Meaning and Origin Of The Word "Hindu"
The word Hindu is very much misunderstood and misused. Many people have no idea how the word originated. In India, some politicians use the the words Hindu and Hindutva with communal overtones either to promote or oppose some ideology or party. To the rest of the world, Hindu and Hinduism refer to a set of people belonging to definite religious system.
The fact is that the BOTH the words "Hindu" and "India" have foreign origin. The word "Hindu" is neither a Sanskrit word nor is this word found in any of the native dialects and languages of India. It should be noted that "Hindu" is NOT a religious word at all. There is no reference of the word "hindu" in the Ancient Vedic Scriptures.
It is said that the Persians used to refer to the Indus river as Sindhu. Indus is a major river which flows partly in India and partly in Pakistan. However, the Persians could not pronounce the letter "S" correctly in their native tongue and mispronounced it as "H." Thus, for the ancient Persians, the word "Sindhu" became "Hindu." The ancient Persian Cuneiform inscriptions and the Zend Avesta refer to the word "Hindu" as a geographic name rather than a religious name. When the Persian King Darious 1 extended his empire up to the borders of the Indian subcontinent in 517 BC, some people of the Indian subcontinent became part of his empire and army. Thus for a very long time the ancient Persians referred to these people as "Hindus". The ancient Greeks and Armenians followed the same pronunciation, and thus, gradually the name stuck.
The word "India" also has a similar foreign origin. Originally, the native Indians used to address the Indian subcontinent as "Bharat". As a matter of fact in Mahabharat,which is one of the two "Itihasa", we find reference of the word "Bharat". As per legend, the land ruled by the great King "Bharata" was called Bharat.
The ancient Greeks used to mispronounce the river Sindhu as Indos. When Alexander invaded India, the Macedonian army referred to the river as Indus and the land east of the river as India. The Greek writers who wrote about Alexander preferred to use the same name.
For the Arabs the land became Al-Hind. The Muslim rulers and travelers who came to India during the medieval period referred the Indian subcontinent as "Hindustan" and the people who lived there as Hindus.
Thus, if we go by the original definition of the word Hindu, any person living in the land beyond the river Indus is a Hindu and whatever religion he or she practices is Hinduism, the word Hindu is a secular word. Hinduism denotes any religion or religions that are practiced by the people living in the Indian subcontinent.
The proper word to use for those people who follow the Scriptures of The Vedas is "Sanatana Dharma", not "Hinduism" as is commonly used.
23 - Thumak Chalat Ramchandra(MyMp3Song.Com).mp3
Hind Swaraj Or The Indian Home-Rule’ (1909):
The Gandhian Concept Of Self-Rule
HIND SWARAJ, the title of the first definitive writing of Mahatma Gandhi, and which continues to evoke critical interest the world over even now, literally means ‘self-rule in India’.
This small book of about 30,000 words was written in Gujarat in November 1909 on board the ship during Gandhi’s return trip from England to South Africa after an abortive mission, within 10 days, 40 of the 275 pages being written with left hand. As stated by Gandhiji himself: “I wrote the entire Hind Swaraj for my dear friend Dr. Pranjivan Mehta. All the argument in the book is reproduced almost as it took place with him.” [CWMG 71: 238] It was published in the Indian Opinion in Natal and was soon banned by Government in India because it contained ‘matter declared to be seditious’. On that, Gandhi…
WHAT IS SWARAJ?
Everyone appeared to known in 1909 the meaning of Swaraj; it meant freedom the British rule. But Gandhi had a different view of Swaraj. To him, self-rule meant not only the by Indians but also and more importantly, a rule by Indians but also and more importantly, a rule by Indians rooted in Indian Values, and ethos. Gandhi was not satisfied with Indian becoming free just by throwing the British out. This could be done by done by revolting against them, as the Americans did in 1776, and Indians too tried to repeat the American feat in 1857, even if unsuccessfully. Indians talking up arms to defend their birth right of liberty, equality and fraternity would have not been an illegitimate activity. But Gandhi changed the picture and made the struggle for independence form British rule but also form modern civilization.
The Freedom struggle in India aimed at:
Forcing the British to quit India;
Using only the nonviolent means;
Training people to be good human beings by self-control (Swaraj). Applied to larger human congregates like villages, towns, cities and regional, it meant self- government charged with the responsibility of protecting the human rights of all citizens irrespective of their social, political, and economic background;
Educating people to give priority to their duties to words others including nature; and
Organizing the society and economy of free India in such a way that the basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, health, education, security, and self-esteem) of all were met satisfactorily and on a priority basis.
Elaborating on the means to attain Swaraj he tells the reader. “I believe that you want him million of Indians to be happy, not that you want to he reins of government in your hands. If that be so, we have to consider only one thing: how can the million obtain self-true?”3 Self administration by force of arms, for violence breeds violence and eye for eyes leaves every one blind. There is other way, a peaceful way. That is to refuse to obey the unjust laws and be ready to go to jail; to be beaten, and even killed. No government can function if the people in mass refuse to obey its laws. “What we need to do is sacrifice ourselves. It is a cowardly thought, that of killing others. Dhingra was a patriot, but his love was blind”.4
Those who want to throe the British out by violence would not bring Swaraj. “In effect it means this: that we want English rule without the Englishman. You want the Tigers nature, but not the tiger; that is to say would make India English. And when it becomes English, it will be called not Hindustan but Englistan. This is not the Swaraj that I want”.5
The model of Swaraj he presented before the people of India was Ram Raj (rule of Lord Ram) wherein people were sovereign; they were free from all sufferings. They followed certain ethical norms under which rights and duties were weaved together in to a common whole. Even the king was not spared of his obligation. He had to go in exile because the queen mother so watched; he had to live his wife because people had doubts about her chastity; his younger brother refuse to become king because it was the privilege of the elder brother; he did not cross river Ganga without paying the charges to the boatman; and he was so kind and generous that the tribal communities habiting the forest thought which he passed on his way to Lanka become his most ardent followers, He likened them to his brothers. Rama talked about duties, not of right. Following his steps, Gandhi considered rights and duties as two side of the same coin; none could exist without the order. He gave priority to duties if all individuals, communicates, and government authorities performed their duties well, the alone leads to neglect of duties, clashes of interests, and animosities among the people.
What Gandhi said then, came true in 1947. We forced the British out but the British system of governance and the British mentality continue to this day. There is hardly a difference between the pomp and show the British officer exhibited and the ones that our ministers and show the British officers exhibited and the ones that our ministers and officials display. Every one in India wanted to be treated as ‘Lot Comandal’ the common man’s version of lord commander. Unless one gets X, Y, Z category security, he is not important. There are VIPs, VVIPs, VVVIPs,
India is the largest democracy of the world. Its democratic structure is a mixture of British and American systems. What is Indian therein? It is the people who run it – the Civil Servants, the members of parliament, and State Legislatures, and the judiciary. Only names have changed. ICS become IAS, House of Commons become Lok Sabha, House of Lord Become Rajya Sabha, and The Lord Chancellor becomes the Chief justice of India. It is surprising indeed that the draft of the Indian Pinal Code was prepared under the chairmanship Lord Macaulay and enriched by the provisions in the French Penal Code and Livingstone’s code of Louisiana and puisne judges of the Calcutta Supreme Court, was enacted in 1860. Unfortunately Macaulay did not survive to see his masterpiece enacted into a law.
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