Aryans were an ancient people who originally inhabited Central
Asia and later migrated southwards to the regions stretching from Iran to
northwest India. These early Aryans had a similar language, race, culture, and
religion with many variations. The Aryans influenced by the Dravidic-culture and in later centuries other peoples also invaded and migrated to India bringing other influences and mixing many cultures ideology and beliefs.
Ancient peoples of India belong to Vedic religion or Santana
Dharma therefore they have nothing to do with the present day Hinduism. The
ancient peoples of Indus Valley or undivided India called Hindus by Muslim
Invaders.
Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is not Hinduism. The word Hindu
came originated from the word Sindhu which is another name for the river Indus.
May be people who stayed along the Sindhu (Indus) valley came to be known as
Hindus.
An exact
date of the birth of Santana Dharma cannot be given. They say that Santana Dharma is as old as
planet earth. Some claims it is 5000 to 7000 years old Ancient India consisted
of indigenous people. Aryans and
Dravidians Christian, Muslims has invaded India and all ingenious people
were converted to different faith time to time. Thus Hinduism is group of different caste,
creed and faith.
The Hindus believed in polytheism, believing all of their Gods to be separate individuals, which were introduced much later by the founders of Hinduism which contains the diverse beliefs caste and creed.
When the religion of the Veda knows no idols then why so many
gods and goddesses with different form and name are being propagated as Vedic
gods. Why these conceptual gods are introduced when the Vedic concept of God is
free from form and attributes.
Who introduced the concept of God with attributes and attributeless gods, when Yajur Veda says: - those who worship visible things, born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like), in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness. Therefore, all these add-ons proves that the form and attribute based concepts are introduced by some sages of the past with a new belief system and code of conducts in the name of Vedas.
The
vast ocean of Vedic religion or Santana Dharma was consistently steady and calm
for a very long period. It appears that as a consequence of the rage of
Buddhist revolution it got suddenly disturbed and flowed down to us in
disorder. Even today Vedic religion or Santana Dharma has not recovered from the
onslaught of Buddhism and Jainism and is not able to settle in people's heart
in its original form in the same old measure.
The Buddhist influence is seen in a great measure in the Vedic philosophy which is followed by the majority of Indians. Thus, it is clear that Vedic religion or Sanatana Dharma has not retained its original form, but been influenced by other religions has undergone a sea change. Thus the influence of Buddhism on Santana Dharma is extraordinary. Even Kumarila Bhatta, who fought with great heroism for the revival of Vedic religion, was so much influenced by Buddhism that he established for the first time in the country, an atheist Vedic religion or Sanatana Dharma. There is no room for any doubt to assert that the Kumarila Bhatta School was influenced by the atheist Buddhism because the school which is based on the validity of the Vedas and rituals refutes the existence of God.
Sage
Sri Sankara endeavoured towards establishing Vedic religion overthrowing
Buddhism. But even he was not able to avoid the influence of Buddhism. The
influence of the revolutionary atmosphere of Buddhism has reappeared in the
Advaita of Sage Sri, Sankara. His
inability to revive Vedic religion that flourished before the Buddhist
revolution in its pure form is discernible.
Many
thinkers since his time have said about sage Sri Sankara that he made use of
many important tenets of Buddhism and presented to the people the very Buddhism
in the guise of Vedic religion. Though the Vedic religion represented by Sri
Sage Sankara is like a conglomeration of many things he deserves the credit of
having turned the Hindu mind which was once averse to Vedas -the root of
Hinduism, towards the Vedas once again. For this the followers of Vedic
religion should be grateful to Sage Sri Sankara.
The
brilliance shown by Sage Sri Sankara, a man of wonderful genius, a matchless
speaker and an extra-ordinary dialectician is really a great spectacle in
history. In his time, there was a severe conflict between Buddhism and the
atheist Vedic religion of Kumarila Bhatta. Utilizing this opportunity Sage Sri
Sankara intervened in the conflict and making use of some concepts and
methodology of both the Kumarila Bhatta school and Buddhism presented a new
coalition religion before people.
Sage
Sri, Sankara gave an extraordinary charisma to this religion with the help of
his methods of logic and style of exposition. Its influence was so much that
both the Bhatta School and Buddhism had to flee from India without leaving a
trace. The absence, even today, of a single follower of the Kumarila Bhatta
school as well as of Buddhism, is a proof enough for the great achievement of
Sage Sri Sankara. This indeed is a historical miracle.
One can
see in the Vedic religion expounded by Sri Sankara a different version of the Kumarila Bhatta School and
Buddhism. That is why the tradition of following Kumarila
Bhatta methodology in expounding the Advaita thought at
the empirical level gained ground in the Advaita School. Different types of
methodology of Buddhism were absorbed into the Advaita thought, of course,
under new labels. There is very clear similarity between the Vedic religion of
Sri Sankara and Buddhism and the Advaita School have given world a common
message. The essence of both the schools is:
The entire world which one perceives is illusionary; it is just an appearance of unreality and there is only one indeterminate and attributeless Sat at the root of this world".
Hindus
are idol worshipers of the large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas the in Vedas the God has been described as:-
v Sakshi (Witness)
v Chetan
(conscious)
v Nirguna (Without form and properties).
v Nitya (eternal)
v Shuddha (pure)
v Buddha
(omniscient)
v Mukta (unattached).
The nature of the Atman (soul) is:-
v Witness
v conscious
v Without form and
properties
v eternal
v pure
v omniscient
v unattached
Thus it refers to formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (soul), the innermost self within the false experience. Thus it indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false self. Thus Atman or soul, the innermost self is God.
The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshipped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains. There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme self in i.e. Atman or soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.
That is why
Swami Vivekananda:-
The masses in India cry to sixty million gods, and
still die like dogs. Where are these gods?
Knowing this, stand up and fight! Not one step back that is the idea. ... Fight it out, whatever comes. Let the stars move from the sphere! Let the whole world stand against us! Death means only a change of garment. What of it? Thus fight! You gain nothing by becoming cowards. ... Taking a step backward, you do not avoid any misfortune. You have cried to all the gods in the world. Has misery ceased? The masses in India cry to sixty million gods, and still die like dogs. Where are these gods? ... The gods come to help you when you have succeeded. So what is the use? Die game. ... This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, my soul. You are infinite, deathless, birthless. Because you are infinite spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. ... Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is none to help you. You are the entire world. Who can help you? - Swami Vivekananda
(Delivered In
San Francisco, on May 28, 1900) -The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume
1/Lectures And Discourses/The Gita II
As indicated in ISH Upanishads: - By worshipping gods and goddesses you will go after death to the world of gods and goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spend there is wasted, because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of gods and goddesses you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into the darkness.
It clearly indicates that:-If the human goal is to acquire
Self-Knowledge then why one has to indulge in rituals and glorifying the
conceptual gods, goddesses and gurus to go in to deeper darkness. Instead spend that time moving forward towards
Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal.
Since it is eternal and infinite, it comprises the only truth. The goal of Vedic religion, through the various yogas, is to realize that the consciousness (Atman) is actually nothing but Brahman.
