The word hindutva has once again come under fierce debate, especially when modi government reigns over india. Hindutva is not the same as hinduism said savarkar telegraph india. Until the 19th and the 20th century, there was no need for hindu scholars to attempt such an endeavour as world politics revolved around kings and empires. Incoherent and monotonous, savarkars hindutva was on the fringe. It doesnt dictate adherence to any particular sacred text, say the bhagavad gita for instance, as a national holy book and those making such demands are pandering to a particular political. Five of the hindu holy books are the rig veda, bhagavad gita, sama veda, yajur veda, and athava veda. The holy book in the hindu religion is known as the vedas. Vinayak damodar savarkar, an indian independence activist, in his book essentials of hindutva, better known under the later title hindutva. May 18, 2020 here at the hinduism section of, we aim at presenting the original works that lay the foundations of hinduism. Savarkar wasnt really setting out to create a hindu nation. Hindutva seeks to save the world by reclaiming what it sees as hinduisms glorious past destroyed by muslims and christians and now, marxistssecularliberal forces that it bundles into one. 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. This tradition of intolerance of dogmatism and respect for all religions could promote a nationalism which indians could be proud of because it would be unique and would set an example of religious pluralism to the rest of the world.
Hindutva as a form of political propaganda does not adhere to the underlying fabric of hinduism. He defines a hindu as one who 1 regards the entire subcontinent as his or her motherlandfatherland. Hinduism is such an ancient religion that it had many types of beliefs and religious practices. A hindu, he wrote, was a person who regards this land of bharatvarsha, from the indus to the seas as his fatherland as well as his holyland, that is the cradleland of his religion. Introduction hinduism stands for the faith and the way of life most of the people who live in india. Savarkar chose his words wisely to ensure that he doesnt flair religious emotions. Its time other hindus took back our faith the politician and author wondered how a wonderfully capricious and liberal faith like hinduism could be. The scriptures of the vedas are meant to guide hindu believers in their daily lives.
Hinduism unlike islam, christianity and judaism, does not have a single holy book, but many ancient texts and scriptures. It is a foreign word, coined by foreigners, and the word is not be found in any indian language. Oct 21, 2019 the roof of hinduism has been interpreted in a very evil and disastrous manner by the right wing brigade and more than that, those who oppose hindutva, spoil the good side of hinduism. But justice vermas attempts at defining these terms only gave.
However, the puranas are supposed to be complied by muni vyasa. 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. Its nature is different from prophet based religions like christianity, buddhism, islam and even sikhism for that matter. Hinduism ism is the suffix for a theory, a set of ideas and philosophy. Apr 03, 20 the puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india. The rigveda is the foundational holy book of ancient hinduism, which essentially served as a source for everything that came after it. Hinduism holy book important books and writings of hinduism. The vedas and these other works are further divided into two sections. Hinduism, hindutva and the contest for the meaning of hindu. In his new book the hindu way an introduction to hinduism. Hindutva hinduness is the predominant form of hindu nationalism in india. Hindutva had nothing to do with religion or rituals.
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. He probes the fundamentals and complexities of hinduism, presents both its ancient texts and the modern beliefs of hindutva descriptively and. 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 graphically rich guides to virtually. I believe the hindutva ideology can be challenged by promoting the hindu tradition r c zaehner wrote about. The confusion and nature of the word hinduism and hindutva emerge as hinduism is not a prophet based religion. The vedas are scriptures that the hindu people use as a guide to daily and religious life. Published on 29th march, 2017, on if you ask a follower of the hindutva ideology, heshe will say yes, hindutva and hinduism are indeed the same, or that hindutva is actually a superset that includes politics and economics, while hinduism is restricted to religion and culture. Hinduism or hindu dharma includes all of the religious traditions, vedic and nonvedic, that originate from the soil of india.
Hinduism is like a banyan tree which roots are vedas and upnisadas. 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. Apr 09, 2020 for savarkar, in his treatise on hindu identity,he identifies the two core issues who is a hindu, and what it hindutva. Hindutva embrases all the departments of thought and activity of the whole being of our hindu race.
It is therefore utmost important to make a clear distinction between the words hindu, hinduism, and hindutva before making any attempt to tarnish the image of it or making any random statement or use it synonymous to each other. The article further states, proponents of hindutva have sought to promote 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. Hindutva is a word popularized perhaps coined also by veer savarkar as in his 1923 treatise, hindutva who is a hindu. The term was popularised by vinayak damodar savarkar in 1923. According to the encyclopedia of hinduism, hindutva as defined in the classic statement of its ideology, is the culture of the hindu race where hinduism is but an element and hindu dharma is a religion practiced by hindus as well as sikhs and buddhists. Some hindutva advocates will insist hinduism was revealed to sages in its perfect form as far back as the end of the ice age, 12,000 years ago. Hinduism being hijacked by lumpen elements the hindu. Feller learn with flashcards, games, and more for free. 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. Its of course true that the mere mention of the word hindutva or hinduism can barely be seen as offensive in and of themselves.
Savarkar gives a name to such an ideology and a sort of manifesto. Full text of hindutvavinayakdamodarsavarkarpdf see other formats. Full text of hindutva vinayakdamodarsavarkarpdf see other formats. Around 1750 bc aryan invaders from central asia settled in north west india and introduced their own religious. Rivers, rocks, trees, plants, animals, and birds all play their part, both in mythology and everyday worship. It is important to note here that rss, alma matter of bjp has a long history of espousing the idea of hindutva and for that, it largely. Scholars regard hinduism as a fusion or synthesis 9 note 4. Hindu simply meant an indian until it acquired a religious connotation. These texts are glorious tales of the hindu trinity brahma, vishnu and maheshwar shiva. The upanishads are also called as vedantas or the end of the vedas. Hindutva is incompatible with the lived hinduism of most hindus. The majority of the vedas are considered the shruti, which is translated to that which is hard. Hinduism has a various branch, the cradle of ideas and customs.
While vivekanandas was a religious project to defend hinduism from christian theological onslaught, savarkars was a purely political project. This harmony is most evident in remote places like this, and i hope it does not loose its unique character in the ruthless urban advance. 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. Essentially, hindutva was an attempt by hindu intellectuals to arm hinduism to adapt to a world order based on the concept of nation states. India was, he asserted, citing some ancient and medieval texts, a hindu nation in an organic sense.
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. 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. Hinduism is a conglomeration of a number of religious beliefs and practices, says historian dn jha, author of the book the myth of the holy cow. 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. Even if one is an atheist, as long as one agrees that this land is his pitrubhumi father land he is still hindu. Savarkar chose his words wisely to ensure that he doesnt flair religious emotions, perhaps his visionary thought process told him, that his book would be referred. 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. In hindutva history, mythology is just protohistory, from times that historians cannot or will not calculate. Hinduism is an indian religion and dharma, or way of life, widely practiced in the indian subcontinent and parts of southeast asia.
Hindutva is not the same as hinduism said savarkar. While we have the main vedas, upanishads, the mahabharata in several translations we also present newer commentaries, anthologies, and entirely new branches of hinduism. Oct 27, 2016 its of course true that the mere mention of the word hindutva or hinduism can barely be seen as offensive in and of themselves. The shruti refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts, believed to be eternal knowledge authored neither by human nor divine. At best it is a sectarian term, with a positive connotation. The present edition of the book is a little below the international standards. Jun 04, 2017 thus hindutva actually accommodate hinduism within. Hinduism does not possess a single holy book like bible in christianity and quran in islamic dharma. The belief system in the hindi religion is outlined from these scriptures.
The thoughts of vd savarkar on hinduism and hindutva. The term in english which came closest to the one he was using, he wrote, was perhaps hinduness. Savarkars hindutva was declared to be the holy book of hindu sangathan or organization. In this book savarkar talks about loyalty to pitrabhumi fatherland and punyabhumi holy land.
It is not hindu fundamentalism, but, hindutva fundamentalism that is the accurate term for the hatred, division and unspiritual activities attributed to it. Some of the other holy works and books of hinduism are stories and epic poems. Which frequently happens to the books edited in india. Therefore, to understand the significance of this term hindutva, we must first understand the essential meaning of the word hindu itself. He ask those who are loyal to fatherland and holy land are hindus. This holy book is written in the sanskrit language. Since 1979 the international magazine hinduism today has been producing a treasury of educational features on all aspects of sanatana dharma. The puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india. Hindu texts are manuscripts and historical literature related to any of the diverse traditions. Savarkar chose the term hindutva to describe the quality of being a hindu in ethnic, cultural and political terms. What is the difference between hinduism and hindutva. There is a common misunderstanding to use the term hindutva interchangeably with hinduism, which should not be done.
558 362 1083 245 751 883 914 1103 933 1037 1081 475 595 367 662 363 714 310 278 806 661 932 649 226 973 740 621 862 1399 1091