Who is a Hindu and what it means to be one

Approximately 1/7th of the world's population claim their religion to be 'Hindu'. Out of this 1 billion plus people there are not many who can clearly articulate what makes them Hindu or what it means to be a Hindu. The term 'Hindu' itself was originally constructed to encompass all the people living in the geographical region east of the Sindu (Indus) river. Even today, if you are a citizen of India and you haven't accepted any other faith as your religion, guess what, you are most likely identified as a Hindu! There is no religious authority in place who could bestow admittance to Hindu religion or take it away from someone. Neither are there any mandatory  injunctions on what a Hindu must do. In this context, let us take a fresh look at what exactly makes someone Hindu.  

What makes one a Hindu?

What makes one a Hindu is best defined by the sanskrit expression 'Shraddhaa  Bhakti Samanvita'  meaning '(living a spiritual life) led equally by Shraddha and Bhakti'.

1. Shraddha (Faith) To be a Hindu, one must have shraddha in the Veda, Ithihaasa and Puraana texts as well as their corollaries found in the Hindu faith system. (In case you are not familiar with these terms, please read the previous blog post 'An aerial survey of Hindu religion' to know more about what Veda, Itihaasa and Puraana are)  Shraddha does not mean  a binding, limiting, unquestioning faith in a book, ideas, a specific 'named God' or the historicity of the mythological stories . Shraddha is an attitudinal disposition that enables one to approach the Veda, Ithihaasa and Puraana texts with a positive frame of mind. In other words, approaching them with the conviction that there is truth worth pursuing within these texts, even when that truth may not be apparent. Again, Shraddha does not mean a blind allegiance to every single word or idea within these texts, especially in a literal sense.
2. Bhakti (Reverence to God). Hindu religion is theistic and believes in a single 'God principle', and not a single 'God person'. Every Hindu is imbued with a reverence to this God principle that they may symbolize this in many God images and natural phenomena.  There are many degrees of intensity to which this reverence is expressed using images and objects as 'proxy'.  At its core, Bhakti is the love and reverence to a God who is the essential, single awareness in every being.

Can a Hindu believe in other religions?

Hinduism is a broad, all encompassing, diverse and tolerant religion. A Hindu can attend, participate and even practice another religion's rituals and practices as long as this is done without compromising Shraddha and Bhakti as explained above. For example, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had taken instructions and  practiced both Christianity and Islam in addition to his Hindu faith. In the same token, those in other religions who want to practice or participate in Hindu religion should be allowed to do so. However, since it is not possible to belong to more than one religion the same time, it would require for one to have the mindset of keeping Hinduism as the primary religion to be considered a Hindu. 

Should one offer worship in a Temple to be Hindu?

Temple worship only forms one component of the Hindu religion and is not considered mandatory. One may choose not to step into any Temple and could still be a Hindu. Temples provide a great way to bring the Hindus together as a community and also serves a spiritual purpose (Please see the previous blog post on 'what I see when I go to a temple' for details). There are three core tenets to the Hindu religious practice. They are 'thapa' which is contemplation and meditation, 'swaadhyaaya' which is spiritual learning and 'ishwara pranidhaana' which is  an attitude of surrender to God. This surrender to God aspect could be expressed either in the form of daily prayers at home, temple worship, charity work or a combination of all of them.

Should one have a 'caste' to be Hindu?

Caste is one of the most misconstrued social phenomena that is attributed to Hindu religion. Hindu religion had a 'varna' classification and this classification was later interposed with the social division of castes in the Indian society that was based on professions. The end result was a chaotic situation that proliferated discrimination and social inequality.

The word 'varna' means color. It was intended to indicate what colors our actions, viz., what motivates people to perform action, especially religious action. As we all know, two people may perform an exact same action, but they could have very different motivations.  In the Bhagawad Gita Krishna says 'chaatur varnyam mayaa srishtam gunakarma vibhaakasa' , meaning 'the four varna classes, delineated by the quality of actions were created by me'. What are these quality delineations? Let's examine.

The four 'varna' classification in Hindu religion are Brahmana (Priestly class), Kshatriya (Warrior class), Vaisya (Trader class) and Sudra (Working class). All four of them are Hindu by the definition we discussed earlier. Those outside of the Hindu religion were called as 'Daasyu' and were mostly constituted of the tribal population who lived away from the civilized populace.

A Sudra (Worker class) is religious because of fear and insecurity. He or she would remember God and religion when feeling threatened and will forget both as soon as the danger passes. Most of those who did manual labor for living in the cities of olden times were identified as Sudra as their religious fervor was generally inconsistent. Hence the Sudra were not initiated into learning the Veda, a studentship that  required many years of austerity and hardship. A Sudra's action were colored by fear, and was associated with the color Black.

A Vaisya (Trader class) is religious because of his desire for prosperity. He or she would be more than happy to share a part of earned wealth for temples and charity etc. with the intent that such actions will bring them or their progeny still more prosperous life in future. The traders and industrialists have traditionally been identified as Vaisya because of their eye for profit in transactions. A Vaisya's action are colored by materialistic thinking  and is associated with color of Bronze.

A Kshatriya (Warrior class) is religious because of his desire to accomplish and excel. He or she seeks strength and power from religion so as to do better in their field.  The Kshatriya of olden days were warriors and kings but in modern times, they probably are the Corporate Executives and CEOs! A Kshatriya's actions are colored by aggression and is associated with color Red

A Brahmana (Priestly class) is religious because of  desire for knowledge and God realization. He or she is not driven by any worldly, tangible motive and are generally self-directed in their quest. The Brahmana of olden days were mostly priests and teachers. In modern times, they could just be in any profession, continuing their search for truth in parallel to whatever else they may do for living. Because of a Brahmana's propensity to learn and enlighten, they are associated with the color White.

The latter three, other than Sudra, were called as 'Dwija' or twice-born. They all were required to make an explicit commitment to learn Veda as a student  and this initiation ceremony, Upanayana, was considered as their second birth. Only the Brahmana was authorized to teach Veda since  only they put in the required effort for mastery.

It was easy for the society to enforce the norms that the progeny of, say a Brahmana, would be a Brahmana and thus was started the concept of 'kula' or lineage and duties called as 'kula dharma' based on birth. This had, however, not prevented others from learning or teaching. Sage Viswamtra  who is the Rishi of the most highly revered mantra  called Gayatri, was a Kshatriya by birth.  The wisest and most learned person in Mahabharatha, Vidura, was born to a sudra woman. There are many stories in Upanishads were a Brahmana seeks out a Kshatriya King for spiritual instruction.

I am a Hindu and what does this all mean to me?

If you are a Hindu,  make sure to ask yourself what motivates you to be in the religion. All answers are right. Whatever the answer is,  try to stay true to that motivation until it shifts naturally.  It will be possible to shift the motivations to higher levels in time by simply being aware of one's own motivations and letting them evolve consciously.

Have a great religious life!