Hinduism is a religion that does not limit itself to the rigid dictates and commandments of a single text book (welcome to the library), or a single prophet (many rishis and munis), or a single God (welcome to a pantheon of choices). It allows the followers to respect their questioning intellect and follow the propounded theories only if they satisfy logical argument.
All Hindu texts: the Upanishads , Geeta, Bhagwat, Vivekachoodamani, just about anything, adopts the free teaching technique of questions and answers. The liberty of the human mind with its right to
question is honoured. Our sacred knowledge is not a tree encased in concrete, but allowed a free and healthy growth. It Is a growing science of life that has been modified and updated many a time to be a suitable , practical, living faith.
It chooses resilience over rigidity, and remains a folio of loose sheets in which insertions and rejections are always a possibility, barring the eternal , fundamental , proven laws and truths.
With a healthy instinct of growing tradition, there is no insistence on iron- cast laws.
Hinduism is a science of life, well thought out by deep thinkers, many of whom did not even bother to put their names to these well researched texts they authored!
It’s an ancient sacred lore that teaches the art of living to eager students of life.
Not only that it’s hoary teachers encouraged questioning but invited the students to test the knowledge, and then give them the right of choice to do what their intellect dictated as right or reject outright. What could be more liberal? What could be more secular?
Prarthna Saran, president, Delhi Chinmaya Mission, can be contacted at prarthnasaran@ gmail.com