By December 2023, the total population of the world had crossed 806 crores, out of which 140 crore people are addressed as Bhartiya, Bharatvasi, Indians or Hindustani. These names raise the question that how did we get all these names? Can it be assumed that the meaning of all the names is the same? For self-identification, answers to questions are often sought in the name itself. Some sections of the society feel proud by calling themselves Hindus, while many say Indian and many say by adding their religious name to Bharat. But Article 1(1) of the Indian Constitution states, “India… which is Bharat….”
The word Hindu originated from the word Sindhu, which remained the medium of identity for Bharat, Hindustan and India for ages. The basis of the word Hindu is geographical form. Thousands of years ago, a way of life developed on the banks of the Indus Valley with the knowledge of Vedic culture, which over time spread from the Himalayas to the sea. In the world’s first written book, Rigveda, this region has been called Sapta Sindhu, meaning the region of seven rivers. Another word has been used for this region in the Vedas, which is Brahmavarta or Aryavarat.
Due to language errors, ancient Iranian thinkers wrote Sapta Sindhu as ‘Hapt Hindu’ in their literature because Iranians pronounce S as H. Hapt Hindu is also mentioned in the holy book of Parsi religion ‘Avesta’. On the basis of Vedas, Parsi literature and Iranian literature, the region was named Hindustan or Sindhustan.
When the Greeks came to this region in the fourth century under the leadership of Alexander, they referred to Sindhu as Indus and called the local residents Indians. In the 15th century, Columbus set out in search of India by sea and after reaching the American shores, he started using the name India, he started calling the local people Indians there, later to correct the mistake, European thinkers started calling the American natives ‘Red Indians’.
Hindustan, Bharat and Bhartiya are all synonyms of the word Hindu, the main basis of which is one country, one culture. Due to European influence, the words India and Indian were more popular than Hindustan and Bharat. By the end of British rule, the words Hindustan and Bharat had faded from the consciousness of the local people, while the words India and Indian were more commonly used in their place.
According to historical evidence, the name of Bharat remained popular after the name of Samrat (empeor) Bharat because this region was dominated by him. The word Bharat is also mentioned in Vishnu Purana-Uttaram yat Samudrasya Himadreshchaiva Dakshinam. Varsham tad Bharatam naam, Bharati yatra santati.
That is, the name of the region between the sea in the north and the Himalayas in the south is Bharat and the descendants of this place are called Indians.
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the second President of India, in his address to the nation on Republic Day on 26 January 1965, used a verse taken from the book ‘Kularnava Tantra’:
“Himalayaat Samarabhya Yavat Indu Sarovaram. Tan Devniritam Desh Hindusthan Prachakshte” –
(Brahspati Aagam).
Meaning: Starting from the Himalayas till Indu Sarovar (Indian Ocean), this God created country is called Hindustan.
Dharma
Dharma is different from religion. The closest meaning of dharma is Religion in the English dictionary. The word dharma originated from the Sanskrit root Dhri which means to hold, that supports all, which is the basis of all, is dharma. The work of which leads to public upliftment and spiritual salvation is a religious practice. The meaning of dharma is not related to any kind of worship method.
For example, the duty of fire is to burn, this is its duty. The duty of a judge of a court is to follow justice and do justice, this is his duty. The duty of a soldier is to protect the country, in the same way, a father, mother, wife, son, daughter have their own responsibilities towards the family, which is their duty to fulfil.
In the same way, being aware of the responsibilities in life and discharging the responsibilities with complete honesty is the observance of Dharma.
Our Sanatan culture is the basic of Indian culture, which is inspired by the Vedic mantra ‘Ekam Sadvipraah Bahuda Vadanti’, which means that truth is only one but there are many ways to say it. Similarly, the concept of Dharma is contained in the Vedas, that is why it is also called Vedic Dharma. Lord Buddha and Mahavir Jain emphasized these basic qualities by adding the quality of Non-Violence. Due to the similarity in basic knowledge, Buddha Sect and Jain Sect are part and symbol of Sanatan culture. According to social perspective, Dharma is a type of life style which gives form to the society through the karma based ‘Varna System’.
Hindutva
Hindutva is a national word, which is the geographical and cultural identity of India. Hindutva is the basis of the culture that has been going on since time immemorial. Hindutva was neither started by anyone nor was it invented, it does not have any founder. Hindutva is a national stream, which was defined by the Incarnate Men, Maharishis and National Leaders as per the time by developing the ideals and principles of Hindutva. Buddhist, Jain, Shaivism, Vaishnava, Sikh, all sects are geographical identities and different forms of Hindutva which have come into existence, according to the need of the nation and society. In many indian philosophies of spirituality, the feeling of national dedication is called Hindutva. Those who believe in Hindutva can choose any method of worship as per their wish and accept that method. They cannot be tied to any method of worship. Their followers do not have any specific name but the basis of all of them is nation-centric ideology.
Self-realization of Hindutva
Till now, the idea of activities of Hindus is connected with national sentiment in an integrated manner. Sanatani, Satnami, Sikh, Arya, Maratha, Jain etc. all accepted defeat by calling themselves Hindus and also achieved victory by becoming Hindus. All of them gave up all other names of land and caste and established only the names Hindu, Hindustan or Indian. Names like Jambudweep, Aryavarat, Dravid etc. proved incapable of explaining the political or cultural characteristics of Indians. All those who considered the land from river to the Ocean as their birthplace and those who resided from the Indus river to the Indus coast knew that they were residents of Hindustan and this was their Identity. The ideology of eliminating all kinds of social and religious discriminations in the area from Attock to Cuttack and giving it a unified form came in the form of Hindutva.
By doing a historical analysis and critique of all the events that have happened so far, it will be known that the prestige and independence of Hindustan is not only of the Hindustan region but also of Hindutva culture and national unity, for which many political strategies and battlefields had to be faced. The word Hindutva is the backbone of Indian politics which reflects a sentiment from Kashmir to Kanyakumari (Book: Hindutva, Author: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Page: 62)
Essential Characteristics of Hindutva
A person who is a citizen of Hindustan by ancestral tradition is a Hindu geographically. This is also the first characteristic of a Hindu. But this is not the only characteristic, because Hindu is only one feeling of Hindustan, it cannot be said that there is no other. But this will be possible only when the racial and cultural feelings that encourage aggression and selfish tendencies are destroyed and all religions abandon their purity and establish the basic eternal elements and thoughts of the world on a civil platform. The entire human family needs a strong base without any discrimination to live a glorious life. (Book: Hindutva, Author: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Page: 99)
Only Hindus and Jews have succeeded in preserving the original identity on the geographical basis. Those who accept or not accept the existence of God, believe in any religion, belief or philosophy or social system, are Hindus. Because the essential characteristic of a Hindu is to be ‘Hindu by Blood’. That is why, those who love this land spread from himalayas to the ocean as their fatherland and the caste that has progressed from the Sapta Sindhu period in ancient times till the present time by adopting others, are Hindus. (Book: Hindutva, Author: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Page: 107).
The characteristics of Hindutva are same history, same sky, same laws, same behaviour, same scriptures, same festivals etc. This means that the Indian citizen who considers the region from the Indus river to the Indian ocean as his motherland is a Hindu. The Indians who have been converted cannot be called Hindus on religious grounds, but on geographical grounds, they will be called Hindus irrespective of any religion or sect. (Book: Hindutva, Author: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Page: 122).
The foundation of Indian culture and geographical identity, Hindu Dharma, was translated into English and presented as religion, which became the cause of many kinds of misunderstandings. Ideologically, Abrahamic orthodox religious ideology was imposed on liberal Hinduism, in which the seeds of fundamentalist mentality were sown in Hindus at many levels.
Indian culture is eternal, but attempts are being made to understand it from short-term communal aspects. The society which enjoys all kinds of concessions constitutionally and has an overwhelming majority among the minorities, accuses the Hindu society of exploitation, for which many kinds of articles, films and messages are used. In Hinduism, those who acquire knowledge are called Brahmins and often in movies, this trend is portrayed as a thug and a thief. By using words like ‘Muh mein ram, bagal mein churi’, a peaceful society is shown as violent and faithless. The narrative prevalent on the geographical basis of India was that India did not exist before the British, which was refuted on factual basis. The Aryan invasion theory propagated by the British is the most dangerous idea, which was refuted by Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, but due to the influence of ideological revolution, the English idea had become popular, whose effect can be seen in the present times in divisive issues like North vs South, Arya vs Dravid, Hindi vs Tamil etc.
· Comparison of Dharma with Mazhab
Dharam and Mazhab are the closest Hindi and Persian translations of the English word Religion, but on historical and fundamental grounds, Dharam and Mazhab are different philosophies. Mazhab is the propagation of a certain doctrine in which the messages and holy books given by the Prophet are accepted as facts and the system is accepted. In this, monopoly of truth is claimed and if someone does not accept this monopoly, then he is called a heathen or a Kafir. Heathens or Kafirs are neither worthy of any mercy nor the sympathy of the followers of the Prophet. Those who believe in Mazhab believe in the system of monotheistic and intolerant thoughts. The feeling of brotherhood and humanism is limited only to the understanding people. There is no place for factual thoughts in the mentality of Mazhab, there is no permission to ask questions, due to which many castes have developed ideologically in Mazhab. For example: Shia and Sunni in Islam, Catholic and Protestant in Christianity, etc. The effect of these four differences is being seen in the form of fundamentalism and conservative mentality all over the world.
The effect of monotheism in Abrahamic thoughts is so much that they do not consider anyone equal to the ‘religion leader’ and if someone considers anyone equal then the punishment for that crime is only death.
Four things are necessary for a religion:
One founder (prophet), One book, One method of worship and One name of the followers.
Like the founder of Christianity is Jesus Christ, One book is Bible, One method of worship is Church and One name of the followers is Christian.
One prophet of Islam is Hazrat Mohammad Saheb, One book is Quran, One method of worship is Namaaz and the name of the followers is Muslim.
In fact, over time the feeling of religion became narrow and fanatic which has moved towards communalism and Extremisim. (Book: Narrative Ka Mayajaal, Author: Balbir Punj, Page: 69).
The basis of India is Hindutva, which is completely different from religious ideology. While Hindutva promotes liberal mindset, religion supports conservative mindset. On the other hand, there is Hindutva which accepts even if there is no ideological agreement, on the other hand, there is religion which gives death penalty if there is no agreement. It is because of the cultural unity of this India that many traditions, worship methods, languages are flourishing in India, otherwise the religious end has destroyed the basic ideas of almost half the world.
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