According to merriamwebsters encyclopedia of world religions, hindutva is a concept of indian cultural, national, and religious identity. Apparently, hindutva amounts to a semitization of hinduism since it is contingent upon belief in an identifiable god preferably rama and principal holy book the gita. Guided by the founder, satguru sivaya subramuniyaswami, the magazines editors, who are initiated monks of the kauais hindu monastery, collaborated with holy men and women and experts around the world in creating. The author begins the book with a disclosure that this book makes no distinction between hinduism and hindutva. Yet she was not a feminist in the current meaning of feminism.
That makes a country distinctly bound together, but not universal. Hinduism is only a derivative, a fraction, a part of hindutva. Other holy scriptures in hinduism are called the upanisads, the smrutis, the puranas, the ramayana and the mahabharata. Oct 17, 2018 hindutva, or hindu fascism, is an ethnonationalist ideology and movement that claims hindu racial and cultural superiority and uses violence to oppress minorities, quash dissent, and subvert democracy. Savarkars hindutva was declared to be the holy book of hindu sangathan or organization. The term hindutva took birth with the appearance of vd savarkars book titled hindutva in 1923. Savarkar made it clear that hindutva was not the same as hinduism. Hindutva as a form of political propaganda does not adhere to the underlying fabric of hinduism. It is in danger from a belief, an ideology called hindutva, which has divided indians into hindus and others, said nayantara sahgal, at the onset of a discussion on author parliamentarian shashi tharoors new book why i am a hindu. Hindutva is not the same as hinduism said savarkar telegraph india.
This book is coauthored by shashi tharoor, the intellect, and shashi tharoor, the politician. The term in english which came closest to the one he was using, he wrote, was perhaps hinduness. The thoughts of vd savarkar on hinduism and hindutva. Under pm modi, will hindutva transform the workings of the. Hinduism is neither monotheistic nor restricted to one religious scripture. Her book the high caste indian woman is considered as the indian feminist manifesto. Full text of hindutva vinayakdamodarsavarkarpdf see other formats. Hinduism vs hindutva debate ignores hindu people, puts religion.
According to arvind sharma, a scholar of hinduism, hindutva has not been a static. Full text of hindutvavinayakdamodarsavarkarpdf see other formats. Hinduism, not hindutva in lifephilosophy by kabir deb october 21, 2019 the idea of picturising vivekananda just as an old school master of hindutva is where we. Many do not know the difference between hinduism and hindutva, and so it is disturbing to read and hear about hindu fundamentalism. Similarly, many people who are expressing their allegiance to hinduism and hindutva are themselves seems to be confused and do not make any distinction between these two terms. The problem with this doctrine, coherent and clear though it is, is its denial of the reality of what hinduism is all about. Hindutvas founder didnt understand india, nor do his. Feb 28, 2020 savarkars hindutva was declared to be the holy book of hindu sangathan or organization. India is the land of the hindus since their ethnicity is indian and since the hindu faith originated in india.
It promotes domination of hindu religious practices, customs and traditions of monolithic society. Hinduism is an indian religion and dharma, or way of life, widely practiced in the indian subcontinent and parts of southeast asia. Savarkar chose the term hindutva to describe the quality of being a hindu in ethnic, cultural and political terms. The ideas in the book are solely aimed at discrediting hindutva as something alien to hinduism proper and hence illegitimate. Hinduism being hijacked by lumpen elements the hindu. Its nature is different from prophet based religions like christianity, buddhism, islam and even sikhism for that matter. Savarkars idea of hindutva was so expansive that it covered everything that a scholar today would call indic. Hindutva hinduness is the predominant form of hindu nationalism in india. Recommend to read if you want to become a trash or animalistic the author imagined these theories, just like any other crack head. Can be classified as way of living, than a religion itsel. The word hindutva has once again come under fierce debate, especially when modi government reigns over india. In his legendary book a study of history1 arnold j. Hinduism is a religion without fundamentals no founder or prophet, no organised church, no compulsory beliefs or rites of worship, no single sacred bookwhat we see today as hindutva is. Hinduism is a religion without fundamentals no founder or prophet, no organised church, no compulsory beliefs or rites of worship, no single sacred.
In hindutva history, mythology is just protohistory, from times that historians cannot or will not calculate. It is in danger from a belief, an ideology called hindutva, which has divided indians into hindus and others, said nayantara sahgal, at the onset of a discussion on. It was the imperial british who demarcated on basis of religious beliefs before that all major religious beliefs and practices, which originated in. The oldest teachings and holy books of hinduism date back to 5000 b. But hindutva is savarkars creation and he was at pains to make it clear that it was not synonymous with hinduism. In his new book the hindu way an introduction to hinduism, which is a. Hindutva secularises hinduism, relying on a heavily mythologised golden age and, as is common to nationalist stories, a fictitiously unified past. I dont recognise in it the hateful diatribes of certain people associated with the sangh parivar. Hindutva advocacy is for hindu texts and wisdom, including all the ones the. At the very outset, savarkar made it clear that hindutva was not the same as hinduism. Jan 26, 2018 many hindutva ideologues have long deplored the fact that love for hinduism had been, in india, a love that could not be acknowledged.
The term was popularised by vinayak damodar savarkar in 1923. Tharoor asserts throughout his book that tolerance and acceptance are a hallmark of hinduism, and should not be mixed with the narrowminded worldview of hindutva. Some of the other holy works and books of hinduism. The intellect shashi tharoor begins the book beautifully, elaborating on the core tenets of hinduism and all the things that make hinduism not just a religion, but the very way of life worth emulating. The majority of the vedas are considered the shruti, which is translated to that which is hard. Hindutva is not the same as hinduism said savarkar. But he also concedes that hindutva is not the only facet of hinduism today. Not only the spiritual or religious history of our people as at times it is mistaken to be by being confounded with the other cognate term hinduism, but a history in full. Hindu simply meant an indian until it acquired a religious connotation. Jan 19, 2018 the problem with this doctrine, coherent and clear though it is, is its denial of the reality of what hinduism is all about. The most holy of the hindu books is written in sanskrit and is referred to as the vedas. How hindutva undermines hinduism, explains shashi tharoor in an exclusive interview to india today, congress mp and author shashi tharoor explains why there is a battle within hinduism and why that battle is in part a battle for indias soul. Hedgewar, too regarded savarkars hindutva as a great scientific book which fulfilled the need of a textbook on hindu nationalism.
He describes hindutva, states bhatt, as one of the most comprehensive and bewildering synthetic concepts known to the human tongue and hindutva is not a word but a history. The rig ved is the oldest scripture and holy book of the world. The term conflates a geographically based religious, cultural, and national identity. Hinduism is itself a way of life which people of india live and acknowledge in their life. The confusion and nature of the word hinduism and hindutva emerge as hinduism is not a prophet based religion.
Since 1979 the international magazine hinduism today has been producing a treasury of educational features on all aspects of sanatana dharma. But the general perception is that hinduism is most universal, accepting all gods, all believers and unbelievers, not tied to any religious book or religious authority. What swami vivekananda would have seen as the strength of hinduism its extraordinary eclecticism and diversity, its acceptance of a wide range of beliefs and practices, its refusal to confine itself to the dogmas of a single holy book, its fluidity, the impossibility to. The holy books in hinduism are there only for guidance. Today, in india, proclaiming you are a hindu is considered tantamount to declaring your public allegiance to the sangh parivar, and the hindutva movement propagated by the ruling bjp govt and its affiliates. The fact is proselytisation is not a spiritualreligious activity in itself. Scholars regard hinduism as a fusion or synthesis 6 note 4. Unlike christianity or islam, it is a not a religion that is governed by the book.
It is aimed at demographic superiority, a goal christian and muslim religious. It is not hindu fundamentalism, but, hindutva fundamentalism that is the accurate term for the hatred, division and unspiritual activities attributed to it. The nalanda university is the oldest university of the world,teaching astronomy,science,mathematics,sanatan dharama,medicine,language,culture and much more. We may find a close proximity between hinduism and hindutva but if make a deep observation both of these terms differ slightly. While all these books are regarded as holy, over a period of time hindu religion is being shaped around, one deity, lord ram one book gita, one clergy acharyas, mahants. A hindu pakistan would not be hindu at all, but a sanghi hindutva state. If only they recognized our common mother not only as their fatherland but their holy land, they would be most welcome to the hindu fold, he stated. But this is not the hindutva that destroyed the babri masjid, nor that.
Savarkar, an atheist, was not interested in the hindu religion. Hindutva is not, he observes, particularly theocratic, a religious dogma or a creed. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as sanatana dharma, the eternal tradition, or the eternal way, beyond human history. Hindutva, or hindu fascism, is an ethnonationalist ideology and movement that claims hindu racial and cultural superiority and uses violence to oppress minorities, quash dissent, and subvert democracy. Hindutva is not identical with what is vaguely indicated by the term hinduism. We want to preserve the india we love, and not turn our beloved country into a hindutva version of pakistan. Hinduism to him was only a vague abstraction, which at best could be a fraction of his larger political ideology hindutva, veiled as some misconstrued concept of race. In recent times, hinduism has been described as an open source religion, unique in that it has no defined founder or doctrine, and its ideas evolve continuously in response to historical and geographical realities. Now this is one of the most if not most mispercieved concepts in contemporary india. Hinduism has a various branch, the cradle of ideas and customs.
There is a common misunderstanding to use the term hindutva interchangeably with hinduism, which should not be done. The 1995 judgment chose to draw the parallel between hindutva and hinduism from an essay by wahiduddin khan, rather than the motherbook of hindutva, hindutva. Jul 19, 2018 savarkar, an atheist, was not interested in the hindu religion. She imitated her guru and savior jesus christ and became one of the greatest names in india.
The vedas and these other works are further divided into two sections. Hinduism unlike islam, christianity and judaism, does not have a single holy book, but many ancient texts and scriptures. Hinduism ism is the suffix for a theory, a set of ideas and philosophy. The scriptures of the vedas are meant to guide hindu believers in their daily lives. That is simply not the hinduism i was brought up to value and cherish. By an ism it is generally meant a theory or a code more or less based on spiritual or religious dogma or system. Jun 27, 2018 by ashok vohra hinduism, while keeping itself pegged to the vedas, is a poignant and dynamic religion that adapts itself to the changing social, cultural, economic, scientific and technological. The story of a dalit in the rss, is the personal narrative of a once faithful, if not fanatical, hindutva activist who belongs to one of hinduisms lowest castes. Hinduism is like a banyan tree which roots are vedas and upnisadas. The rise of fundamentalism in modern india thearjununnikrishnan scribbles july 18, 2018 21 minutes today, in india, proclaiming you are a hindu is considered tantamount to declaring your public allegiance to the sangh parivar, and the hindutva movement propagated by the ruling bjp govt and its affiliates.
Hinduism is a religion without fundamentals no founder or prophet, no organised church, no compulsory beliefs or rites of worship, no single sacred bookwhat we see today as hindutva is part of an attempt to semitise the faith to make hinduism more like the betterorganised religions like christianity and islam, the. However, this is not how hindu traditions survived when so many native. Forty centuries, if not more, he states, had been at work to mould it as it is. The origins of hindutva or militant and revivalist hindu chauvinism can be traced back to the early 20th century british rule in india. Here is a faith without a single holy book but many, without a single presiding doctrine but many, with many ways in which you can reach out to the divine. Become world citizen, go glocal hinduism is inclusive. His only aim was to consolidate political power under the veil of religion. One of the foremost scholars on hindu nationalism, the french scholar christophe jaffrelot writes. The apex court in its verdict of 1995 has also shared the similar view that hindutva was not a religion, but a way of life and a state of mind. The story of a dalit in the rss, is the personal narrative of a once faithful, if not fanatical, hindutva activist who. What swami vivekananda would have seen as the strength of hinduismits extraordinary eclecticism and diversity, its acceptance of a wide range of beliefs and practices, its refusal to confine itself to the dogmas of a single holy book, its fluidity, the. How did hindus become hindu and why hindutva is not hinduism.
Jun 04, 2017 the word hindutva and hinduism have been used synonymously to each other and has been the subject of high controversy and criticism by many. The ideology of hindu nationalism was really codified by v. As an atheist, he took pains to emphasise that hindutva was not synonymous with hinduism. Hinduism is a religion unlike others, especially the abrahamic faiths, in that you are born a hindu but you cannot be converted into one through any ceremony. What is the difference between hinduism and hindutva. Nov 14, 2016 the 1995 judgment chose to draw the parallel between hindutva and hinduism from an essay by wahiduddin khan, rather than the motherbook of hindutva, hindutva. It is important to understand the term, in all its nuances, because of its past and present significance.
It is important to note here that rss, alma matter of bjp has a long history of espousing the idea. In the hindutva ideal, hinduism represents a vast, encompassing reality, a subcontinental cultural ethos that is not reliant on faith savarkar himself was an atheist. This new reactionary strain of hinduism, popularly called hindutva, has drastically altered perceptions of what it means to be hindu. Dec 21, 2016 many do not know the difference between hinduism and hindutva, and so it is disturbing to read and hear about hindu fundamentalism. It is championed by the hindu nationalist volunteer organisation rashtriya swayamsevak sangh rss, vishva hindu parishad vhp, bharatiya janata party bjp and other organizations, collectively called the sangh parivar. Many hindutva ideologues have long deplored the fact that love for hinduism had been, in india, a love that could not be acknowledged. He argued that a hindu is one who considers india to be his motherland matrbhumi, the land of his ancestors pitrbhumi, and his holy land punya bhumi. For decolonized and selfconscious hindus, this whole debate about hinduism vs hindutva is artificial, pointless and divisive. Some of the other holy works and books of hinduism are stories and epic poems. The verdict of the court defies logic when it proclaims, gita is essentially a book on indian philosophy not book on indian religion. Hindutvas founder didnt understand india, nor do his followers. The hindutva is not hinduism distinction adds nothing to the. Writer and parliamentarian shashi tharoor has equated bigoted, intolerant unhindus, and lumpen elements that take the cover of hinduism to push a political agenda of violence, to the.
Hedgewar, too regarded savarkars hindutva as a great scientific book which fulfilled the need of a textbook on hindu. It embraces all the departments of thoughts and activity of the whole being of the hindu race. This whole premise is baseless, dubious and deceptive. How hindutva undermines hinduism, explains shashi tharoor.
Jan 20, 2018 how hindutva undermines hinduism, explains shashi tharoor in an exclusive interview to india today, congress mp and author shashi tharoor explains why there is a battle within hinduism and why that battle is in part a battle for indias soul. Ordinarily, hindutva is understood as a way of life or a state of mind and it is not to be equated with, or understood as religious hindu fundamentalism. By ashok vohra hinduism, while keeping itself pegged to the vedas, is a poignant and dynamic religion that adapts itself to the changing social, cultural, economic, scientific and. At best it is a sectarian term, with a positive connotation. Bjp has been known to be associated with the ideology of hindu nationalism and hindutva from the very inception of the date of its foundation. Hindutva is incompatible with the lived hinduism of most hindus.
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