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Hindus are often ridiculed for the fact that the very word Hindu is NOT found anywhere in original Sanskrit literature. This word has some vague 16th century origin "Indus + Himalaya + something". Basically it's a Persian word. That's how the gulf countries used to address the residents of Indian subcontinent. In Afganistan also, there's one Hindukush mountain. But should we really feel sorry that our Vedic Rishis did not provide any name for our religion? Actually, ours was the only religion prevailing during Vedic Times. Because other religions were absent, Vedic Rishis didn't have to use any name for our religion. Even Christians do not have any name for their religion. The dictionary meaning of "Christians" is - those who believe in and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. This is analogous to the term "Gandhians" - those who believe in and follow the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. It is only because of the introduction of the alien term "Hindu", now we can define a meaningful term like "Non-Gandhian Hindus". But how will you define the Americans who do not want to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ ? There must be some Americans or Europeans who do not want to oppose Ten Commandments but who feel that Bible is somewhat vague. That's perhaps natural because difference between Ten Commandments & Bible is as high as the difference between BhagavadGeeta & DharmaSindhu..! (Note: Around 40% BhagavadGeeta also is somewhat illogical - especially the matter related to reincarnation.) Any Comments ?
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