Message to my dear Hindutva friends

 

Message to my dear Hindutva friends

Sujay Rao Mandavilli

November 2025

Let us begin this blog post by briefly discussing and reviewing what Hinduism is. Hinduism is an ancient religion, perhaps one of the oldest surviving religion on earth in one sense of the term, and it encompasses a diverse set of complex religious traditions all of which originated in the Indian subcontinent, with only minor extraneous outputs and influences. Hinduism is characterized by, and encompasses a wide range of religious and spiritual beliefs, practices, traditions, and philosophies that often include the worship of multiple Gods and deities (a pantheon of Gods) as manifestations of a single, ultimate reality called the Paramatma or the Brahman. Hinduism does not have a single founder, a central authority, or a single holy book, instead encompassing a rich body of literary texts such as the Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita. Core concepts like dharma (righteous living), karma, moksha, Sanatana Dharma, ahimsa, and reincarnation are central to many Hindu traditions, and these form an integral part of Hinduism. Hinduism is therefore, not just a religion, it is a way of life. The phrase "Hinduism is a way of life" suggests that it's not a singular, rigid religion but a comprehensive system of living that encompasses diverse philosophies, cultures, and spiritual practices. This perspective is supported by the Indian Supreme Court and prominent figures like Sadhguru and Swami Vivekananda, who emphasize its inclusive and all-encompassing nature. 

Therefore, Hinduism is by its very nature, highly adaptive, highly flexible, and ever evolving and ever changing. This is an attribute that we must always emphasize. This is the biggest asset of Hinduism, truth be told, and all things evaluated and considered. That is why we have had schools of thought in Hinduism such as Astika and Nastika schools, Vaishesika school, the Nyaya school, Ajnana school, Charvaka or the Lokayata school, Mimamsa school etc. We had also proposed a Vijnana or Vagnanika school in Hinduism. All religions are not equal, but Hinduism need not be incompatible with scientific enquiry and scientific thought; as a matter of fact, it can be fully compatible with them. Narrow and sectarian interpretations of Hinduism would therefore, not stand it in good stead. As a matter of fact, they would harm the cause of Hinduism, and bring it a bad name both in India and abroad. We must always bear this fact in mind. If Hinduism were to gain the respect, the dignity and the attention it deserves, we must proceed with dynamic and progressive interpretations of Hinduism. At the same time, perceptions of Hinduism in the west, and historical models that are used to study Hinduism are utterly obsolete and outdated. BR Ambedkar, though a victim of the caste system, unfairly attacked Hinduism based on outdated, western perceptions, conveniently ignoring the fact that he himself was very much a cultural Hindu. As a matter of fact, it may even be that Hinduism is the most widely and highly misunderstood major religion on the planet. Marxists must also take a fair share of blame and responsibility, given the fact that they stuck to antiquated shibboleths that were long past their expiry date. At the same time, we must also concur with the realization that Marxism in all its forms is dead, and will eventually vanish into the annals of history. These concerns no longer apply in the twenty-first century.

History of Hinduism

Hinduism has a truly hoary past. It has often been described as a way of life. It is a truly diverse religion, encompassing many different types of beliefs. It has no founder and is a geographical expression. Even though the term Hinduism is of fairly recent origin, and was probably first used in reference to the Indus river by Alberuni in the Tenth century, and the Hindu religion is in some respects the oldest on earth. Moreover, elements of what we know as Hinduism are older and may even date to the Stone Age. However, older names such Arya or noble in opposition to the Dasas were or the Mlechas and Sanathana Dharma were used before the term Hinduism came into use. Hinduism is both a hierarchical and polycentric religion. It is hierarchical because of the caste system and polycentric because there can be no centralized authority. It is also diverse along geographical and ethnic lines with institutionalized and inbuilt discrimination mechanisms and with a bewildering array of belief systems. 

However, most historical models to study Hinduism are badly outdated. Hinduism is not centered around the caste system alone as imagined by many scholars, particularly western ones, and some Dalit ones. In many periods of Hindu history, and among many communities, the caste system was either non-existent or extremely feeble. Hinduism is so complex and diverse, that there are many philosophical systems such as the Charvaka school which do not believe in the idea of God, a soul, or an afterlife. Hinduism by whatever name called, also produced profound philosophical works like the Upanishads.

The roots of Hinduism lie in the Indus Valley Civilization which encompassed most of North-Western India. The precursor to the Indus Valley Civilization arose in Baluchistan in Mehrgarh in 7000 BC but we know little about its religion. The ruins of the Indus Valley Civilization were first described by Charles Masson in 1866. There were discovered when a railway track was being built. The first Indus seal was described by Alexander Cunningham in 1873 and further excavations were carried out by Fleet in 1907. The civilization came to light after major excavations in the 1920’s by Daya Ram Daya Ram Sahni, Madho Sarup Vats, RD Banerji and others. Animals are widely represented in the Indus seals, but it is unclear whether they are religious symbols. Marshall in 1931 in the publication “Mohenjodaro and the Indus Valley civilization” suggested that one of the deities was an archaic version of the God Siva. The cult of the mother was also widely used in the Indus valley. Another famous deity was the Lord of the Beasts. Some have also claimed that the Great Bath of Mohenjodaro which was forty feet by twenty three feet wide was used for ritual bathing. In the 1990’s a Swastika symbol came to light, and this is associated with later Hinduism. Some figurines depicting the Indian greeting ‘Namaste’ have also been claimed in addition to Vedic fire altars from Kalibangan, though these manifest towards the end of the Indus Valley Civilization. 

In all probability, the Hindu religion arose as a result of a complex process of multi-stage acculturation between major and minor religious groups residing in the region. According to the old theory, the Aryans entered India in 1500 BC, but this is disputed. We had explained in our previous papers why this may have been unlikely. There may have been peaceful migrations, and migration may have happened earlier than previously assumed. Thus the transformation of the Indus valley to Post-Harappan India may have been a complex process. Aryan culture appears to have peaked around 1500 BC, its formation having been aided by inputs from Ancient Iran from 1700 BC. Hinduism was thus a melange and a fusion of various streams of beliefs, which included Aryan, Harappan beliefs in addition to other minor beliefs of North India. Thus, Proto-Siva may have been absorbed into the Hindu pantheon as the God of destruction, Yama, another perhaps less known deity of the north as the God of death: much of this however, remains a conjecture. The Rig Veda, the oldest and the most archaic among the Vedas was compiled in 1500 BC. It was largely passed down orally. The other Vedas were Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda. Early Upanishads were the Brihadaryanaka Upanishad, Chandogya Upanishad, Kaushitaki Upanishad. The Satapata Brahmana was compiled in 800 BC. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata were believed to have been compiled between 200 BC and 200 AD, though sections may have been much older. 

Therefore, Hinduism is truly diverse unlike Christianity and Islam, which are more monolithic in nature, and are mostly derived from a single tradition. Hinduism is therefore a way of life, and represents the cultures and traditions of the diverse peoples of India. According to Hinduism, God is present in everything at all times. Therefore, Hinduism talks about Vasudeva Kutumbam, which means the whole world is one family. This is the tradition of Hinduism that we must embrace. Unfortunately, historical models to study Hinduism are badly outdated, and Hinduism studies have greatly suffered as a result. Hinduism studies in some Western circles, have been wrongly and fallaciously associated with the caste system, and this is wrong. Ambedkar may also have criticized Hinduism bitterly due to his own unfortunate personal experiences, but his criticism may also have been based on outdated historical models. While many course corrections are indeed required, and models for the study of ancient Indian history must be brought uptodate, some fanatical interpretations of Hinduism that are based on a hatred of other cultures and traditions have emerged in the recent past.

This will only bring Hinduism and Indian cultural and religious traditions a bad name, and must be nipped in the bud. This is because people are now better educated that ever before (The world has also become highly globalized, and barriers are being rapidly broken down). People can therefore easily see through them. It therefore stands to reason that enlightened and progressive interpretations of Hinduism must prevail. Interpretations of Hinduism must also be in line with a scientific temper, as Hinduism can easily be made relatively compatible with modern science, at least in relation to other religions. We propose that this can be called the Vijnana school in Hinduism, The Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had fought valiantly against the evils and the evils of the caste system in the early twentieth century. They must also therefore fight for scientific and liberal interpretations of Hinduism, a move that will only stand them in good stead, and help the cause of Hinduism and India as well. 

The following are a strict no no

Some kind of an extremely innocuous form of Hindutva may be tolerable, but extremely virulent versions must be chastized. Hindutva groups must not. Hindutva has sometimes only been described as Hinduness, and according to Julius J. Lipner, the term gained political ascendency towards the end of the Colonial era. The movement gained further traction in the 1990’s, when the BJP shot into fame and prominence. An innocuous definition of Hindutva may be fine, but the following may not be, including the politicization of the term Hindu:

1.       Misrepresent history to suit a narrow version of Hinduism, namely Brahminsm, or promote other altered forms of history.

2.       Must not interfere with the inculcation of a scientific temper, and the inculcation of scientific values. Also refer to our works on twenty-first century intellectualism. Most Indians unfortunately do not possess a scientific temper even to this day.

3.       Must not promote hatred against other religious groups; however, all religions are open to criticism. There must be a spirit of religious harmony at all times, though the importance of religion will in must wane in societies in future.

4.       Must not discriminate between people of different faiths.

5.       Must not seek to override or overturn the constitution, and values of fair justice.

6.       Religious values must not be allowed to override universal human values.

7.       Must not otherwise, and in any other way or fashion, interfere with internal or international peace and harmony. Indian and Hindu culture, values and traditions may be allowed to flourish and thrive if they do not trample upon other people’s rights. 

If all these ideas are being compromised with, we need to think twice, and think again. It is time to marshall all our resources to ruminate and ponder how post-Hindutva schools of thought can be articulated and concretized. After all, the interests of society must always reign supreme, and must override all other considerations at all times. India and Hindu society must also win the respect of people from all over the world as India positions itself as a scientific superpower and a research and development hegemon.