Editing Hinduism (section)

=== Sense of unity ===
Despite the differences, there is also a sense of unity.{{sfn|Halbfass|1991|p=15}} Most Hindu traditions revere a body of religious or [[sastra|sacred literature]], the Vedas,{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}} although there are exceptions.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=35}} These texts are a reminder of the ancient cultural heritage and point of pride for Hindus,<ref name=andreapinkney /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Haines |first=Jeffrey |title=Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-415-60029-3 |page=80}}</ref> though [[Louis Renou]] stated that "even in the most orthodox domains, the reverence to the Vedas has come to be a simple raising of the hat".<ref name="andreapinkney">{{Cite book |last=Pinkney |first=Andrea |title=Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-415-63503-5 |editor-last=Turner |editor-first=Bryan |pages=31–32 |editor-last2=Salemink |editor-first2=Oscar}}</ref>{{sfn|Halbfass|1991|p=1}}

Halbfass states that, although Shaivism and Vaishnavism may be regarded as "self-contained religious constellations",{{sfn|Halbfass|1991|p=15}} there is a degree of interaction and reference between the "theoreticians and literary representatives"{{sfn|Halbfass|1991|p=15}} of each tradition that indicates the presence of "a wider sense of identity, a sense of coherence in a shared context and of inclusion in a common framework and horizon".{{sfn|Halbfass|1991|p=15}}

==== Classical Hinduism ====
[[Brahmin]]s played an essential role in the development of the post-Vedic Hindu synthesis, disseminating Vedic culture to local communities, and integrating local religiosity into the trans-regional Brahmanic culture.{{sfn|Deutsch|Dalvi|2004|pp=99–100}} In the post-[[Gupta empire|Gupta period]] Vedanta developed in southern India, where [[Brahmanism|orthodox Brahmanic culture]] and the Hindu culture were preserved,{{sfn|Deutsch|Dalvi|2004|pp=100–101}} building on ancient Vedic traditions while "accommoda[ting] the multiple demands of Hinduism."{{sfn|Deutsch|Dalvi|2004|p=101}}

==== Medieval developments ====
The notion of common denominators for several religions and traditions of India further developed from the 12th century CE.<ref>{{harvnb|Nicholson|2010|p=2}}; {{harvnb|Lorenzen|2006|pp=1–36}}</ref> Lorenzen traces the emergence of a "family resemblance", and what he calls as "beginnings of medieval and modern Hinduism" taking shape, at c. 300–600 CE, with the development of the early Puranas, and continuities with the earlier Vedic religion.{{sfn|Lorenzen|2006|p=36}} Lorenzen states that the establishment of a Hindu self-identity took place "through a process of mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim Other".{{sfn|Lorenzen|1999|p=648}} According to Lorenzen, this "presence of the Other"{{sfn|Lorenzen|1999|p=648}} is necessary to recognise the "loose family resemblance" among the various traditions and schools.{{sfn|Lorenzen|1999|pp=648, 655}}

[[File:Pashupatinath Temple-2020.jpg|thumb|227x227px|[[Pashupatinath Temple]] in [[Nepal]], dedicated to the [[Hindu]] deity [[Shiva]] as the lord of all beings]]

According to the Indologist [[Alexis Sanderson]], before Islam arrived in India, the "Sanskrit sources differentiated Vaidika, Vaiṣṇava, Śaiva, Śākta, Saura, Buddhist, and Jaina traditions, but they had no name that denotes the first five of these as a collective entity over and against Buddhism and Jainism". This absence of a formal name, states Sanderson, does not mean that the corresponding concept of Hinduism did not exist. By late 1st-millennium CE, the concept of a belief and tradition distinct from Buddhism and Jainism had emerged.<ref group=web name=sandersonpart1 /> This complex tradition accepted in its identity almost all of what is currently Hinduism, except certain [[antinomian]] tantric movements.<ref group=web name=sandersonpart1 /> Some conservative thinkers of those times questioned whether certain Shaiva, Vaishnava and Shakta texts or practices were consistent with the Vedas, or were invalid in their entirety. Moderates then, and most orthoprax scholars later, agreed that though there are some variations, the foundation of their beliefs, the ritual grammar, the spiritual premises, and the soteriologies were the same. "This sense of greater unity", states Sanderson, "came to be called Hinduism".<ref group=web name=sandersonpart1 />

According to Nicholson, already between the 12th and the 16th centuries "certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the 'six systems' (''saddarsana'') of mainstream Hindu philosophy."{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=2}} The tendency of "a blurring of philosophical distinctions" has also been noted by [[Mikel Burley]].{{sfn|Burley|2007|p=34}} Hacker called this "inclusivism"{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}} and Michaels speaks of "the identificatory habit".{{sfn|Michaels|2004}} Lorenzen locates the origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus,{{sfn|Lorenzen|2006|pp=24–33}} and a process of "mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim other",{{sfn|Lorenzen|2006|p=27}}{{sfn|Sharma|2002}} which started well before 1800.{{sfn|Lorenzen|2006|pp=26–27}} Michaels notes:
{{blockquote|As a counteraction to Islamic supremacy and as part of the continuing process of regionalization, two religious innovations developed in the Hindu religions: the formation of sects and a historicization which preceded later nationalism ... [S]aints and sometimes militant sect leaders, such as the Marathi poet Tukaram (1609–1649) and Ramdas (1608–1681), articulated ideas in which they glorified Hinduism and the past. The Brahmins also produced increasingly historical texts, especially eulogies and chronicles of sacred sites (Mahatmyas), or developed a reflexive passion for collecting and compiling extensive collections of quotations on various subjects.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=44}}}}

==== Colonial views ====
The notion and reports on "Hinduism" as a "single world religious tradition"{{sfn|King|1999|pp=100–102}} were also popularised by 19th-century proselytising missionaries and European Indologists, roles sometimes served by the same person, who relied on texts preserved by Brahmins (priests) for their information of Indian religions, and animist observations that the missionary Orientalists presumed was Hinduism.{{sfn|King|1999|pp=100–102}}<ref name=ronaldinden127 />{{sfn|Sweetman|2004|pp=14–15}} These reports influenced perceptions about Hinduism. Scholars such as Pennington state that the colonial polemical reports led to fabricated stereotypes where Hinduism was mere mystic paganism devoted to the service of devils,{{refn|group=note|Pennington{{sfn|Pennington|2005|pp=76–77}} describes the circumstances in which early impressions of Hinduism were reported by colonial era missionaries: "Missionary reports from India also reflected the experience of foreigners in a land whose native inhabitants and British rulers often resented their presence. Their accounts of Hinduism were forged in physically, politically and spiritually hostile surroundings [impoverished, famine-prone Bengal – now West Bengal and Bangladesh]. Plagued with anxieties and fears about their own health, regularly reminded of colleagues who had lost their lives or reason, uncertain of their own social location, and preaching to crowds whose reactions ranged from indifference to amusement to hostility, missionaries found expression for their darker misgivings in their production of what is surely part of their speckled legacy: a fabricated Hinduism crazed by blood-lust and devoted to the service of devils."}} while other scholars state that the colonial constructions influenced the belief that the ''Vedas'', ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'', ''[[Manusmriti]]'' and such texts were the essence of Hindu religiosity, and in the modern association of 'Hindu doctrine' with the schools of Vedanta (in particular Advaita Vedanta) as a paradigmatic example of Hinduism's mystical nature".{{sfn|King|1999|p=169}}{{refn|group=note|name="Sweetman"}} Pennington, while concurring that the study of Hinduism as a world religion began in the colonial era, disagrees that Hinduism is a colonial European era invention.{{sfn|Pennington|2005|loc=pp. 4–5 and Chapter 6}} He states that the shared theology, common ritual grammar and way of life of those who identify themselves as Hindus is traceable to ancient times.{{sfn|Pennington|2005|loc=pp. 4–5 and Chapter 6}}{{refn|group=note|Many scholars have presented pre-colonial common denominators and asserted the importance of ancient Hindu textual sources in medieval and pre-colonial times:
* Klaus Witz<ref>{{Cite book |last=Witz |first=Klaus G |title=The Supreme Wisdom of the Upaniṣads: An Introduction, Motilal Banarsidass |year=1998 |isbn=978-81-208-1573-5 |pages=10–11|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. }}</ref> states that Hindu [[Bhakti movement]] ideas in the medieval era grew on the foundation of Upanishadic knowledge and Vedanta philosophies.
* John Henderson<ref>{{Cite book |last=Henderson |first=John |title=Scripture, Canon and Commentary |url=https://archive.org/details/scripturecanonco0000hend |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-691-60172-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/scripturecanonco0000hend/page/120 120]}}</ref> states that "Hindus, both in medieval and in modern times, have been particularly drawn to those canonical texts and philosophical schools such as the Bhagavad Gita and Vedanta, which seem to synthesize or reconcile most successfully diverse philosophical teachings and sectarian points of view. Thus, this widely recognised attribute of Indian culture may be traced to the exegetical orientation of medieval Hindu commentarial traditions, especially Vedanta.
* Patrick Olivelle<ref name=Olivelle2014p3q>{{Cite book |last=Olivelle |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Olivelle |title=The Early Upanisads |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-535242-9 |page=3 |quote=Even though theoretically the whole of Vedic corpus is accepted as revealed truth [shruti], in reality it is the [[Upanishad]]s that have continued to influence the life and thought of the various religious traditions that we have come to call Hindu. Upanishads are the scriptures par excellence of Hinduism.}}</ref> and others<ref>{{harvnb|Doniger|1990|pp=2–3}}: "The Upanishads supply the basis of later Hindu philosophy; they alone of the Vedic corpus are widely known and quoted by most well-educated Hindus, and their central ideas have also become a part of the spiritual arsenal of rank-and-file Hindus."</ref><ref name=McDowell>{{Cite book |last1=McDowell |first1=Michael |title=World Religions |last2=Brown |first2=Nathan |publisher=Penguin |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-59257-846-7 |pages=208–210}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dissanayake |first=Wiman |title=Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-7914-1080-6 |editor-last=Kasulis |editor-first=Thomas P. |page=39 |display-editors=etal}}</ref> state that the central ideas of the Upanishads in the Vedic corpus are at the spiritual core of Hindus.}}

==== Hindu modernism and neo-Vedanta ====
[[File:Swami Vivekananda-1893-09-signed.jpg|thumb|[[Swami Vivekananda]] was a key figure in introducing [[Vedanta]] and Yoga in Europe and the United States,{{sfn|Feuerstein|2002|p=600}} raising interfaith awareness and making Hinduism a world religion.{{sfn|Clarke|2006|p=209}}]]
{{Quote box
 |quote  = All of religion is contained in the Vedanta, that is, in the three stages of the Vedanta philosophy, the Dvaita, Vishishtâdvaita and Advaita; one comes after the other. These are the three stages of spiritual growth in man. Each one is necessary. This is the essential of religion: the Vedanta, applied to the various ethnic customs and creeds of India, is Hinduism.
|author = — [[Swami Vivekananda]]<ref group=web>{{cite web|url=https://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_5/epistles_first_series/039_alasinga.htm|title=Complete-Works/Volume 5/Epistles – First Series|access-date=2024-01-27|website=ramakrishnavivekananda.info|archive-date=27 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127095409/https://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_5/epistles_first_series/039_alasinga.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
|width  = 30%
|align  = right|salign=right
}}
{{See also|Hindu reform movements}}

{{See also|Orientalism|Neo-Vedanta}}
This inclusivism<ref>Hackel in {{harvnb|Nicholson|2010}}.</ref> was further developed in the 19th and 20th centuries by [[Hindu reform movements]] and Neo-Vedanta,{{sfn|King|2001}} and has become characteristic of modern Hinduism.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}}

Beginning in the 19th century, Indian modernists re-asserted Hinduism as a major asset of Indian civilisation,{{sfn|King|1999}} meanwhile "purifying" Hinduism from its Tantric elements{{sfn|Lorenzen|2002|p=33}} and elevating the Vedic elements. Western stereotypes were reversed, emphasising the universal aspects, and introducing modern approaches of social problems.{{sfn|King|1999}} This approach had great appeal, not only in India, but also in the west.{{sfn|King|1999}} Major representatives of [[Neo-Vedanta|"Hindu modernism"]]{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=258}} are [[Ram Mohan Roy]], [[Swami Vivekananda]], [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]] and [[Mahatma Gandhi]].{{sfn|Flood|1996|pp=256–261}}

Raja Rammohan Roy is known as the father of the [[Hindu Renaissance]].<ref name="hindu1">{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Serinity |title=Hinduism |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7614-2116-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/hinduism0000youn/page/87 87] |quote=Rammohun Roy Father of Hindu Renaissance. |url=https://archive.org/details/hinduism0000youn |access-date=19 February 2015 |url-access=registration}}</ref> He was a major influence on Swami Vivekananda, who, according to Flood, was "a figure of great importance in the development of a modern Hindu self-understanding and in formulating the West's view of Hinduism".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=257}} Central to his philosophy is the idea that the divine exists in all beings, that all human beings can achieve union with this "innate divinity",{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=258}} and that seeing this divine as the essence of others will further love and social harmony.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=258}} According to Vivekananda, there is an essential unity to Hinduism, which underlies the diversity of its many forms.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=258}} According to Flood, Vivekananda's vision of Hinduism "is one generally accepted by most English-speaking middle-class Hindus today".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=259}} Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan sought to reconcile western rationalism with Hinduism, "presenting Hinduism as an essentially rationalistic and humanistic religious experience".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=249}}

This "Global Hinduism"{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=265}} has a worldwide appeal, transcending national boundaries{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=265}} and, according to Flood, "becoming a world religion alongside Christianity, Islam and Buddhism",{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=265}} both for the Hindu diaspora communities and for westerners who are attracted to non-western cultures and religions.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=265}} It emphasises universal spiritual values such as social justice, peace and "the spiritual transformation of humanity".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=265}} It has developed partly due to "re-enculturation",{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=267}} or the [[pizza effect]],{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=267}} in which elements of Hindu culture have been exported to the West, gaining popularity there, and as a consequence also gained greater popularity in India.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=267}} This globalisation of Hindu culture brought "to the West teachings which have become an important cultural force in western societies, and which in turn have become an important cultural force in India, their place of origin".{{sfn|Flood|1996|pp=267–268}}

==== Modern India and the world ====
[[File:Hare Krishna in Helsinki H1118 C.JPG|thumb|The [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness|Hare Krishna]] group at the [[Esplanadi Park]] in [[Helsinki, Finland]]]]
The [[Hindutva]] movement has extensively argued for the unity of Hinduism, dismissing the differences and regarding India as a Hindu-country since ancient times.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hansen|first=Thomas Blom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAqn3OIGE54C|title=The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India|year=1999|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=978-1-4008-2305-5|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=SAqn3OIGE54C&q=hindutva+in+modern+india 77]|language=en|access-date=2 March 2021|archive-date=16 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116180224/https://books.google.com/books?id=SAqn3OIGE54C|url-status=live}}</ref> And there are assumptions of political dominance of [[Hindu nationalism]] in [[India]], also known as '<nowiki/>''Neo-Hindutva''<nowiki/>'.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Anderson|first1=Edward|last2=Longkumer|first2=Arkotong|date=2 October 2018|title='Neo-Hindutva': evolving forms, spaces, and expressions of Hindu nationalism|journal=Contemporary South Asia|volume=26|issue=4|pages=371–377|doi=10.1080/09584935.2018.1548576|issn=0958-4935|doi-access=free|hdl=20.500.11820/8da58c02-ac36-46f1-a4f6-71ad6be1be09|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chacko|first=Priya|date=2019c|title=Marketizing Hindutva: The state, society, and markets in Hindu nationalism|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/abs/marketizing-hindutva-the-state-society-and-markets-in-hindu-nationalism/92243742C585CD73910BA63030F6A655|journal=Modern Asian Studies|language=en|volume=53|issue=2|pages=377–410|doi=10.1017/S0026749X17000051|hdl=2440/117274|s2cid=149588748|issn=0026-749X|hdl-access=free|access-date=2 March 2021|archive-date=7 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307235100/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/abs/marketizing-hindutva-the-state-society-and-markets-in-hindu-nationalism/92243742C585CD73910BA63030F6A655|url-status=live}}</ref> There have also been increase in pre-dominance of [[Hindutva]] in [[Nepal]], similar to that of [[India]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=As Nepal Strives to Become More Inclusive, Are Muslims Being Left Behind?|url=https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/insights/24085/will-an-incident-of-anti-muslim-violence-upend-nepals-bid-for-inclusivity|access-date=2 March 2021|website=www.worldpoliticsreview.com|date=30 January 2018|language=en|archive-date=13 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413000033/https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/insights/24085/will-an-incident-of-anti-muslim-violence-upend-nepals-bid-for-inclusivity|url-status=live}}</ref> The scope of Hinduism is also increasing in the other parts of the world, due to the cultural influences such as [[Yoga]] and [[Hare Krishna movement]] by many missionaries organisations, especially by [[ISKCON]] and this is also due to the migration of [[Indian Hindus]] to the other nations of the world.{{sfn|Hatcher|2015|p=239}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Berg|first1=Travis Vande|last2=Kniss|first2=Fred|date=2008|title=ISKCON and Immigrants: The Rise, Decline, and Rise Again of a New Religious Movement|journal=[[The Sociological Quarterly]]|volume=49|issue=1|pages=79–104|doi=10.1111/j.1533-8525.2007.00107.x|issn=0038-0253|jstor=40220058|s2cid=146169730}}</ref> Hinduism is growing fast in many [[Hinduism in the West|western nations]] and in some [[Hinduism in Africa|African nations]].{{Refn|* Hinduism is the fastest growing religion in [[Hinduism in Russia|Russia]], [[Hinduism in Ghana|Ghana]] and [[Hinduism in the United States|United States]]. This was due to the influence of the [[ISKCON]] and the migration of [[Hindus]]  in these nations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scroll.in/article/700557/how-iskcon-took-hinduism-to-the-us-heartland|title=How ISKCON took Hinduism to the US heartland|access-date=9 April 2021|website=scroll.in|date=17 January 2015|archive-date=11 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511101216/https://scroll.in/article/700557/how-iskcon-took-hinduism-to-the-us-heartland|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Hinduism in the West|In western nations]], the ''growth of Hinduism'' has been very fast and is the second fastest growing religion in [[Europe]], after [[Islam]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.erg.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.329209.1492613166!/menu/standard/file/Hinduism%20in%20Europe_Abstracts.pdf|title=Hinduism in Europe|website=[[Microsoft Word]]|date=28 April 2017|access-date=9 April 2021|archive-date=23 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523082912/https://www.erg.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.329209.1492613166!/menu/standard/file/Hinduism%20in%20Europe_Abstracts.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>|name=ty78|group=note}}