HINDUISM

KNOW OUR HINDUISM.. 3       J K  SIVAN 

In the good old past, the Persians referred to the present Indus River as Hindu, which was a derivative of the word Sindhu.  They could not pronounce the  sound  ''s''.    The people living in the region of River Sindhu therefore  were known as Hindus. This name got stuck and used by the invaders and others in India.  You will not find  ''Hindu'  in Vedhas  as it was known as only  Sindhu.   Hindus are  a large number of people in the world following an ancient culture and tradition. Part of the Hindus at one time or the other became Budhdhistgs, Jains, as their religion was born out of Hinduism.    Our religion is known as Hindu Sanathana Dharma.

The  present India was once Bharatha Varsha, spreading right upto   Afghanistan on the north-west  upto Myanmar in the east.   Mahabharatha characters  Sakuni and Gandhari were from Gandhar now known as Kandahar in Afghanistan.  Gandhari   the queen mother of Kouravas,  gave birth to  100 sons, the eldest being Duryodhana.  Down south, the nation extended upto  Kerala, known as Parasurama Kshethra. We had a good relationship with China from the beginning.   The Chinese  described as  golden sea of people, fought on the side of the Kauravas in  great war of Mahabaratha at Kurukshethra.

We are blessed with great rivers and there is a sloka we recite daily while bathing :   ''gaṅge ca yamune caiva godāvari sarasvati . narmade sindhu kāveri jalesmin sannidhimkuru ..This is recited by all   in their daily prayers, worshipping  all the rivers of the country.  We go on pilgrimage to the twelve famous shrines of Shiva (Jyotirlingas), the eighteen shrines of Shakti (śakti-pīthas) and 106  out of  108 holy places of  Maha Vishnu temples, known as Divya Desas.  Thruparkadal and Vaikundam are the two places we cannot reach with this  earthly body.

 wherever we may reside. Even an unlettered Indian, located anywhere in the country, would owe allegiance to all these shrines, which have become part of the Indian psyche. One has to listen to the mahāsaṅkalpam (a long hymn to our mother land) which is recited at the time of marriage, in order to understand the glorious vision of our country.

Mahabharata and Ramayana contain several descriptions of the geography of Bharata-varsha, as it was then called. There are details of several small kingdoms and their geographical details. Mahabharata describes the kings who took part on behalf of Kauravas or Pandavas in the war. Sanskrit abounds in such description of kingdoms. All these underline the cultural oneness of India.

The two epics  Ramayana and Mahabaratha  educate us for centuries and continues to attract almost every Hindu who is fond of divine stories.

Hindus  had trade relations with far east countries also, such as Cambodia, Thailand Malaysia and there are still evidences and traces of Hinduism and our way of life, culture and traditions and belief.