BOOK REVIEW Defending ’s Philosophical Unity ’s Net explores and debunks eight myths about Hindu tradition that are widespread in the Western academic world

Eminent author and scholar Rajiv monolithic . To his surprise, Malhotra has worked vigorously the critics at the panel “barely for decades to counter the tsunami engaged with the ideas in the book. of misconceptions about and Instead they were fixated on argu- Hinduism propounded by Western ing against the very existence of academia. This misinformation suf- any unified Hindu tradition. What fuses the media, fills our textbooks, I knew as Hinduism was now is echoed by Western-influenced being rebranded as ‘ne0-Hindu- intellectuals in India and confounds ism,’ a false ideology. I was shocked the minds of Hindu youth in univer- by the allegation that my reference sities worldwide. What is the source to the notion of Hinduism marked of these ideas? Find out in the au- me as a dangerous person. I won- thor’s book, Indra’s Net, which we dered: ‘What could be the basis of summarize and excerpt from below. such an attack? Why was it being represented thus by respected ajiv malhotra writes: scholars?’ ” “Indra’s Net is about the Malhotra describes his subse- ongoing battle over Hindu- quent research into the roots of R ism’s positioning on par with these allegations. He exposes the the world’s major . It rebuts history and characters behind an increasingly powerful academic the flawed conclusions that have school which posits that Hinduism, become pervasive assumptions as such, has never existed. Hinduism and the default consensus-reality today is dismissed as a potent myth held in academia and modern concocted by . media. It began, he says, with “the This thesis brands Vivekananda’s Christian missionaries charac- movement as neo-Hinduism, where terization of India’s past as being neo implies something phony. chaotic, incoherent and without “This pernicious ploy is used to clear ethical and philosophical fragment Hindu society by pit- foundations.” He quotes T. E. Slater ting its spiritual giants against one of the London Missionary Society, another and distorting their subtle who wrote in 1902, “The Hindu and deeply intricate viewpoints. In writings are a product of national the political arena, the neo-Hindu- genius, but there is no orderly ism thesis claims thatVivekananda development, no progressive mani- manufactured Hinduism in order to unite of colonialism and conversion. Explicit con- festation of truth....they constitute an anthol- the Indians against the British—an elitist version is not even necessary; one is systemi- ogy, not one organic whole. What is styled enterprise undertaken at the expense of sup- cally reprogrammed to believe that one was ‘Hinduism,’ is a vague eclecticism.” pressing the traditions of the Indian masses. never a Hindu in the first place; and that one Malhotra continues, “Paul Hacker, a promi- “The ramifications of a discourse that pits loses nothing by abandoning Hinduism other nent German professor of Sanskrit and Indol- contemporary Hinduism against its hoary than the label.” ogy, was the first academic to develop this past are profound and terrifying. The claim set of ideas in the 1950s. He popularized the denies the existence of an integrated, unified The Author’s Awakening term neo-Hinduism to refer to the modern- spiritual substratum in ancient India. This Malhotra says he discovered the scope of the ization of Hinduism brought about by many battle, therefore, is also an intellectual one, “neo-Hinduism” thesis in 2012 as a member Indian thinkers, the most prominent being with implications for the very survival of of an American Academy of Religion panel Swami Vivekananda. Hacker charged that Hinduism as a tradition with a rich past, to discussing his book : An ‘neo-’ had disingenuously adopted be understood on its own terms. Indian Challenge to Western . Western ideas and expressed them using “This school of thought represents an insid- In that book he contrasts Hinduism’s unity Sanskrit.” ious, subtle, but nevertheless powerful form in diversity with the Western paradigms of Hacker’s protege, Wilhelm Halbfass, was

66 hinduism today october/november/december, 2015 among the most influential Indologists of him as authoritative. In his article [2004] there is the conclusion that Indians ought his time. He brought Hacker to teach at the ‘The Invention of the Hindu,’ he articulates to simply deny any unified positive identity University of Pennsylvania in 1971. Halbfass his thesis that ‘Hinduism is largely a fic- based on their own past, and instead seek translated many of Hacker’s writings and tion, formulated in the eighteenth and nine- a common identity based on the further edited the translated collection of Hacker’s teenth centuries.’ He regards Hinduism as importation of modern Western principles works on neo-Hinduism, giving his mentor a construct of colonialism that was enthu- of society and politics. Those few individu- high praise. Hacker’s ideas quickly pervaded siastically and dangerously endorsed by als who dare articulate Indian coherence are US academia and were also promoted by Indian modernizers and reconfigured as a characterized as dangerous and accused of prominent UK Indologist Ursula King, some global rival to the three big monothesisms. fascism, identity politics, fundamentalism, of whose students later became top profes- Hinduism, he claims, did not even exist prior links to atrocities, oppression of , tribal sors of Indian studies in US universities. to the arrival of Muslims in India, and then it communities, minority religions and women. got crystallized by the British.” This misconception denies India’s cultural Dual Agenda unity based on the dharmic traditions.” Malhotra argues that Professor Hacker was EIGHT MYTHS not an unbiased academic: “What is less Malhotra implores Hindus to “do their known about Hacker is that he was also an homework” and gain an in-depth under- MYTH 2: Colonial lndology’s biases unabashed Christian apologist who freely standing of the issues. “My goal is not to were turned into Hinduism used his academic standing to further the force readers into an ‘either/or’ position, but cause of his Christian agenda. He led a paral- to encourage more participants to enter the “In general, the colonial Indologists presented lel life, passionately advocating Christianity debate.” In Part I of Indra’s Net, he explains Hinduism so as to depict the heathens as while presenting the academic face of being that from the basic premise of neo-Hin- lowly and uncivilized, requiring evangeliza- neutral and objective.” duism originating from Hacker’s Christian tion. Many Europeans labored hard to recov- Halbfass never translated any of Hacker’s agenda, eight myths have developed. Readers er Sanskrit texts, did important philological works on Christianity, which would have who understand these issues will recognize work and struggled to understand Hindu exposed this side of his work. However, long them as they emerge in different arenas of traditions, but through their own lenses. after Hacker’s ideas had spread, Halbfass the public discourse about Hinduism. “It is tendentious and untrue to claim Indi- confessed in a biography of Hacker that his ans passively read their own texts under the ideas were problematic for being so rooted tutelage of Europeans, without any sense in his Christianity: “Hacker presents himself MYTH 1: India’s optimum state of their traditional meanings, (adopting a as an Indologist and historian,...yet through is Balkanization Western definition of Hinduism). all the documentation and analysis, we also “Being open to influence from others does hear the voice of an advocate of the European “One of the most dangerous assertions being not render a culture ‘inauthentic.’ Hinduism tradition and, more specifically, of a Chris- made is that India’s natural state is one of has always insisted that its traditions are tian theologian.” See: www.sunypress.edu/ Balkanization (division into smaller regions). interpreted and practised in the context of pdf/53259.pdf In other words, before colonialism, it was place, time and custom.” never unified. Those who hold this view Reverberations in Indian Intelligensia believe India should be returned to that Malhotra states that Hacker’s ideas have state, largely by disempowering Hinduism, MYTH 3: Hinduism was manufactured become accepted as truth by the large major- (because it is considered a unifying force and did not grow organically ity of Western academics. He cites numer- believed to benefit only the elites), and by ous references to Hacker and his ideas by empowering the forces of fragmentation. “A basic claim is that contemporary Hindu top professors of Indian studies in key US “Such a discourse on the fragmentation of leaders, particularly Vivekananda, Gandhi institutions. Malhotra notes that the myth India has been used to stir up internal divi- and Aurobindo, invented an artificial new of neo-Hinduism has spread to mainstream siveness and conflict—ironically, in the name religion called Hinduism. media, popular portrayals of India, and gov- of human rights. [Malhotra’s book Breaking “This shows a serious misunderstanding of ernment policy-making. Leftist, secular India shows how this has come about, along Indian culture. Since earliest times, promi- Indian writers have adopted this self-alien- with its political ramifications.] nent Hindus have disagreed among them- ated world view of their own history and “Theories of the coherence of India and its selves. New ideas were constantly introduced spiritual culture. India’s eminent historian civilization are dismissed by alleging that to challenge old ones. Vivekananda should Romila Thapar wrote a widely cited article such claims necessarily imply an imposition be seen as updating the tradition for mod- stating that the political move- of homogeneity and hegemony. As a corollary, ern times, not as fabricating something ment had created a new form of Hinduism by artificially collapsing the earlier pluralistic and varie- Born in 1950, is an Indian–American re- gated realities of India into a ne0- searcher, writer and speaker on current affairs as they relate Hinduism monolith. to civilizations, cross-cultural encounters, religion and sci- Malhotra writes: “One of the ence. A successful entrepreneur in the information technol- mainstream’s loudest critics of ogy and media industries, he took early retirement at age this s0-called nationalist neo- 44 to pursue philanthropy, research and public service. He Hinduism is the journalist Pankaj established the Infinity Foundation for this purpose in 1994. Mishra, who has written for The His Yahoo discussion group has over 5,000 members, and New York Times and published he has 115,000 Twitter followers. See www.RajivMalhotra. widely acclaimed international com for more and to order a copy of Indra’s Net. works. His opinions influence Eng- lish-speaking Indians who regard

october/november/december, 2015 hinduism today 67 inauthentic. Vivekananda and his heirs prior tradition. Loka sangraha (service to communities, metaphysical points of view articulated Hinduism in a new way, using the others) and (devotional surrender) and new scientific developments than do the English language in a European idiom. derive from ancient Hinduism, with roots in : has no need to “The notion that there are mutually con- the and earlier. The applica- reconcile itself with an absolute history, nor flicting stages of tradition, modern and tion of these old ideas to new contexts, such was it formulated under any centralized gov- post-modern, is a Eurocentric one. Dharma as the social degradation created by colonial ernance or adjudicating authority. encompasses traditional, modern and post- rule, is not a discontinuity or contradiction.” “The neo-Hinduism thesis also demonizes modern attitudes—in parallel, not in conflict.” Sanskrit as oppressive and fossilized, thus discarding centuries of cultural and philo- MYTH 6: Hinduism had no prior sophical development and the sense of unity MYTH 4: Yogic experience is not self-definition, unity or coherence. that predated colonialism. The Western a valid path to enlightenment and equivalent would be to dismiss the entire tries to copy Western science “Hinduism is claimed to have had no self- corpus of Greek and Latin literature and phi- defined and conscious understanding of its losophy for being corrupted by its elitism.” “The importance of anubhava (the direct ex- own distinctiveness from other religions. perience of higher states of consciousness at- Neo-Hinduism is said to have been built by tained in ) in Hinduism is denied distorting a mishmash of prior traditions MYTH 8: Hinduism presumes by the neo-Hinduism camp, which claims having irreconcilable texts and local customs. the sameness of all religions that authentic tradition, especially Advaita “Westerners tend to denigrate Hinduism , considers only the sruti (Vedic text) as random, fragmented, chaotic and with- “While defending contemporary Hinduism, I as the path to (enlightenment). This out unity because it has no central authority do not treat every one of its tenets as sacro- makes Vedanta and appear mutually or ecclesiastical structure, no closed canon sanct. I actually agree with the neo-Hindu- incompatible and denies that Hinduism is a or ‘’ of sacred texts, and no ‘creeds’ to ism camp in criticizing the assertion, attrib- coherent, unified and continuous system. which members of the faith must subscribe. uted to Vivekananda and many of his heirs, “But meditation practices and exalted expe- The Western notion of unity and coherence that all religions are paths to the same goal. riences are at the very foundation of classi- is based on an obsession for control, expan- I am troubled by the tendency to see all re- cal Indian texts. Indeed, many cutting-edge sion and hegemony, exemplified in the way ligions as offering equivalent things in the Western cognitive scientific research pro- a large multi-national corporation (such as hope of reconciling them in a kind of peren- grams have evolved under the profound the Roman Catholic Church) functions. But nial philosophy.” influence of dharmic traditions.” top-down structures and reified codes of orthodoxy are not the only mode of unity. Responding to the Myths The Kumbha Mela illustrates Hinduism’s MYTH 5: Western social ethics was decentralization beautifully.” In Part II of Indra’s Net, Malhotra responds incorporated as seva and yoga to these myths with a narrative and lexicon that can serve as ideological tools in the “The neo-Hinduism camp claims that Vive- MYTH 7: Hinduism is founded on public square kananda, Gandhi and Aurobindo imported oppression and sustained by it their emphasis on social responsibility and Historical Continuity, Foundations social action from Christianity. While there “Hinduism is accused of violating the rights “Indian thought prior to colonialism exhibit- was some Western influence, concepts such of minorities, women and others. But dhar- ed both continuity and change. The consoli- as seva and karma yoga were present in the mic culture is better able to absorb multiple dation of what we now call ‘Hinduism’ be-

TIMELINE Evolution of the Neo-Hinduism Notion

1950: Malhotra begins his analysis at the University of Bonn, 1970s: At the University of Penn- 1970-90s: In India-studies in Germany, where Professor Paul Hacker coins the term Neo- sylvania, Prof. Wilhelm Halbfass programs in UK universi- Hinduism. A renowned Indologist, he was also a Lutheran with (born in Germany) translates and ties, Hacker’s teachings are a Christian agenda who later converted to Catholicism. publishes Hacker’s writings in transmitted from German English, which are injected into US into English universities nationwide. Halbfass 68 hinduism today october/november/december, 2015 brings Hacker to teach at UPenn. gan prior to colonialism. Colonial indologists sity is captured in the metaphor of Indra’s digestion. Take for example the ‘Hindu Good disrupted the historical continuity of Indian net, an infinite number of nodes of light News.’ We are all originally divine (sat-chit- thought, selectively appropriating Indian which each contain and reflect all the others, ananda) and not originally sinners. There is ideas that fit their own narrative and reject- forming a single web. Hinduism may be de- no such thing as original sin. We simply do ing those that did not. But Indian systems do fined as a unified portfolio of ideas, practices not have the problem that Christianity offers not carry the burden of having to reconcile and traditions, a toolbox for discovery. The to solve. The laws of karma and reincarna- their latest ideas with a standard, canonized, use of such tools has led not to a dogmatic tion are non-negotiable, and we have no need non-negotiable history. belief but to a framework with an open of a savior. Such a poison pill disrupts the “The claim that Hindu seva (social ser- architecture.” DNA of the host predator which is bound to vice) was appropriated from Western and the belief in one life.” Christian ethics is baseless. The example of Digestion, Self-Destruction, Defenses The author continues, “After hundreds of Sahajanand Swami (1781-1830) illustrates Malhotra advises Hindus to be aware and interviews with U-Turners of the past 20 the role of traditional Hindu leaders and hold strong in the face of the plunder of the years [Westerners who began to adopt Hin- organizations in launching large-scale seva dharmic religions. “The integral unity of du beliefs but then reverted to former faiths], movements without importing any colo- Indra’s net is under siege from something I am convinced that many of them would nial models.” Malhotra also cites many pre- insidious. I refer to the widespread disman- have given up Judeo-Christianity if their colonial Hindu textual references to social tling, rearrangement and digestion of Hindu had explained what in Hindu dharma responsibility. traditions into Western frameworks. is indigestible into their religion of birth. Malhotra replies to the charge that an “Digestion works in a series of steps, and This is especially true in the early states of emphasis on yoga and meditation, as high- only by understanding the entire process can romantic engagement when the seeker is lighted by Swami Vivekananda, did not exist one understand its ultimate consequences. overwhelmed by what Hinduism offers, and in what some scholars say is the authentic First, the ‘desirable’ elements (such as a sub- is willing to relinquish his or her earlier re- Indian tradition of Vedanta. Malhotra details set of yoga) are separated from the rest of the ligious narrative, but does not yet have any Hinduism’s ancient nexus between experien- source tradition, thereby rupturing its inte- idea what this would entail. The problem tial spirituality and formal scriptural/philo- gral unity. These separated elements then get has been our gurus’ frequent lack of under- sophical discourse, noting that “Differences ‘scrubbed’ to remove the dharmic contexts standing of the serious differences between between Shankara and Patanjali have been in which they are naturally found so as to Hinduism and the Abrahamic religions—or exaggerated by the neo-Hinduism camp ‘secularize’ them. Finally, they get re-con- their desire to obscure and under play these to imply that Shankara rejected the subject textualized either as Judeo-Christian or as for purely strategic reasons—resulting in a states of personal realization.” Anyone famil- Western science, while the dharmic sources lack of clarity and courage.” iar with the range and depth of Adi Shanka- get erased or else denigrated as inferior. As a While not all will agree with Malhotra’s ra’s work knows that he was both a dedicated result, the predator culture boosts its power conclusions or his recommended strate- practitioner of raja yoga and a devout bhakta at the expense of the source that is digested.” gies, his book is thought-provoking and well of the Hindu . Malhotra closes his book with some spe- researched, representing decades of study- cific strategies. “I have coined the terms ‘por- ing and defending against the anti-Hindu Hinduism’s Open Architecture cupine defense’ and ‘poison pills’ to refer to assault. It provides background, both useful Malhotra offers this alternative to the depic- those qualities of dharma that the predator and detailed, that can be marshalled to coun- tion of India as a fragmented culture: “Every- cannot swallow. By making these qualities ter the tenacious misconceptions about India thing that exists—divinity/, individual explicit and including them in the definition and Hinduism influencing global media and creatures, and the material world—consti- of dharma, we can protect it from predators. public education from middle school to the tutes an integral unity. This unity-in-diver- These qualities then serve as a deterrent to university. ∏π

1990s to now: The Neo-Hinduism thesis about the nature 2000 onward: In India, Marxist, leftist, of Hinduism and the nation state of India become accepted “secular” intellectuals, including Jawahar- doctrine among Western intelligentsia in many universities, as lal Nehru University (JNU) professors and Hacker’s ideas propagate through the ivory towers of higher graduates, echo Hacker’s ideas. Anyone es- education, filtering down into students’ minds and out into pousing a Hindu cause in the public forum mainstream media. is branded a nationalist fundamentalist. october/november/december, 2015 hinduism today 69