Review: HINDUISM: TRIUMPHS AND TRIBULATIONS

HINDUISM: TRIUMPHS AND TRIBULATIONS

Hinduism: Triumphs and Tribulations S.K. Kulkarni, Indus Source Books, Mumbai. 2007, pp 319, Rs 299.00

One of the strengths of sanatana dharma is the interest of ordinary citizens in their religion and their commitment to it. There are many enthusiastic individuals who publish, either privately or through reputed publishers, books about Hinduism and its use and relevance in the modern world, Sri Kulkarni, who was an auditor in the Central Government and is now an avid writer and commentator on Hinduism and the associated concerns of caste, conversion and secularism. He is not blinded by the paradoxes and contradictions of the religion. Nor is he an apologist.

The book is a riveting read. It is written in a simple, unpretentious style. The author deals with complex and controversial subjects with clarity and takes an objective look at thorny issues like Hindu-Muslim relations with empathy.

Though the origins of the sanatana dharma, casteism, conversion and idol worship are well examined, it is the final chapter on the challenge to modern Hinduism that holds the reader's interest most. Secularism, pseudo or real, is now more keenly debated perhaps than ever before since India won freedom.

Kulkarni examines the question of equal opportunity for all citizens in the eye of the law and the ever-increasing trend of self-interested, self-aggrandizing politicians subverting democracy by pandering to sub-castes or a minority for the sake of votes. India is such an extraordinary complex country to govern, being a plural society with a multitude of languages, castes and religions, that she faces far greater challenges than most other countries of the world. Population, history different religions, social and economic inequality all have to be factored into any reasonable solution. It seems an impossible task, but the spirit of the tolerance and good-will typical of the Hindu mind shines as light amid the encircling gloom. But much hard work has to be put in the domains of universal education, equal opportunity based on merit, and justice and ending the sordid politics of power-seekers intent on personal glory and wealth gained at any cost. The intellectual elite which, by virtue of merit, would be natural leaders, have since many decades, had to lag behind making way for those sections of society which for centuries has suffer from neglect and outright oppression. This is social justice at a price.

The first third of the book covers the history of sanatana dharma from the origin of the Vedas and Puranas down to the rules of the Moghuls and the British. Both these rulers, in their own ways, endangered the fabric of Hinduism, the first by their attacks on temples and threats to the social patterns which resulted in Hindus retreating into ritualism and rigidity of caste, and the second, by spreading western values and education to the detriment of Hindu mores and alienating the social and political leaders from their cultural and religious roots.

The greatness of sanatana dharma is its sponge-like quality of absorbing something without losing its identity. Sanatana dharma absorbed the good and not so good of these conqueror but it has been resilient enough to maintain its inner vitality. The threat today is not overt aggression but the slow but incremental decline in the traditional values due to the new wave of materialism accompanying globalization and the concomitant western corporate ideas of development and profit which we see entering the texture of our national life. India will eventually be successful on the world stage in business and technology, but at what cost to family, social and environmental values? The price may be higher than the majority of people may believe. The younger generation, through education and work obligations, is being cut off from family roots which for generations had their connection, however tenuous, to villages.

Sri Kulkarni's timely book on a timeless phenomenon, that is Hinduism, is well worth reading.