Rekindle this trueness of faith

Never can there be a better occasion than celebrating the trueness of Hinduism on Ganesh Chaturthi. The sustenance of this religion comes from its liberal constructs and appreciation of diverse beliefs within its common realm. As the Supreme Court observed in Adi Saiva Sivachariyargal Nala Sangam & Ors vs the Government of Tamil Nadu & ANR, 2015, Hinduism, as a religion, incorporates all forms of belief without mandating the selection or elimination of any one single belief.

It is a religion that has no single founder; no single scripture and no single set of teachings. The greatness of Hinduism stems out of the fact that it encompasses wide expanse of beliefs, thoughts and forms of worship without any divergence or friction within itself or amongst its adherents. Image worship is a predominant feature of Hindu religion. The origin of image worship lies in the transition of human civilisation.

The Madras High Court in a judgement delivered a century ago in Gopala Mooppanar and others vs. Subramania Iyer and others offers a learned discourse on the origins of image worship observed in Hindu religion. In the first stage of existence of mankind God was worshiped as immanent in the heart of everything and worship consisted solely in service to ones fellow creatures.

In the second stage, the spirit of universal brotherhood lost its initial efficacy and notions of inferiority and superiority amongst men surfaced leading to a situation where the inferior man was asked to worship the superior man who was considered as a manifestation of God. Disputes arose about the relative superiority and inferiority which was resolved by the wise sages by introducing image worship to enable all men to worship God without squabbles about their relative superiorities.

The battle of the soul of Hinduism is to protect the inclusive character of true Hinduism against the exclusive interpretations of a fundamentalist view of this religion. This battle is of immense value to sustain Hinduism for centuries to come. For Gandhiji, Hinduism was a religious faith that is far easier to describe than define. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in his illustrious work, Hindu View of Life, philosophises Hindu religion as a spiritual quest, not a doctrinal creed. The underlying unity that grounds the diversity of the religious traditions is the essential element of Hinduism.

True believers of Hinduism therefore should strive for upholding this spiritual quest for universal brotherhood as espoused by the Hindu religion. Gandhiji redefined Hinduism as the spirit of service as the religious texts state that there are many ways of reaching God. The reality of God is the unity of all life and valuing ahimsa as a way of life. In fact, the path of service gives universality to the religion. Religion therefore is a means for self purification rather than self assertion.

As Gandhiji said, “If I were asked to define Hindu creed, I should simply say: Search after truth through non-violent means. A man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu. Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after truth”. Sri Ramakrishna taught us that realisation of God is the spiritual discipline of doing good to the world. Rekindle this trueness of faith.