A wisdom paradox had written these as thinking he was hitting the
Brawn in the grinder which is empty I think: What do you think?
*RI**DDLE** No. 1*
*THE DIFFICULTY OF KNOWING WHY ONE IS A HINDU*
India is a congeries of communities. There are in it Parsis, Christians,
Mohammedans and Hindus. The basis of these communities is not racial. It is
of course religious. This is a superficial view. What is interesting to
know is why is a Parsi a Parsi and why is a Christian a Christian, why is a
Muslim a Muslim and why is a Hindu a Hindu? With regard to the Parsi, the
Christian and the Muslim it is smooth sailing. Ask a Parsi why he calls
himself a Parsi he will have no difficulty in answering the question. He
will say he is a Parsi because he is a follower of Zoroaster. Ask the same
question to a Christian. He too will have no difficulty in answering the
question. He is a Christian because he believes in Jesus Christ. Put the
same question to a Muslim. He too will have no hesitation in answering it.
He will say he is a believer in Islam and that is why he is a Muslim.
Now ask the same question to a Hindu and there is no doubt that he will be
completely bewildered and would not know what to say.
If he says that he is a Hindu because he worships the same God as the Hindu
Community does his answer cannot be true. All Hindus do not worship
one God. Some
Hindus are monotheists, some are polytheists and some are pantheists. Even
those Hindus who are monotheists are not worshippers of the same Gods. Some
worship the God Vishnu, some Shiva, some Rama, some Krishna. Some do not
worship the male Gods. They worship a goddess. Even then they do not
worship the same Goddesses. They worship different Goddesses. Some worship
Kali, some worship Parvati, some worship Laxmi.
Coming to the Polytheists they worship all the Gods. They will worship
Vishnu and Shiva, also Rama and Krishna. They will worship Kali, Parvati
and Laxmi. A Hindu will fast on the Shivaratri day because it is sacred to
Shiva. He will fast on Ekadashi day because it is sacred to Vishnu. He will
plant a Bel tree because it is sacred to Shiva and he will plant a Tulsi
because it is dear to Vishnu.
Polytheists among the Hindus do not confine their homage to the Hindu
Gods. No Hindu hesitates to worship a Muslim Pir or a Christian Goddess.
Thousands of Hindus go to a Muslim Pir and make offerings. Actually, there
are in some places Brahmins who own the office of a hereditary priesthood
of a Muslim Pir and wear a Muslim Pir's dress. Thousands of Hindus go to
make offerings to the Christian Goddess Mant Mauli near Bombay.
The worship of the Christian or Muslim Gods is only on occasions. But there
are more permanent transfer of religious allegiance. There are many
so-called Hindus whose religion has a strong Muhammadan content. Notable
amongst these are the followers of the strange Panchpiriya cult, who
worship five Muhammadan saints, of uncertain name and identity, and
sacrifice cocks to them, employing for the purpose as their priest a
Muhammadan Dafali fakir. Throughout India many Hindus make pilgrimages to
Muhammadan shrines, such as that of Sakhi Sarwar in the Punjab.
Speaking of the Malkanas Mr. Blunt says that they are converted Hindus of
various castes belonging to Agra and the adjoining districts. chiefly
Muttra, Ettah and Mainpuri. They are of Rajput, Jat and Bania descent. They
are reluctant to describe themselves as Musalmans, and generally give their
original caste name and scarcely recognize the name Malkana. Their names
are Hindu; they mostly worship in Hindu temples: they use the salutation
Ram-Ram: they intermarry amongst themselves only. On the other hand, they
sometimes frequent a mosque, practice circumcision and bury their dead:
they will eat with Muhammadans if they are particular friends.
In Gujarat there are several similar communities such as the Matia *Kunbis,*
who call in Brahmans for their chief ceremonies, but are followers of the
Pirana saint Imam Shah and his successors, and bury their dead as do the
Muhammadans: The Sheikhadas at their weddings employ both Hindu and a
Muhammadan priest, and the Momans who practice circumcision, bury their
dead and read the Gujarati Koran, but in other respects follow Hindu custom
and ceremonial.
If he says that "I am a Hindu because I hold to the beliefs of the Hindus" h
is answer cannot be right for here one is confronted with the fact that
Hinduism has no definite creed. The beliefs of persons who are by all admitted
to be Hindus often differ more widely from each other than do those of
Christians and Muhammadans. Limiting the issue to cardinal beliefs the
Hindus differ among themselves as to the beliefs which arc of cardinal
importance. Some say that all the Hindu scriptures must be accepted, but som
e would exclude the Tantras, while others would regard only the Vedas as of
primary importance; some again think that the sole essential is belief in
the doctrine of karma and metempsychosis.
A complex congeries of creeds and doctrines is Hinduism. It shelters within
its portals monotheists, polytheists and pantheists; worshippers of the
great Gods Shiva and Vishnu or of their female counterparts, As well as
worshippers of the divine mothers or the spirits of trees, rocks and
streams and the tutelary village deities; persons who propitiate their
deity by all manner of bloody sacrifices, and persons who will not only
kill no living creature but who must not even use the word 'cut '; those
whose ritual consists mainly of prayers and hymns, and those who indulge in
unspeakable orgies in the name of religion; and a host of more or less
heterodox sectaries, many of whom deny the supremacy of the Brahmans, or at
least have non-Brahmanical religious leaders.
If he says that he is a Hindu because he observes the same customs as other
Hindus do his answer cannot be true. For all Hindus do not observe the same
customs.
In the north near relatives are forbidden to marry; but in the south cousin
marriage is prescribed, and even closer alliances are sometimes permitted.
As a rule female chastity is highly valued, but some communities set little
store by it, at any rate prior to marriage, and others make it a rule to
dedicate one daughter to a life of religious prostitution. In some parts
the women move about freely; in others they are kept secluded. In some
parts they wear skirts; in others trousers.
Again, if he said that he is a Hindu because he believes in the caste
system his answer cannot be accepted as satisfactory. It is quite true that
no Hindu is interested in what his neighbour believes, but he is very much
interested in knowing whether he can eat with him or take water from his
hands. In other words, it means that the caste system is an essential
feature of Hinduism and a man who does not belong to a recognized Hindu
Caste cannot be a Hindu. While all this is *true* it must not be forgotten
that observance of caste is not enough. Many Musselman and many Christians
observe caste if not in the matter of inter-dining certainly in the matter
of inter-marriage. But they cannot be called Hindus on that account. Both
elements must be present. He must be a Hindu and he must also observe
caste. This brings us back to the old question who is a Hindu? It leaves us
where we are.
Is it not a question for every Hindu to consider why in the matter of his
own religion his position is so embarrassing and so puzzling? Why is he not
able to answer so simple a question which every Parsi, every Christian, and
every Muslim can answer? Is it not time that he should ask himself what are
the causes that has brought about this religious chaos?
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
KR KR A parsi may say Followers also believe in angels, heaven
and hell, God and Satan, an immortal soul and the last judgement.
Priesthood is hereditary in Zoroastrianism, and all religious ceremonies
are led by priests. Both male and female followers are initiated into the
faith through the Navjote ceremony. Initiated adherents have to follow a
dress code of the faith. Shenshani, Qadimi and Fasli are three major
denominations and the three calendars that followers of the Zoroastrian
faith use. When each significant day is celebrated or commemorated differs
depending on which denomination and calendar adherents follow.There are
divisions between the Mumbai and the Pakistanis.
Though the two main sects within Islam, Sunni and Shia, agree on most
of the fundamental beliefs and practices of Islam, a bitter split between
the two goes back some 14 centuries. The divide originated with a dispute
over who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad as leader of the Islamic faith
he introduced.
Islamic schools and branches have different understandings of Islam. There
are many different sects or denominations, schools of Islamic
jurisprudence, and schools of Islamic theology, or ʿaqīdah (creed). Within
Islamic groups themselves there may be differences, such as different
orders (tariqa) within Sufism, and within Sunnī Islam different schools of
theology (Atharī, Ashʿarī, Māturīdī) and jurisprudence (Ḥanafī, Mālikī,
Shāfiʿī, Ḥanbalī).Groups in Islam may be numerous (the largest branches are
Shīʿas and Sunnīs), or relatively small in size (Ibadis, Zaydīs,
Ismāʿīlīs). Differences between the groups may not be well known to Muslims
outside of scholarly circles, or may have induced enough passion to have
resulted in political and religious violence (Barelvi, Deobandi, Salafism,
Wahhabism) ] There are informal movements driven by ideas (such as Islamic
modernism and Islamism) as well as organized groups with a governing body
(Ahmadiyya, Ismāʿīlism, Nation of Islam). Some of the Islamic sects and
groups regard certain others as deviant or accuse them of not being truly
Muslim (for example, Sunnīs frequently discriminate against Ahmadiyya,
Alawites, Quranists, and Shīʿas). Some Islamic sects and groups date back
to the early history of Islam between the 7th and 9th centuries CE
(Kharijites, Sunnīs, Shīʿas), whereas others have arisen much more recently
(Islamic neo-traditionalism, liberalism and progressivism, Islamic
modernism, Salafism and Wahhabism) or even in the 20th century (Nation of
Islam). Still others were influential in their time but are not longer in
existence (non-Ibadi Kharijites, Muʿtazila, Murji'ah). Muslims who do not
belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under
one of the identifiable Islamic schools and branches are known as
non-denominational Muslims.
It is important to explain that many sects—including Salafi, Deobandi,
and Wahabi—do not believe in Ahadith and Sunnah but rely solely on the
Quran. They believe that any individual can translate the Quran. The Sunni,
Sufi, Shia, and Berelvi sects believe the contrary.
Christianity is divided between Eastern and Western theology. In
these two divisions there are six branches: Catholicism, Protestantism,
Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Assyrians.
Restorationism is sometimes considered the seventh branch.
Followers of Jesus span the globe. But the global body of more than 2
billion Christians is separated into thousands of denominations.
Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Apostolic, Methodist — the
list goes on. Estimations show there are more than 200 Christian
denominations in the U.S. and a staggering 45,000 globally, according to
the Center for the Study of Global Christianity
<https://www.gordonconwell.edu/center-for-global-christianity/research/quick-facts/>.
So why does Christianity have so many branches?
A cursory look shows that differences in belief, power grabs and corruption
all had a part to play.
But on some level, differentiation and variety have been markers of
Christianity since the very beginning, according to Diarmaid MacCulloch,
professor emeritus of church history at the University of Oxford in the
United Kingdom. "There's never been a united Christianity," he told Live
Science. KR IRS 27 7 23
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