Origin of the terms ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hinduism’……
“SANATANA DHARMA,” the most ancient of all the living religions today—popularly called “Hinduism” now, though that appellation is not very correct to denote any religion, as we still see later—is not exactly a “Religion” in the strict sense of the term, but a “Way of life” based on the eternal, unchanging and sustaining time-tested wisdom and “Values of life”, as the very name implies. The Hindu scriptures do not give any definition of Hindu or Hinduism, as these two words are of comparatively very recent origin, and so could not find a place in any of the ancient scriptures. Here a reference to the genesis of the two words “Hindu” and “Hinduism,” which are not even Indian in origin may be relevant and interesting.
When the Persians came to India, they found a wonderful civilization flourishing in the Indo Gangetic Plain, which in the existing language of the time, was known as “Sindhu-Ganga Samatala.” So they called these people “Sindhus,” with reference to the place where they lived, but due perhaps to some peculiarity in their pronunciation of the letter “Sa” which sounded as “Ha”, they really called them “Hindu”. When the Westerners followed the Persians into this land, they also called them “Hindu” after the Persians and added “ism” to denote the religion they followed, thus coining the word “Hinduism”. In course of time the two words softened to “Hindu” and “Hinduism”, which have now come to stay. Therefore etymologically, the word “Hindu” means an inhabitant of the land of the Sindhu—that is India—and not merely a person who follows a particular religion.
When a set of people live in a certain geographical area for a certain length of time, following certain discipline, way and values of life, they develop in course of time, certain distinct characteristics of their own, and this is called their culture. The Persians found the inhabitants of the Sindhu valley and were very impressed with their civilization and culture. They called them “Sindhus,” taking into consideration their environments, culture, civilization and other distinct traits and mode of life, and it is this word that has metamorphosed into “Hindu” and “Hinduism.”
Even granting that “Hinduism” is a religion, in the widely accepted connotation of the term, one has to accept that it stands unique in so far as this is the only non-prophetic religion in the world. While all the other major religions, each stands firmly rooted in the historicity of one person and one doctrine in each case; like the Buddha and the Doctrine of Enlightenment in Buddhism; Mohammad the Prophet and the Doctrine of Revelation in Islam; Jesus Christ and the Doctrine of Resurrection in Christianity etc., we find that “Hinduism” i.e. Sanatana Dharma, does not depend upon the historicity of any one individual or his spiritual experiences, or doctrines propounded by any single person on his personal experience.
As the name implies, it is based upon certain eternal principles and values of life which hold good for all people for all the time, irrespective of personalities involved. True we hold as sacred, several personalities and even gods in Hinduism, and even worship them; but they are not essential, as Hinduism will continue with the same force, even if all these personalities and gods, are out of it. In its base, Hinduism is a strictly “Monotheistic” and pantheistic religion, misunderstood as polytheistic in its concept, by the large majority of people, even among Hindus themselves.
For the uninitiated, the difficulty comes in because, for the different words, Deva, Eswara, Brahman etc., employed in this religion, the only available equivalent in English is “God,” though the three words above-mentioned stand at three different levels of concept. And the greatest tragedy of the modern times, is that the Indian of today, is trying to understand ‘his own’ Indian Philosophy, through the medium of English, a foreign tongue, the vocabulary of which is grossly inadequate to express the highly subtle and suggestive ideas so beautifully and comprehensively expressed in the “refined” language that is Sanskrit, the vast treasure-house and repository of real and profound “Man-making knowledge.”
(Source: Hinduism That Is Sanatana Dharma by Swami Nityananda)
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