JAT-PAT-TODAK MANDAL OF LAHORE-X
Whether the
Hindu religion was or was not a missionary religion has been a controversial
issue. Some hold the view that it was never a missionary religion. Others hold
that it was. That the Hindu religion was once a missionary religion must be
admitted. It could not have spread over the face of India, if it was not a missionary
religion. That today it is not a missionary religion is also a fact which must
be accepted. The question therefore is not whether or not the Hindu religion
was a missionary religion. The real question is why did the Hindu religion
cease to be a missionary religion ? My answer is this. Hindu religion ceased to
be a missionary religion when the Caste System grew up among the Hindus. Caste
is inconsistent with conversion. Inculcation of beliefs and dogmas is not the
only problem that is involved in conversion. To find a place for the convert in
the social life of the community is another and a much more important problem
that arises in connection with conversion. That problem is where to place the
convert, in what caste ? It is a problem which must baffle every Hindu wishing
to make aliens converts to his religion. Unlike the club the membership of a
caste is not open to all and sundry. The law of caste confines its membership
to person born in the caste. Castes are autonomous and there is no authority anywhere
to compel a caste to admit a new-comer to its social life. Hindu Society being
a collection of castes and each caste being a close corporation there is no
place for a convert. Thus it is the caste which has prevented the Hindus from
expanding and from absorbing other religious communities. So long as caste
remain, Hindu religion cannot be made a missionary religion and Shudhi will be both a folly and a
futility.
Comments
Social Counter