Name immaterial, practice is what counts for being a Hindu: SC
Dhananjay Mahapatra
Dhananjay Mahapatra
TNN, Sep 10, 2010, 03.30am IST
courtesy: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Name-immaterial-practice-is-what-counts-for-being-a-Hindu-SC/articleshow/6526489.cms
NEW DELHI: Nearly 15 years ago the Supreme Court had found it tough to define Hinduism and had said it was a way of life. Now, it has found it equally difficult to crystallise who could be termed as a Hindu.
Can a person with a Christian name be counted as a Hindu? He can be, said the SC adopting the Shakespearian logic, "what's there in a name", but with two caveats -- he must follow the practices of Hinduism professed in the area and be accepted by the community as a Hindu.
This important ruling came in a case relating to AIADMK MLA M Chandra, whose election from the Rajapalayam scheduled caste reserved constituency was annulled by the Madras High Court faulting her for being a Christian yet concealing the same to contest from a reserved constituency.
Accepting her arguments that she had converted to Hinduism and had always practised Hindu rituals, a Bench comprising Justices D K Jain and H L Dattu said that as long as she was accepted as part of the Hindu community in the locality and there was nothing to contradict that she had converted to Hinduism, her election could not have been set aside.
Justice Dattu, writing the judgment for the Bench, said: "Hinduism is not a religion with one God and one Holy Scripture. The practices vary from region to region, place to place. The Gods worshipped, the customs, traditions, practices, rituals etc. they all differ, yet all these people are Hindus."
"The determination of religious acceptance of a person must not be made on his name or his birth. When a person intends to profess Hinduism, and he does all that is required by the practices of Hinduism in the religion or by the caste to which he belongs, and he is accepted as a Hindu by all persons around him," the Bench said.
Quoting from the book "Facets of Hinduism" by Swami Harshananda, Justice Dattu said: "Hinduism appears to be a very complex religion. It is like a centre of gravity doll which always regains its upright position however much it may be upset. Hinduism does not have a single founder, a single book, a single church or even a single way of life."
if one doesnt believe in Gita one summarily exclused oneself from the hindu faith. Gita states the core doctrines of hinduism as follows- dharma, karma, rebirth, yoga and moksha. Those of you who call it mumbo jumbo have clearly never made an attempt to understand the essence of the vedas. Dont flatter yourselves, preaching all the tolerance to the hindus. Tolerance was dealt with there in the very first scripture of hindus, namely RigVeda circa 3,500 BC.
Thats the spirit of Hinduism, it never binds people with rules, people are let to be people. Self discipline is inculcated in the true form.
This is very true. But can & is becoming weakness in light of some aggressive religions. Every Hindu must be alert from these invaders otherwise the derived definitions will remain only in the books.
courtesy: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Name-immaterial-practice-is-what-counts-for-being-a-Hindu-SC/articleshow/6526489.cms
NEW DELHI: Nearly 15 years ago the Supreme Court had found it tough to define Hinduism and had said it was a way of life. Now, it has found it equally difficult to crystallise who could be termed as a Hindu.
Can a person with a Christian name be counted as a Hindu? He can be, said the SC adopting the Shakespearian logic, "what's there in a name", but with two caveats -- he must follow the practices of Hinduism professed in the area and be accepted by the community as a Hindu.
This important ruling came in a case relating to AIADMK MLA M Chandra, whose election from the Rajapalayam scheduled caste reserved constituency was annulled by the Madras High Court faulting her for being a Christian yet concealing the same to contest from a reserved constituency.
Accepting her arguments that she had converted to Hinduism and had always practised Hindu rituals, a Bench comprising Justices D K Jain and H L Dattu said that as long as she was accepted as part of the Hindu community in the locality and there was nothing to contradict that she had converted to Hinduism, her election could not have been set aside.
Justice Dattu, writing the judgment for the Bench, said: "Hinduism is not a religion with one God and one Holy Scripture. The practices vary from region to region, place to place. The Gods worshipped, the customs, traditions, practices, rituals etc. they all differ, yet all these people are Hindus."
"The determination of religious acceptance of a person must not be made on his name or his birth. When a person intends to profess Hinduism, and he does all that is required by the practices of Hinduism in the religion or by the caste to which he belongs, and he is accepted as a Hindu by all persons around him," the Bench said.
Quoting from the book "Facets of Hinduism" by Swami Harshananda, Justice Dattu said: "Hinduism appears to be a very complex religion. It is like a centre of gravity doll which always regains its upright position however much it may be upset. Hinduism does not have a single founder, a single book, a single church or even a single way of life."
if one doesnt believe in Gita one summarily exclused oneself from the hindu faith. Gita states the core doctrines of hinduism as follows- dharma, karma, rebirth, yoga and moksha. Those of you who call it mumbo jumbo have clearly never made an attempt to understand the essence of the vedas. Dont flatter yourselves, preaching all the tolerance to the hindus. Tolerance was dealt with there in the very first scripture of hindus, namely RigVeda circa 3,500 BC.
Thats the spirit of Hinduism, it never binds people with rules, people are let to be people. Self discipline is inculcated in the true form.
This is very true. But can & is becoming weakness in light of some aggressive religions. Every Hindu must be alert from these invaders otherwise the derived definitions will remain only in the books.
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