INTERNAL THREATS TO HINDUISM

Jai Prakash Sharma

Concerned Hindus are getting increasingly worried on account of multi-pronged threats that their faith faces from the forces of political Islam and aggressive evangelism. Well known among the factors that contribute to the vulnerability of Hinduism are the growing ignorance of lay Hindus about their own religion and their preoccupation with achieving more and more material success. What is still not receiving adequate attention either from the Dharmacharyas or from the community leaders is the crying need to get rid of the deadly viruses in the Hindu social fabric and the operation/management of Hindu places of worship which have for centuries not only kept steadily chipping away at the social cohesion of the community but also exposed Hindus to the charge of still being in thrall of archaic and inequitable mores of behaviour. Among the major viruses of this nature one could mention the deeply ingrained prejudices which Hindus occupying a higher position in the caste hierarchy harbour towards those belonging to lower castes. This disease is not confined to the higher castes only but even those near the bottom of the scale also are equally infected. Many Hindus feel utterly ashamed to read reports of marriage processions of lower class bridegrooms being attacked by higher caste Hindus for the groom daring to ride on a horse or the accompanying band playing music. Marriages or love affairs wherein a lower caste boy or girl is involved with a higher caste partner often invite more serious punishments including murder. Recently there was a report about a priest of a village temple in Kanpur having assaulted a lower caste young man for having entered the temple.

Equally distressing are the reports of foreigners, sometimes even those who have adopted Hinduism, being denied entry to famous temples like the Jagannath temple in Puri. Then there are occasional reports of temples like Guruvayur in in south India having resorted to purificatory rituals after having been "defiled" by the entry of some member of the prohibited species. The rationale behind such practices is beyond comprehension. Every Hindu child is taught to believe that one of the attributes of Lord Rama  (or any other manifestation of the Supreme Being for that matter) is being "patita pawan" (one who transforms the fallen into a holy person).  Do our priests or temple managers believe that the defiling power of a foreigner, a woman or a Shudra is beyond the redeeming capacity of the presiding deity of the temple so that a special purificatory ritual is necessary to restore the sanctity of the temple?

Last update : 02-02-2009 06:02

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