"The word 'Hindu'
occurs nowhere in the classical scriptures of Hinduism. The
ancestors of the present day Hindus did not identify themselves as
Hindus."
"When Western
scholars and Christian missionaries arrived on the scene, the Hindus
found their faith tradition 'ism'-ized and its name became
'Hinduism'."
"That even an
atheist may be called a Hindu is an example of the fact that
Hinduism is far beyond a simple religious system, but actually an
extremely diverse and complicated river of evolving philosophies and
ancient traditions."
"The word Hindu is
not a religious word. It is secular in origin. It is derived from
the word Sindhu, which is the name of a major river that flows in
the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. The ancient
Greeks and Armenians used to refer the people living beyond the
river Sindhu as Hindus and gradually the name stuck. When the
Muslims came to the sub continent they called the people living in
the region as Hindustanis to distinguish them from the foreign
Muslims. Subsequently when the British established their rule, they
started calling the local religions collectively under the name of
Hinduism."
"Only 180 years ago
Raja Ram Mohan Roy coined the word 'Hindu' to describe the huge
variety of faiths and sects with similar but not identical
philosophies, myths and rituals."
"[There was] no
such thing as Hinduism before the British invented the holdall
category in the early nineteenth century, and made India seem the
home of a 'world religion' as organised and theologically coherent
as Christianity and Islam. The concepts of a 'world religion' and
'religion' as we know them now, emerged during the late 18th and
early 19th century, as objects of academic study, at a time of
widespread secularisation in western Europe. The idea, as inspired
by the Enlightenment, was to study religion as a set of beliefs, and
to open it up to rational enquiry."
"According to the New Encyclopedia
Britannica 20:581, 'Hinduism' was a name given in English language
in the Nineteenth Century by the English people to the multiplicity
of the beliefs and faiths of the people of the Indus land. The
British writers in 1830 gave the word 'Hinduism' to be used as the
common name for all the beliefs of the people of India excluding the
Muslims and converted Christians."
"According to our ex-President
[India] and
scholar Dr S Radhakrishnan, the term 'Hindu' had originally a
territorial and not credal significance. It implies residence in a
well-defined geographical area."
"The word Hinduism is an English word
of more recent origin. Hinduism entered the English language in the
early 19th century to describe the beliefs and practices of those
residents of India who had not converted to Islam or Christianity
and did not practice Judaism or Zoroastrianism."
"It was the Europeans who coined the
word 'Hinduism' to denote all the Indian religions except Muslims,
Jains, and Buddhists, and the word Hindu was erroneously used for
those following the religions and worship under Hinduism."
"Hindus themselves prefer to use the
Sanskrit term sanatana dharma for their religious tradition.
Sanatana dharma is often translated into English as 'eternal
tradition' or 'eternal religion' but the translation of dharma as
'tradition' or 'religion' gives an extremely limited, even mistaken,
sense of the word. Dharma has many meanings in Sanskrit, the sacred
language of Hindu scripture, including 'moral order,' 'duty,' and
'right action.'"
"The non-Muslim people of the South
Asian subcontinent called Hindu had no precise word for their
religions. They were, as they are, divided into thousands of
communities and tribes, each having its own religious beliefs,
rituals, modes of worship, etc. Finding it difficult to get the
names of the religions of these communities, the British writers
gave them the word "Hinduism" to be used as a common name for all of
their religions in about 1830. Thus the people called Hindus got a
common element, at least in word, to be identified as a distinct,
single community."
"All scholars agree that the category
'Hinduism' is something created by Orientalists. This obviously does
not exclude the existence of an Indian spiritual experience. But at
a certain point it was decided to use this label, which during
Colonialism became a flag for independence, and after that an
attempt was made by the people of India to recognize themselves in a
common religion."
"Surprisingly, though Hinduism is a
very ancient religion, the word 'Hinduism', which today defines it
and distinguishes it from the rest of the religions, is of much
later origin. In ancient India you had either a yogi, a bhakta, a
tantric, a sanyasi, a sankhya vadin, a vedantin, a lokayata, a rishi,
a muni, a pandit, a pragna, a yogini, a devi, a swami, a Saivite, a
Vaishnavite, a siddha or Buddha, but no Hindu."
"The Supreme Court [of India] in the
course of deciding an appeal in an election petition, has
interpreted the meaning of 'Hindutva' and 'Hinduism' as a "synonym
of 'Indianisation' -- i.e. development of uniform culture by
obliterating the differences between all all cultures co-existing in
the country.' The unanimous judgement given by the three-judge bench
consisting of Justices J.S. Verma, N.P. Singh and K. Venkataswami,
on December 11, 1995, has quoted earlier Supreme Court judgements
and opinions of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Dr. Toynbee and others in
coming to the conclusion that Hinduism represented a way of life."
"The Supreme Court [of India] bench
dealt with the meaning of the word 'Hindutva' or 'Hinduism' when
used in election propaganda. The court came to the conclusion that
the words 'Hinduism' or 'Hindutva' are not necessarily to be
understood and construed narrowly, confined only to the strict Hindu
religious practices unrelated to the culture and ethos of the People
of India depicting the way of life of the Indian people. Unless the
context of a speech indicates a contrary meaning or use, in the
abstract, these terms are indicative more of a way of life of the
Indian people. Unless the context of a speech indicates a contrary
meaning or use, in the abstract, these terms are indicative more of
a way of life of the Indian people and are not confined merely to
describe persons practicing the Hindu religion as a faith. This
clearly means that, by itself, the word 'Hinduism' or 'Hindutva'
indicates the culture of the people of India as a whole,
irrespective of whether they are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews
etc."
"The word 'Hinduism' was coined by
European travelers and traders in the 16th century."
"It is interesting
to note that the word Hindu is neither Sanskrit nor Dravidian and
did not originate in India. It was not used by Indians in their
descriptions or writings until the 17th century. If we go by the
original definition of the word Hindu, any one who lives in the
subcontinent is a Hindu and whatever religion he or she practices is
Hinduism. The word Hindu is a secular word and literally translated
it means Indian and the word Hinduism denotes any religion or
religions that are practiced by the multitude of people living in
the land beyond the river Indus."
"It is hard to
define Hinduism, let alone defend it. This is the reason when
someone asks the question, 'Who is a Hindu or what is Hinduism?' a
variety of answers are given. The most appropriate answer perhaps is
a long pause and then silence. The confusion that has been
propagated in the religion over many centuries has made it
prohibitive even to define the word Hinduism."
"Unfortunately
Hinduism is represented as monolithic. However, there is no
essential Hinduism, no single belief system, and no central
authority."
"The Hidden
Hindus... include at least 1-2 million non-Indian Americans
(Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics, etc.) who practice Yoga,
meditation, vegetarianism, believe in reincarnation and karma, study
the Vedic scriptures, etc., but who –- despite the fact that they
are practicing Sanatana Dharma -- will not call themselves 'Hindu',
and do not understand that they are part of an ancient and living
religious tradition. We need to do everything in our power to bring
these two communities together, to bridge this gap."
"It is well known
among scholars of South Asian religion that the word 'Hinduism' is a
term of convenience--a blanket name for a wide variety of religious
practices, beliefs and worldviews that some times have little common
ground beyond their Indian origins. Ironically, Hinduism is not an
indigenous word to any of the traditions it labels."
"There are legal
pronouncements [in India] that Hindus are Indian citizens belonging
to a religion born in India. This means Buddhists, Sikhs or Parsis,
even those who did not recognize themselves as Hindus, are to be
considered Hindus."
"It should be
pointed out that the word 'Hindu' is not found in any of the
classical writings of India. Nor can it be traced to the classical
Indian languages, such as Sanskrit or Tamil. In fact, the word
'Hinduism' has absolutely no origins within India itself. Still, it
persists, and traditions as diverse as Shaivism and Jainism,
Shaktism and Vaishnavism, have been described as 'Hinduism.' This
may work as a matter of convenience, but ultimately it is
inaccurate."
"Hinduism has one
of the most genetically and ethnically diverse body of adherents in
the world. It is hard to classify Hinduism as a religion, as the
framework, symbols, leaders and books of reference that make up a
typical religion are not uniquely identified in the case of
Hinduism. Most commonly it can be seen as a 'way of life' which
gives rise to many civilized forms of religions. Hinduism, its
religious doctrines, traditions and observances are very typical and
inextricably linked to the culture and demographics of India."
"Using the
overarching term 'Hinduism' for the many religions of India is
comparable to ignoring the different religious orientations within
each of the Western traditions, arbitrarily merging them under a
single banner—'Semitism' (which, like 'Hinduism,' merely denotes
geographical location). Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and other
constitute the diverse religious traditions of the Western world.
Just as the term Semitism is too broad and reductionistic to
represent properly the unique religious manifestation of the great
Western traditions, and just as it would be inappropriate to refer
to all these traditions as one religion, the term Hinduism falls
short."
"The word Hindu is
also not mentioned in holy books, Upanishads, Shashtras and Valmiki
Ramayan, Shatpath Brahmin Granth etc. And in these holy books there
is not any word Hindus or sects or caste system, where as it is
clearly mentioned in every chapter of thereof that there is only one
God of the Universe."
"According to
Jawaharlal Nehru, the earliest reference to the word 'Hindu' can be
traced to a Tantrik book of the eighth century C.E., where the word
means a people, and not the followers of a particular religion. The
use of the word 'Hindu' in connection with a particular religion is
of very late occurrence."
"If you examine
ancient Indian history and religion, you will find that the word
'Hindu dharma' is not used to describe what is today called
'Hinduism'."
"The word Hindu is
relatively modern and is derived from the word Sindhu which means
red. The Arabs called the Sindhu river the Indus river since they
could not pronounce the S-sound. Thus, the people west of the Sindhu
river came to be known as the Hindus and the country got its name
India. The original name for the country was Bharata Varsha - the
land of Bharata, the king who ruled the country in ancient times.
The true name of the religion is Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana means
ancient and eternal. Dharma means moral duty. The word Sanatana
Dharma connotes a Universal Way of Life for all living entities."
"As a follower of
the religion of santan dharma, I find it offensive that we use the
word 'Hinduism'. This term is an illegitimate term that was used to
label us by foreign occupiers and aggressors."
"'Hindu' means a
person believing in, following or respecting the eternal values of
life, ethical and spiritual, which have sprung up in Bharatkhand
[India] and includes any person calling himself a Hindu."
"The word 'hindu'
is a non-Indian word, it's origin is Persian/Arabic. It's original
meaning is 'dog,' 'low life' or 'slave'."
"The word 'Hindu'
means a liar, a slave, a black, an infidel, in short, a man
possessed of every evil to be found in the world; while the term
Arya means a pious, a learned, a noble, and a wise man, devoted to
the true worship of the Eternal. With this explanation, I dare
conclude that no man of common sense would like to be called a
Hindu, when once he knows its meaning."
"It should be noted
that the word 'Hindu' originally referred to any inhabitant of the
Indian subcontinent, or Hind, not followers of the religion as it
does now."
"If we see in the
four thousand years worth of religious literature in India we cannot
find a single reference to the word 'Hinduism' anywhere! 'Hinduism'
is a word concocted by Europeans to refer to the myriad streams of
religious faiths in the land of Hindustan."
"The word
'Hinduism' itself is a geographical term based upon the Sanskrit
name for the great river that runs across the northern boundaries of
India, known as the Sindhu."
"The word Hinduism
is not found in the 'hindu' religion. In fact there is no such thing
as the 'hindu' religion."
"The word
'Hinduism' was introduced in the 19th century to define the
aggregate beliefs of the Arya, immigrants who left Central Asia in
1500 BC, and animist religions of native populations in India."
"The word 'Hindu'
is not found in any Hindu religious text or any other ancient
writing. People who lived on the western side of Hindu Kush (killers
of Hindus) mountains gave this name to the natives of India. The
word Hindu means black, slave, robber, thief and a waylayer."
"Until about 19th
century, the term 'Hindu' implied a culture and ethnicity and not
religion alone. When the British government started periodic census
and established a legal system, need arose to define 'Hinduism' as a
clearly-defined religion, along the lines of Christianity or Islam."
"The word
'Hinduism' originated about only 200-300 years ago."
"Beginning around
1000 AD, invading armies from the Middle East called the place
beyond the Sindhu 'Hindustan' and the people who lived there the
'Hindus'"
"Today most Western
scholars seem resigned to the inconclusiveness of the project of
defining Hinduism. Some decline to use the word 'Hinduism' at all,
or prefer to use it only in the plural, 'Hinduisms.'"
"At a very early date, Persian
explorers entered the Indian subcontinent from the far Northwest.
After they returned, they published chronicles. But due to the
phonetics of their native Persian language, the 'S' of Sind became
an aspirated 'H.' This is how the people of the Indus Valley came to
be known generically as "Hindus" by the Persians. This flawed
intonation inevitably stuck. And was later re-imported when the
invading Moguls conquered India. Since they always referred to the
locals as "Hindus," the term was adopted by the Indians themselves
as a way of distinguishing native culture from that of the foreign
Muslims."
"The word Hinduism
was coined by the Muslim scholar Alberuni in the 11th century C.E."
"Various origins
for the word 'Hinduism' have been suggested: It may be derived from
an ancient inscription translated as: 'The country lying between the
Himalayan mountain and Bindu Sarovara is known as Hindusthan by
combination of the first letter 'hi' of 'Himalaya' and the last
compound letter 'ndu' of the word `Bindu.' Bindu Sarovara is called
the Cape Comorin sea in modern times."
Hinduism did not
exist before 1830. It was created by the English colonialists in the
1830s. This remarkable circumstance is evidenced by the fact that
none of the travelers who visited India before English rule used the
word 'Hindu'.... This is amply borne out by the Encyclopedia
Britannica, which states: "The term Hinduism ... [was] introduced in
about 1830 by British writers." In other words, the founding father
of 'Hinduism' is an Englishman!
"According to the Hindu Scholars,
Hinduism is a misnomer and the religion ‘Hinduism’ should be either
referred to as ‘Sanatana Dharma’, which means eternal religion, or
as Vedic Dharma, meaning religion of the Vedas. According to Swami
Vivekananda, the followers of this religion are referred to as
Vendantists."
"The word Hinduism is an incorrect
nomenclature, which was coined by the British. Thereafter, it has
stuck due to the ignorance of its followers. The term 'ism' refers
to an ideology that is to be propagated and by any method imposed on
others for e.g. Marxism, socialism, communism, imperialism and
capitalism but the Hindus have no such 'ism'. Hindus follow the
continuum process of evolution; for the Hindus do not have any
unidirectional ideology, therefore, in Hindu Dharma there is no
place for any 'ism'. Hindus are democratic in approach, for each
individual is free to adopt any philosophy or way to
self-realization."
