Hinduism has thus far survived not merely because of the procession of sages and saints down the ages but because of its essential grounding in Truth. Hinduism alone can withstand the onslaughts of modern science and come out triumphant in terms of philosophical profundity, experiential validity and analytical exactitude with an investigative methodology that can shame even modern science in its fidelity to rational rigour and rejection of anything that is at base an assumption. In this regard it is well to say that Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism and the like dharma traditions which are the off-shoots of the Sanatana Dharma are all being included in this broad spectrum of Hinduism, although, they differ on certain elements from each other and despite the fact that Buddhism and Jainism do not subscribe to the inviolability of the Vedas. Be that as it may, all the branches and sects of the mother faith, Vedic or non-Vedic, have the common feature of dharma as their guiding light and not an absolute tyrannical God dictating terms from a high heaven. In this regard they are the children of punybhumi Bharatvarsha and each of them can defend its essential tenets on a rational basis and can survive the scrutiny of science unlike the Semitic religions which under similar investigation will fall by the wayside to be cast into universal oblivion. Why then is it that the dharma traditions of India have been at the receiving end of history for now over a milenium? It is because Hindus have lost the zeal to promote the faith of their ancestors among foreign peoples and have remained content with a domestic following. In the absence of a vital exchange of ideas with other nations of the world, the practical side of our dharma decayed and society in consequence rotted, thereby weakening national defence and the defence of our ideas that had earlier gained moment in alien lands. Consequently, Hindu influence waned overtime across Asia and Europe and the political movements of Christianity and Islam gained ground to gradually by force of arms replace the ideas of the Hindus prevalent thus far in such regions. Even the grand Zoroastrian religion suffered a deathblow at the hands of conquering Islam and, had it not been for Indian hospitality, would have been obliterated from the face of this earth. Judaism received a like treatment at the hands of both Christianity and Islam and was restricted to its migrant following of a few million Jews, persecuted everywhere for their beliefs and for their superlative brain-power which was deemed a danger by the rulers of regimes.
In this way political expansionism inspired by fanatical faiths laid waste the erstwhile fertile ground of religion in many a land and by imposition of such doctrinaire cults drove away Hindu influence from such lands. Buddhism also suffered a like fate as Islam and Christianity carved out vast portions of the world's landmass between themselves, ever struggling for supremacy among peoples who they converted at the point of the sword or the bayonet, sending 'civilisations to despair' as Vivekananda so aptly described it in his Chicago inaugural address. However, the passage of time is altering the spiritual landscape of the world as science is making heavy inroads into the citadels of the Abrahamic religions, seriously challenging the validity of their fundamental tenets and cornering them into submission in the scientifically advanced countries of the world. But the path of history is tortuous on account of the asymmetrical distribution of the inputs of civilisation which follow variegated patterns and, hence, even now, in this highly developed world of science and technology, the irrational cults are ruling billions by fraud, force and inducement of fear. Thus, the seamless transition from the irrational to the rational is not likely and clashes of civilisation are inevitable before humanity settles to a peaceful state of scientific and spiritual evolution. Hinduism will, thus, have to await its turn before vast numbers of people across the wide world accept it as their spiritual mainstay. Till then we must, as custodians of the mother faith, preserve all that is best and beautiful in our spiritual tradition for the fate of future humanity hangs by the thread of such upkeep.
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