Hinduism and Hinduism and monotheistic religions, foreword by David

Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri). – 2009, xxvi,550p., ind., 22cm.

ISBN 9788185990842
Price: Rs. 900.00

This volume comprises the largest collection of Shri Ram Swarup’s writings ever published
between two covers. Many of the articles have been printed for the very first time, and they span
a period of over four decades. The book includes critiques of Christian and Islamic thought from a
Hindu perspective and suggestions on how Hinduism can be practiced in modern times in tune
with its deeper spiritual teachings. It also incorporates several short articles and book reviews
written for various newspapers and magazines.
The volume is divided roughly into three sections dealing with Hinduism, Christianity and Islam
respectively. In each section, the reader will come across writings on many different topics
illuminating the Dharmic perspective on numerous issues of modern relevance. These writings
show Ram Swarup’s profound understanding of social, historical, religious and spiritual issues
and also illustrate how Dharmic principles can provide a solution to problems facing humanity
today. The author’s writings offer a compelling intellectual and spiritual defense of Hinduism vis-a-
vis competing world-views, and provide for a practical way to put Hindu renaissance back on
track.
Ram Swarup was a unique thinker who not only showed an acute awareness of modern
challenges to and distortions of Hindu traditions, but also suggested practical remedies that were
rooted in the perennial Hindu spirituality itself. He demonstrated the universality of Hinduism in
space and time and its ability to adapt itself to ever changing conditions in our world, even while
retaining its core principles. As the excesses of materialism, consumerism and terrorism in
human societies become more and more debilitating, Shri Ram Swarup’s expositions of Hindu
thought and spirituality acquire a greater relevance and significance in providing solutions to
humanity as a whole.
* * *

Paramacharya Palaniswami, Hinduism Today, Editor-in-Chief says:

“Ram Swarup is one of those rare souls whose vision exceeds that of those around them, whose
mind is so clear it can bring clarity to others. For us, the editorial staff at Hinduism Today, his
writings were a treat — always bold, incisive, unapologetic, targeting strategic issues with
uncanny precision. Our personal meetings with him and with his friend and student Sita Ram
Goel were always a delight. His passionate intellect was incandescent and it was working in
service to his deep spirituality. The Hindu world will welcome these essays, needed as much now
as when they were penned decades ago. If we could but hear him and heed him, our future would
be as strong as our past.”
 Foreword by David Frawley
(Vamadeva Shastri)

Ram Swarup
Though he never had an organization, a mission or an ashram and preferred to remain in the
background,
Ram Swarup nevertheless became one of the dominant figures in modern Hindu thought. He
brought an important new point of view into the Hindu renaissance of the past two centuries
which can move it in a new positive direction. He not only wrote about Hinduism in the India
context but relative to the world as a whole and the major movements and ideologies of our
times. He articulated a Hindu point of view in a clear, succinct, cogent and comprehensive
manner that makes it compelling for all those who have an open mind and an inner vision.
Ram Swarup represents the deeper response of the Hindu mind to the critical cultural and
religious challenges of today. His work has had a strong impact in India already but its main
impact is likely to be for the future, for generations yet to come, as he was a thinker ahead of his
time. His impact in the West, though crucial in regard to a number of individual thinkers, is yet to
come and may prove more significant. Starting with his main disciple and colleague Sitaram Goel,
he has inspired a whole group of thinkers and writers East and West, who are disseminating his
ideas and inspirations in various ways. In introducing his writings, I will try to first put the Hindu
movement into a broader perspective, reflecting my study of his writings.

Start of the Hindu Renaissance

The nineteenth century witnessed a remarkable and largely unexpected renaissance in Hindu
thought, Yoga, Veda and Vedanta that brought back to life and placed in the modern context, the
world’s oldest spiritual heritage. An ancient religion that seemed on the verge of extinction was
suddenly awake and able to express and assert itself on the stage of the modern world, providing
a new view of humanity, culture and religion that could enrich all cultures and countries.
Many western educated Hindus went back to their own traditions and sought to create new
movements within Hinduism that reflected a deeper interpretation of their older teachings as well
as a new projection of it for the modern age. They sought to restore, reform and universalize
Hindu thought. They did not see a need to abandon their traditions for the trends in western
thought or religion that they were exposed to — though that had come to dominate their country
and its educational institutions — but rather began to recognize in their own traditions something
more spiritual and more comprehensive than the products of the western mind, which seemed to
them mired in materialism and dogma.
Swami Dayananda of the Arya Samaj in the late nineteenth century brought about an
important call to return to the Vedas and provided strong critiques of western religions and
philosophies, which had put Hinduism under siege and in defense. He personally debated with
western missionaries and educators and was able to show that Hindu thought had a depth that
they could not dismiss or even counter when it was clearly articulated.
Then at the turn of the twentieth century, Swami Vivekananda of the Ramakrishna Mission
took the message of Hinduism, Yoga and Vedanta to the western world itself, where he was
enormously successful, setting up missions in Europe and North America that continue to the
present day. Vivekananda also helped revive the ancient traditions in India, setting the stage for
the modern Hindu, Yoga-Vedanta movement.
Whereas Swami Dayananda sought to preserve the Vedic message to protect Hindu society
from colonial efforts to undermine it, Swami Vivekananda sought to universalize the Yoga-
Vedantic message to transform the world. Hindu thought suddenly had not only a renewed value
for India but a new message for the entire world. Many other teachers and thinkers of India took
up similar views and activities.

Influence of the Indian Independence Movement on the Hindu Renaissance

The late nineteenth century saw the beginning of another major movement in Indian thought
and society, the Indian independence movement. It started under the inspiration of the Hindu
renaissance through Vivekananda, Dayananda, B. G. Tilak, and Sri Aurobindo and others like
them, who looked
to Hindu thought through the Vedas, Bhagavad Gita
and Vedanta for the foundation of the national struggle.
The Hindu renaissance naturally became strongly aligned with the Indian independence
movement as India was a Hindu majority country.
However, the Indian independence movement proved over time to be both a boon and a curse
to the Hindu renaissance, expanding it in some areas but contracting it in others.
Many Hindus joined the movement and brought Hindu values and practices into it. Mahatma
Gandhi, who later came to lead the independence movement, wore the garb of a Hindu Sadhu,
spoke of the Bhagavad Gita as the greatest book, criticized the missionaries, and called himself a
Hindu.
However, a tendency arose to modify Hindu thought for the sake of the independence
movement. In particular, the need to bring religious minorities into the movement went against the
need of Hinduism to awaken and reclaim its ancient glory. The Hindu reconversion movement
that Swami Dayananda set in motion was almost brought to a standstill largely by Hindus
themselves. It eventually became politically incorrect from the standpoint of the Indian
independence movement for Hindus to defend much less promote their religious identity, so as
not to politically alienate the non-Hindus in the country.
Because of the political necessities of the Indian independence movement, the effort in Hindu
thought to articulate its own unique identity as well as to expand its reach gradually receded. The
Hindu renaissance took a back seat for the Indian independence movement. The fearless and
bold self-confidence of Vivekananda, Rama Tirtha and Swami Dayananda in relating the Vedic
and Vedantic teachings gave way to an almost timid and apologetic seeking for consensus
against the British.

Long Term Repercussions of the Indian Independence Movement on Hinduism

The muting of the Hindu voice that occurred in the Indian independence movement became
hardened in independent India, largely to maintain political support of the same minorities.
Politicians of a Hindu background found that they could get more easily elected by playing to
minority religious vote banks and appealing to their religious identities and insecurities.
Hindus remained hesitant to project their own tradition in a positive way, much less criticize
other religions, in order to avoid offending religious minorities that might vote against them or feel
unwanted in the country. In some respects the situation became worse. For example, very few
Indian politicians today would make the same statements against
the missionaries that Mahatma Gandhi made during his lifetime, or even quote these, so as to
maintain their Christian vote banks.
After the achievement of independence, the history, philosophy and global relevance of
Hinduism failed to get properly articulated or taught. Vedic and Hindu schools did not come up.
Hinduism did not take its place, much less its seniority and depth in the world’s presentation of
religious and spiritual traditions. It did not create its own global voice but remained under foreign,
alien and often hostile outside interpretations.
While people in the world generally look at Christianity and Islam according to Christian and
Islamic sources, Hinduism remains looked at primarily according to non-Hindu sources which
have not changed significantly since the colonial era. While India achieved its freedom from
colonial rule, Hinduism remained in the colonial and missionary shadow. It was not freed along
with the country, nor did independent India seek to remove the distortions about the majority
religion of its peoples, which it continued to allow to be taught in its schools, even though it
collects money from Hindu temples taken over by government control.
Another negative result of the lack of proper formulation of Hindu thought was that Indians of
an intellectual bent went over to other systems, notably Marxism, which had more to offer by way
of an intellectual point of view and a future to strive for. People were not given any Hindu identity
or sense of worth, so they naturally sought a non-Hindu or anti-Hindu identity. They embraced
intellectual critiques of Hinduism and had no Hindu intellectual response to provide any balance.

The Global Spread of Hindu Thought

Global Hinduism has had a similar result, becoming both a help and a hindrance for the Hindu
renaissance. In spreading their message globally, Hindu teachers found it easier to promote their
own guru or sect of Hinduism and leave Hinduism itself behind or at home. The perceived
ethnicity of Hinduism, its being limited to India and those born as Hindus was one side of the
issue. The other side was the difficulty of communicating the Hindu tradition as a whole compared
to the ease in promoting one particular guru or lineage.
Vivekananda himself, who was the first real global guru from India, found that the greatest
interest in the West was in the figure of the guru-avatar, Yoga practices, meditation and a
generalized Vedantic thought, while the missionary inspired fear of Hinduism as polytheistic and
superstitious was deeply entrenched.
The result was that Hindu gurus in the West tried to appear as universal figures that accepted
all religions and were Hindus only by accident of birth. This may have been necessitated by the
anti-Hindu propaganda and even racism that they had to face initially — which was still strong in
the West particularly in the early twentieth century — but it also became hardened into a trend of
its own.
Rather than seeking to reformulate, articulate or defend Hinduism as a whole, Hindu gurus
have usually given priority to developing their own particular group and its following, which they
then seek to expand in its own right. If you ask western followers of such Indian gurus what
religion they follow, they often say that they follow the universal religion of their guru, not that they
are Hindus. This may be the case even if the individuals have Hindu names or are Swamis rooted
in traditional Hindu orders.
One could say that Hindus are very universal in their sectarianism. Hindu sects have gone
global and universal. Some have formulated themselves as new universal religions, with their
guru as an avatar. Others claim to have gone beyond religion to a universal spiritual tradition. Yet
few have taken the effort to openly honor the greater Hindu tradition or Sanatana Dharma as the
universal tradition it has always formulated itself to be, even though they rely upon the Vedas,
Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras and other standard teachings of Sanatana Dharma for
their particular approaches. There may have been historical or cultural necessities for this
phenomenon but its long term limitations must be recognized.

The Hindu Diaspora

The global spread of Hinduism has a human dimension, with many Hindus migrating to the
West over the past several decades and some having arrived during the colonial era itself. What
they find is that the people in their new countries regard them as Hindus, even if they would
rather define themselves according to a particular Hindu sect or in some way as universal. Such
Hindus in the West have found a need to define themselves as Hindus not only for westerners to
understand them but for their children to continue their traditions.
However, when they look to define what it means to be a Hindu, they find that the Hindu
tradition is amorphous and they often don’t know exactly what it is. They are torn between a
vague universalism, on one hand, and an ethnic identity on the other. They find a lack of
educational material in Hinduism to direct their children toward in order to resolve this problem.
The lack of any real articulation of Hinduism as a whole has left them at a disadvantage, which
other groups have been quick to exploit, especially among the Hindu youth that is vulnerable to
peer pressure.

Relative to Other Religions

The lack of a proper and accessible definition of Hinduism by Hindus themselves has confused
other religions and religious scholars. They may think that Hinduism is not a religion at all but a
collection of disparate sects and cults with nothing really in common. Some western scholars see
Hinduism as a conglomeration of a Vaishnava, Shaiva and other religions with no common
teaching behind them. After all, each Hindu sect has an extensive literature about itself but little to
say about or to define Hinduism as a whole.
For many such non-Hindus, the Hindu claim to accept all religions is regarded as a kind of ‘me-
too’ following, a currying of favor from a colonized people, not a sign of a mature analysis or
critical understanding of disparate religious doctrines. It seldom helps other religions understand
Hinduism and its particular teachings. Though Hindus have been the main religious group today
to promote a tolerance of all religions, it is curious to note that the other religions of the world do
not respect Hinduism in turn. This may be because Hindus in trying to be all things to everyone
do not project a self-confidence or self-definition that others can recognize.

The Hindu Backlash

This compromised and co-opted state of Hinduism has naturally had its backlashes, which
have similarly had both positive and negative sides as backlashes usually do.
On the positive side, many Hindus are seeking once more to redefine Hinduism as Sanatana
Dharma or the universal teaching and the different sampradayas or sects of Hinduism, including
the modern universalists, as its branches. While they are recognizing the importance of India as
the repository of Santana Dharma, they are also discovering a global Vedic heritage that reaches
to every part of the planet.
There are now westerners who are happy to formally become Hindus. Hindu as a religious
option is arising all over the world as it is after all the world’s third largest religion! In addition, the
idea of the Vedic sciences, which includes Yoga, Vedanta, Vedas and Ayurveda under one
umbrella, is gaining credibility. People are beginning to discern the outlines of Sanatana Dharma
behind its many facets, though a clear understanding of Hinduism as a whole remains rare.
On a social level in India, there has been an arising of political parties and social movements
that address Hindu sentiments to counter the favoritism extended to religious minorities in the
country that is unparalleled in the rest of the world. However, owing to a great extent because of
this same lack of articulation of Hinduism in the broader sense, they can be unclear as to what
they are really promoting as Hinduism or as Hindutva, which has itself become a negative term in
the global media. They appear to others as Hindu nationalists, not as universalists portraying
Hinduism as relevant to the entire world. They have lacked the intellectual voice to bring out what
Hinduism really is and give it a futuristic vision, which has shadowed and limited their efforts.
There is yet another type of Hindu backlash arising among Hindus in the West. Many Hindus
are disturbed to find that Hindu teachings through Yoga, Ayurveda and Vedanta have been taken
over by various movements in the West without adequate credit given to the original tradition that
these come from. Some Hindus now want to take back Yoga, for example, which they find that
many people in the West are regarding as a tradition only accidentally or superficially connected
to Hinduism.
While this urge is understandable and important, there needs to be a clear formulation of how
to proceed in a way that is credible and expansive. Many Hindus who want to reclaim the different
facets of the Hindu tradition that have been taken over by other groups may not understand
Hinduism in the broader sense and how to explain it to the world as a whole.

Crisis in the Hindu Renaissance

The Hindu renaissance for all of its wonderful gains, whether in spreading Hindu teachings, or
aiding in India’s independence and resurgence, has suffered from the lack of a clear articulation
of Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma as a whole. In spite of the great Hindu renaissance in India and
the spread of Hindu gurus and their teachings globally over the last two centuries, there remains
a crisis of identity in the Hindu tradition and among Hindus themselves.
Hindus as a whole don’t know who they are, what in particular they follow or why. Some Hindu
groups have defined their tradition in such a universal and vague manner that it has lost any
structure. They are unable to articulate a cogent Hindu point of view on the pressing issues of our
times even where traditional Hindu and Vedic texts have a tremendous amount to offer.
While different Hindu teachings have spread worldwide, an understanding and appreciation for
Hinduism as Sanatana Dharma or the universal tradition has not kept pace with this. Meanwhile
the different modern Hindu sects that have gone global lack a broader perspective to defend
themselves from the challenges of the world around them. Some western Yoga groups – who
have avoided any direct association with Hinduism – when attacked as ‘cults’ have been forced to
call themselves Hindus in order to gain credibility at a legal level. It remains to be seen how many
generations their particular sects or movements will last without the broader Hindu tradition to
defend and support it.
We note a kind of opposite type of imbalance in how Hinduism has developed in the India
context versus the global context, two extremes that need to be brought back into harmony. In the
India context, Hinduism has remained trapped in an Indian identity with political limitations on how
that can express itself or what it appears to be. This can make Hinduism appear backward and
unprogressive even to Hindus.
In the global context, Hindu teachers have largely abandoned any Hindu identity and gone
universal, ignoring or hiding their roots in Sanatana Dharma, even though it is the Hindu based
teachings of Yoga, Ayurveda and Vedanta that have given them their appeal. It is the same
problem behind both instances: a failure to articulate Hinduism as Sanatana Dharma in a clear,
coherent, comprehensive and consistent manner.
We can contrast this with how Buddhism has presented itself. Buddhist teachers in the West
have not denied their Buddhist backgrounds and have tried to give their followers some sense of
what this is above and beyond the particular Buddhist sect that they may follow. Perhaps this is
because Buddhism is stronger in more than one country and not so linked with one country’s
affairs. But it is also because Buddhists have been more willing to take up the intellectual
challenge and to recognize a common dharma in the process.

The Place of Ram Swarup

The result of this lack of intellectual articulation and self-defense is that Hinduism all around
has remained under attack from conversion seeking religions, political interests, the commercial
media, and foreign powers, with little to defend much less promote itself. Hindu society has been
misguided, confused and unclear as to how to handle the situation. Even most Hindu gurus have
not wanted to address the anti-Hindu propaganda out of fear of exposing themselves to the
resultant criticism or the label of being called a Hindu. Hindus have hoped these problems would
go away if they ignored them, but have only found that their identity has become increasingly a
target of distortion, if not denigration. It is relative to this complex and compromised background
that Ram Swarup arose, steadily addressed all the issues and brought about a revolution in
Hindu thought which, if followed, can correct this difficult condition.
Ram Swarup provides a compelling intellectual and spiritual defense as well as a universal
projection of Hinduism that articulates Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma as a whole, and can help
put the Hindu renaissance back on track. He is a unique thinker who has addressed all the main
issues of Hindu dharma and has charted a way forward through all potential limitations and
distortions. He was willing to stand up and make his voice heard as early as the nineteen fifties,
facing the Marxists who then were the darlings of the Indian media, when no individual or group
seemed to understand the gravity of the situation or how to deal with it.
Ram Swarup has first of all reclaimed Hinduism as a positive term through his consistent
articulation of Hindu thought. Even many Hindus today object to the term Hindu, though they
don’t seem to have a better name for their great tradition. Ram Swarup has shown that the term
Hindu needs to be honored and redefined as Sanatana Dharma or the universal tradition that has
always been its real meaning. Though Hinduism as a term still has many negative connotations,
largely of a missionary and Marxist nature, terms like Hindu thought, Hindu mind and Hindu Yoga
are coming out in a positive way to a great extent because of his influence.
Ram Swarup developed redefinition of Hinduism that has inspired such an important spiritual
movement as the Hinduism Today magazine in the West. Following the inspiration of Ram
Swarup, Sivaya Subramuniya Swami of Hinduism Today magazine boldly proclaimed, “Hinduism
is unique among the world’s religions. I boldly proclaim it the greatest religion in the world.” The
great Swami, with the spiritual confidence of another Vivekananda, goes on to explain all that
Hinduism has to offer in terms of mystical teachings and profound Yoga practices that cannot be
found actively expressed or represented in any other religion in the world today. He lauds
Hinduism for its diversity and abundance of deities, temples, festivals, teachings, gurus, monks
and practices. His words are not a sectarian call or a political statement but a sincere
appreciation of the greatness of Sanatana Dharma that many people will feel once they
understand the overall tradition and its universality that is not limited to a book, savior, prophet,
chosen people or dogma.

Ram Swarup’s Critique of Religion

Ram Swarup pioneered a new Hindu examination of other religions, notably Christianity and
Islam, that is balanced, clear and rational, based upon higher ideals and insights. He aims
towards a universal truth, higher consciousness and yogic values that all religions need to honor.
He points out differences between the teachings of Hinduism and Vedanta and those of current
Christian and Islamic theology, which inevitably take their followers in different directions. He
does much of this by simply contrasting their actual teachings with those of Hinduism, whether in
regard to karma and rebirth, higher consciousness, or an understanding of the nature of Atman
and Brahman, the higher Self and the Absolute.
If we put the teachings of different religions as their followers commonly know them to be side
by side, the distinctions become obvious. All religions are not the same and don’t teach the same
thing. We need to be as discriminating about religious and spiritual teachings as we are about
food, work, relationship, culture or any other major part of life. Ram Swarup has brought that
profound yogic discrimination or viveka back into Hindu thought and into the Hindu examination of
religious teachings. He uses yogic psychology to examine the religious experience. In the
process he exposes the biases behind conversion based monotheism and shows its idea of deity
to be tainted by human prejudices, not a truly spiritual formulation of unity or universality.
His discriminating insight is particularly important in exposing how Christians in India will use
Hindu teachings, ideas or images to promote their conversion efforts. Even when liberal
Christians in India talk of oneness and Advaita, they will not accept karma and rebirth, much less
make any Hindu teacher equal to Christ, or try to stop the conversion of Hindus. Their non-
duality, though borrowed from Hindu teachings, is not a unity of truth beyond religious identities
but an effort to make Christianity more appealing to the Hindu mind so as to facilitate the
conversion process. It is an effort to Christianize Hindu ideas not to take us to a unity beyond all
conversion, which is a denial of the sacred nature of the Atman or true Self.
Such a Hindu critique of other religions is necessary and helpful and can serve to balance the
criticism of Hindu dharma, most of which is unfounded, that is already out there. It can promote
the mystical side of other traditions and help people who want to go beyond the limitations of
belief based approaches to an inner experiential yogic spirituality.
Different religions, like different philosophies, will take those who embrace them in specific
directions according to their specific prescriptions. We need to be honest with people about that,
not sugar coat religious differences in an aim to create social harmony. Social harmony should be
based upon free thinking and an acceptance of religious differences — including atheists and
agnostics – not an effort to pretend that religious differences do not matter or do not exist.
A mature society can allow religious differences just as it does differences in science, art or
culture. A social order that cannot accept religious differences, but must pretend they are not real,
must remain limited, artificial and stifling to the spirit. Hinduism is a religion can find unity in
diversity, which is a unity of truth beyond the boundaries of all beliefs and organizations. In this
way any free thinker can find a place within it. Ram Swarup reveals this pluralistic understanding
behind the Hindu sense of unity, which is the real meaning of the harmony of all dharmas.
No one criticizes a Christian or a Muslim for praising their particular religion. It is only the
modern Hindu who seems to have lost that self-respect, even though his tradition is far more
grandiose and comprehensive. Christians and Muslims are not expected to accommodate Hindu
beliefs, whether they live in India or elsewhere in the world, while expressing their views. Yet
Hindus are often afraid or perhaps unable to explain what Hinduism is relative to the other
religions, which they seldom study or analyze according to the tenets of Hindu thought.
Ram Swarup was a very gentle, kind and soft spoken person, yet he did not compromise the
truth or seek favor by trying to please everyone around him. He has shown that Hindus can be
tolerant and respectful of others and yet do not have to give up their own critical voice or
compromise their own identity in the process. Hindus must learn to hold to the inner truth of their
tradition even when relating to people of contrary views that they must seek to counter in order to
defend the higher dharma in the global arena.
Perhaps because Ram Swarup was not trying to promote a particular guru or become one
himself, he has not fallen into the trap of making his own teachings supreme and distancing
himself from the greater Hindu tradition. At the same time, he has always emphasized the
flexibility of Hindu thought to provide the vision to discover new solutions to all human problems.
He has not simply repeated the old formulas of the past that refer to a time and culture that is no
more. He has brought back the Hindu mind and its deeper timeless intelligence, not just promoted
old books or old interpretations of them. He has shown how Hindus can reform their own
community by a return to the teachings of Sanatana Dharma.
Ram Swarup has provided a new voice to the Hindu mind that brings back its earlier inspiration
both for India and for the world as a whole. Yet in the process, he has not merely rubber stamped
Hinduism or particular Hindu groups but has recommended both reform and revitalization in
reclaiming and expressing the greater Hindu heritage that even many Hindus have forgotten.

Hinduism’s Forgotten Friends

Ram Swarup projected a strong Hindu defense, not just of the Hindu tradition but of all related
native, indigenous and pagan traditions which have similarly been denigrated by missionary and
colonial influences. Most modern Hindu teachers in their rush to gain acceptance by the western
monotheistic establishment have tried to make Hinduism appear monotheistic and have avoided
any association with non-monotheistic traditions, much less any effort to defend them, though
these are their true brothers and sisters facing the same daunting challenges. It is these
indigenous and pagan traditions that most resemble Hinduism which itself is the largest pagan
religion in the world. They are looking to Hinduism for help and guidance. Ram Swarup has been
the main Hindu teacher to hear their call.
Ram Swarup inspired western pagan thinkers and shown that the same denigrations and
distortions that are cast on Hinduism are cast on their religions as well (starting with the
derogatory terms of pagan, polytheist and animist). He has provided an insight and a self-
articulation that they can adapt. He has brought back the role of Hinduism as the defender of all
native and consciousness based spiritual traditions that have been similarly attacked by
missionary influences and exclusive, belief-oriented dogmas. This new alliance must be pursued
and allowed to grow in a natural way. It can change the face of world religion for centuries to
come because it can bring humanity back to the Divine presence hidden in nature and her
formations of lands, plants, animals, clouds and stars — the sacred world of Brahman that both
monotheistic religions and modern political ideologies rarely see or honor.

The Current Volume

This leads us to the current volume of Ram Swarup’s work, which is the largest collection of
his writings yet published in a single book. It consists primarily of material not previously available
in book form. It contains many short pieces done for various newspapers and magazines,
including a number of important book reviews. It spans a period of more than four decades and
covers a wide range of topics. It shows Ram Swarup’s critique of Christian and Islamic thought
from a Hindu perspective. It shows his critique of Hinduism as well and how it can be brought
back in harmony with its deeper aspirations.
The book is roughly divided into sections relative to Hinduism, Christianity and Islam but
covers many topics in regard to each. The diversity of articles shows the breadth of his
understanding of a variety of fields of thought spiritual, historical and social. Ram Swarup’s
comments are of a civilizational nature, projecting the view of the Hindu mind in dealing with the
issues facing humanity today. Through this volume we get a good view of all the facets of his
thought and how he could shine a dharmic light on almost any issue.

Conclusion
 The coming decades are bound to bring critical challenges for the world and for India. The
powers of materialism, consumerism and terrorism seem stronger than ever. In this context the
message of Ram Swarup and the relevance of Hindu thought will become more crucial.
It is important for the Hindu movement to move forward and redefine itself based upon the
many-sidedness of its vision. This involves taking a global approach, presenting Sanatana
Dharma in the context of the greater Vedic and yogic sciences and culture. The connection of
Hinduism with Indian politics that dominated both the independence movement and the post-
independence era in both positive and negative ways needs to be put in a broader perspective,
which is a greater need to promote Hinduism as Sanatana Dharma for the world overall.
While India will likely play a central role in that projection of the universal Dharma, the effort
cannot be limited to the issues of India. At the same time, while Hindu Dharma has a universal
vision, this cannot be owned or limited by any sect, teacher or person who uses, adapts or claims
any of its teachings. It is Hinduism that is the universal tradition, not any of its ancient or modern
offshoots that are but its expressions.
A true Hindu or Sanatana Dharma follower will always take a global view but adapted locally,
wherever he or she may live. India is important for its having preserved the global Hindu heritage,
not simply for what may occur outwardly in the country. The current Hindu movement in India
tends to lose that global perspective and can appear narrow. Hindu teachings like Yoga outside
of India are largely in denial of their common Hindu or Sanatana Dharma connections. However
useful these approaches may have been at one time, they need to be adjusted today.
The universality that has been applied to various Hindu gurus and sects needs to be applied to
and credited to Hinduism as a whole. There need to be a new examination of what Hinduism has
been traditionally and what its relevance can be for the future, not by outside scholars but by
Hindus themselves. We need new books on Hinduism, its teachings and its history, as well as
new Hindu schools to promote Sanatana Dharma and its various branches, arts and sciences.
Hindus cannot rely upon the non-Hindu world to do this. They must take the lead and bring the
Hindu renaissance back to the forefront. The writings of Ram Swarup can provide the
cornerstone for this effort. These should be available in every Hindu temple, ashram, school or
institution, particularly where English is the dominant medium of expression.
Ram Swarup is a thinker than can help the Hindu movement go forward both with respect to
India and the needs of the entire planet. This particular volume is an excellent place to begin the
journey. We are all bound by a common Dharma that cannot be denied. It is time for that
Sanatana Dharma to arise once more, not only in the Himalayas but on every mountain top!

David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri), www.vedanet.com

Santa Fe, New Mexico U.S.A., June 2009.