07-05-2009, 11:14 AM
Yes none of our thinkers reached the genius of Julian in this regard. I do agree with the diagnosis of the general failure of the Hindus, especially the brAhmaNa-s. But I was just trying to say that it was also not as if they were completely unaware. I think the situation was very much like <b>today</b>. Most heathens are unaware and only a few really understand what is going on. Even if you think Koenraad Elst is some kind of covert Christian subversionist, he has been highlighting this repeatedly. The main problem is that people in India are so ignorant of this that they have been electing anti-Hindu govts. I think what happened was that the the experience of the North and south was quite different. In the north Islam's sword and the dhimmitude took so heavy a toll that most Hindus retreated into a cocoon of ignorance. In the South the rise of Vijayanagara shielded most Hindus from a close experience of Islam and they forgot about it, comparing it to the occasional famine or drought. It was in mahArAShTra that at the time of the rise of the marATha's some ideological understanding developed. This can be seen in Shivaji and Shambhaji's eagerness to reconvert Hindus and place an emphasis on the ban on conversions by both Moslems and Christians. Shambhaji before being executed gave Awrangzeb an earful on the maniac and his cult.