here is Ambedkar's conclusion :
"Is it not a question for every Hindu to consider why in the matter of his own religion his position is so embarrassing and so puzzling? Why is he not able to answer so simple a question which every Parsi, every Christian, and every Muslim can answer? Is it not time that he should ask himself what are the causes that has brought about this Religious chaos ?".
Here is an extract from Ambedkar.
You will understand AK Singh's predicament and his raging inferiority complex.
RIDDLE No. 1 THE DIFFICULTY OF KNOWING WHY ONE IS A HINDU India is a conjeries of communities.
There are in it Parsis, Christians, Mohammedans and Hindus. The basis of these communities is not racial. It is of course religious. This is a superficial view. What is interesting to know is why is a Parsi a Parsi and why is a Christian a Christian, why is a Muslim a Muslim and why is a Hindu a Hindu?
With regard to the Parsi, the Christian and the Muslim it is smooth sailing.
Ask a Parsi why he calls himself a Parsi he will have no difficulty in answering the question. He will say he is a Parsi because he is a follower of Zoraster.
Ask the same question to a Christian. He too will have no difficulty in answering the question. He is a Christian because he believes in Jesus Christ.
Put the same question to a Muslim. He too will have no hesitation in answering it. He will say he is a believer in Islam and that is why he is a Muslim.
Now ask the same question to a Hindu and there is no doubt that he will be completely bewildered and would not know what to say. If he says that he is a Hindu because he worships the same God as the Hindu Community does his answer cannot be true.
All Hindus do not worship one God. Some Hindus are monotheists, some are polytheists and some are pantheists. Even those Hindus who are monotheists are not worshippers of the same Gods.
Some worship the God Vishnu, some Shiva, some Rama, some Krishna. Some do not worship the male Gods. They worship a goddess. Even then they do not worship the same Goddesses. They worship different Goddesses.
Some worship Kali, some worship Parvati, some worship Laxmi.
Coming to the Polytheists they worship all the Gods. They will worship Vishnu and Shiva, also Rama and Krishna. They will worship Kali, Parvati and Laxmi.
A Hindu will fast on the Shivaratri day because it is sacred to Shiva.
He will fast on Ekadashi day because it is sacred to Vishnu.
He will plant a Bel tree because it is sacred to Shiva and he will plant a Tulsi because it is dear to Vishnu.
Polytheists among the Hindus do not confine their homage to the Hindu Gods. No Hindu hesitates to worship a Muslim Pir or a Christian Goddess.
Thousands of Hindus go to a Muslim Pir and make offerings. Actually there are in some places Brahmins who own the office of a hereditary priesthood of a Muslim Pir and wear a Muslim Pir's dress.
Thousands of Hindus go to make offerings to the Christian Goddess Mant Mauli near Bombay..... If he says that "I am a Hindu because I hold to the beliefs of the Hindus" his answer cannot be right for here one is confronted with the fact that Hinduism has no definite creed.
The beliefs of persons who are by all admitted to be Hindus often differ more widely from each other than do those of Christians and Muhammadans.
Limiting the issue to cardinal beliefs the Hindus differ among themselves as to the beliefs which arc of cardinal importance.
Some say that all the Hindu scriptures must be accepted, but some would exclude the Tantras, while others would regard only the Vedas as of primary importance; some again think that the sole essential is belief in the doctrine of karma and metempsychosis.
A complex congeries of creeds and doctrines is Hinduism.
It shelters within its portals monotheists, polytheists and pantheists; worshippers of the great Gods Shiva and Vishnu or of their female counterparts,.as well as worshippers of the divine mothers or the spirits of trees, rocks and streams and the tutelary village deities; persons who propitiate their deity by all manner of bloody sacrifices, and persons who will not only kill no living creature but who must not even use the word 'cut '; those whose ritual consists mainly of prayers and hymns, and those who indulge in unspeakable orgies in the name of religion; and a host of more or less heterodox sectaries, many of whom deny the supremacy of the Brahmans, or at least have non-Brahmanical religious leaders.
If he says that he is a Hindu because he observes the same customs as other Hindus do his answer cannot be true. For all Hindus do not observe the same customs.
In the north near relatives are forbidden to marry; but in the south cousin marriage is prescribed, and even closer alliances are sometimes permitted.
As a rule female chastity is highly valued, but some communities set little store by it, at any rate prior to marriage, and others make it a rule to dedicate one daughter to a life of religious prostitution.
In some parts the women move about freely; in others they are kept secluded.
In some parts they wear skirts; in others trousers. Again if he said that he is a Hindu because he believes in the caste system his answer cannot be accepted as satisfactory.
It is quite true that no Hindu is interested in what his neighbour believes, but he is very much interested in knowing whether he can eat with him or take water from his hands.
In other words it means that the caste system is an essential feature of Hinduism and a man who does not belong to a recognized Hindu Caste cannot be a Hindu.
While all this is true it must not be forgotten that observance of caste is not enough.
Many Musalmans and many Christians observe caste if not in the matter of inter-dining certainly in the matter of inter-marriage. But they cannot be called Hindus on that account. Both elements must be present. He must be a Hindu and he must also observe caste.
This brings us back to the old question who is a Hindu? It leaves us where we are.
Is it not a question for every Hindu to consider why in the matter of his own religion his position is so embarrassing and so puzzling?
Why is he not able to answer so simple a question which every Parsi, every Christian, and every Muslim can answer?
Is it not time that he should ask himself what are the causes that has brought about this Religious chaos ?
* reply