Hinduism: A Conglomerate

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About The Book

Hinduism is the coming together of thousands of thought processes which have taken millennia to form. In many ways it is like a huge conglomerate rock. In the conglomerate rock, the binding elements are the sticky silt and earthy chemicals; likewise, the conglomerate that is Hinduism is bound together by the elements of a common philosophy, heritage and culture.

Hinduism: A Conglomerate presents a panoramic and chronological view of this ancient religion, and tries to reinforce the binding element of our composite culture, which is seemingly getting weaker and weaker every day. And, at its heart, this book reconnects the reader to the spiritual and cultural treasures of Hinduism.

About the Author

DEEPAK BANDYOPADHYAY is an engineering and management professional. His articles on topics related to engineering and standardization have been published in various journals. He is well into writing his second book.

Foreword

The history of mankind has seen the rise, fall and even extinction of civilizations. The lust for power and wealth kindles the emotions of greed and anger, which in turn, corrode the foundations of ideals of a sustainable civilization. History is replete with the Egyptian, the Grecian, the Persian, the Roman, the Chinese and the Mexican chronicles. The Hindu civilization, however, has survived through time with reasonable success. Whenever there has been a danger to its continued sustainability, circumstances and intelligent minds have manoeuvered to give it a new direction, concomitant with the life-force that energized and nourished the land and its people. It is these historical undercurrents that have operated through the millennia and are continuing along with various uncommon facts, which Deepak Bandyopadhyay (Deepuda) has attempted to briefly document in this book.

The need for a document of this type and size is not far to seek. In the fast-paced modern world of today, where stress is endemic, crafty politicians and other opportunity seekers repeatedly misrepresented historical perspectives in order to fragment Indian society and slice it into compartments, with a view to consolidating their materialistic gains. They have failed to recognize that their actions would eventually spoil the life, dignity and even existance of their progeny. Deepuda has taken up the writing of this book as an attempt to making available some unbiased facts about the ancient religious thoughts of India (Hinduism). He aims to instil a sense of oneness amongst all sections of people in the perspective of our common heritage and philosophy so as to appreciate our unified culture and lastly, by suggesting a direction to strengthen the social value system which is deteriorating due to the current corrupt governance practices, political debauchery and degenerated social behaviour patterns. Decpuda has also explained the nascency of the term 'Hindu', which has come into currency only about four hundred years back. He has highlighted that all sections of Indian thought processes such as Sanatan Dharm, Arya Samaj, Jainism, Sikhism and others are all clubbed as Hinduism or its offshoots, by the rest of the world.

The history of the ancient religion of this land is a many splendoured one. Decpuda has presented a brief, panoramic and chronological view of the same in this book. Some of the information given reveals facts which are not so well-known. His attempt to link Hinduism to the broader concept of Humanism shows how Hinduism survived the onslaughts of invaders from the outside and the evil of caste domination from within. He has also established that Hinduism is friendly to all other faiths. In the Last Lap. Deepuda's mention of Lord Macaulay's strategy for the establishment of British domination over India by eroding Indian culture through western education; Churchill's prophecy about the political squabbles in an independent India: Thomas Ava Edison's formal recording of Max Muller's recitation from the Rig Ved are thought-provoking. His penetrating analysis of Dharna (opinion), Dharm (religion). Karm (deed) and Phal (result) makes fascinating reading. In the final section, Deepakda's wrap-up of the key concepts of knowledge', 'power', 'wisdom' and 'bliss" gives the concluding thought-provoking punch.

Introduction

The choice of the title of this book may raise many eyebrows. So a brief discussion on the term CONGLOMERATE may be worthwhile. Some of the well accepted definitions of this term are given below:

a) In common man's language, Conglomerate means heterogeneous elements gathered into a mass or a whole.

b) In industry, when a few companies merge together, the resultant entity is often called a 'Corporate Conglomerate'.

c) Geological Science refers to Conglomerate as a sedimentary rock formation, consisting of pebbles and gravels of different minerals. The formation of conglomerate rocks is the result of accumulation of different minerals, gradually rolling down slopes, assuming spherical or roundish shapes by rubbing against each other by the force of flowing water over millions of years and finally getting cemented together by hardened sticky silt and earthy chemicals, in a natural manner. The formation of conglomerate rock is not peculiar to our planet. In September 2012, NASA's Mars Rover expedition discovered an outcrop of conglomerate exposed on surface of Mars, with rounded clasts. This incidentally proves the presence of water on Mars once upon a time.

I believe Hinduism is a conglomerate of many thought processes that have taken thousands of years to develop. These thought processes together form a big rock that is Hinduism of today. The concept of conglomerate enshrined in geological science led me to choose this term in conceptualization of the title and contents of the book. The conglomeration in Hinduism has also been a natural social and religious developmental process. In the conglomerate rock, the binding elements are the sticky silt and earthy chemicals; likewise, the conglomerate in Hinduism has the binding elements of a common. philosophy, heritage and culture.

Why this Book

I believe in Hinduism because it primarily professes non-violence. This intrinsic non-violent attitude of Hindus can either be looked as a strength or as a weakness. In the current ambience of indiscriminate westernization and devaluation of the core goodness in our society. I am failing to find strength from Hinduism's rich heritage. Our value system is getting eroded, and all I can see is an all-round deterioration of our Indian-ness. The main binding element of our society - our composite culture is getting weaker and weaker every day. Our country might disintegrate if we do not mend our ways. I tend to believe that in India, Indians are in minority; it is not the Muslims, or the Christians or any other group. All Indians need to rise against the many ills in our society and root them out and create a sustainable and clean society.

Hinduism, as we all know, has a very long history; it also has a very large number of brilliant minds who have devoted their energy, intellect and talent to its evolution and development over the millennia. This evolution can be traced back to the times when some of the Holy Scriptures - Ved, Vedant, Ramayan, Mahabharat, Gita and Upanishad were written. It is not my place to even attempt to illustrate Hinduism in its full dimension. This book is a humble attempt to reconnect us to the spiritual and cultural treasures in Hindu civilization. It is unfortunate that the "evils" of Hindu society are talked about much more than the immense contribution this ancient religion (if we may call it so) has made in the way our country has developed.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages