Hinduism is the oldest known existing religion of this world. Hinduism did not spread much globally. This religion is majorly practiced in India (79 % people), Nepal and Mauritius. Notably, the percentage of the population of Hindus in India has decreased over time and the percentages of other religions have increased. Hinduism is the third largest religion by the population of the world (1 Billion, around 14% of the world population). Christianity is the first (2.2 Billion) and Islam is the second (1.6 Billion). Christianity was founded around 2500 years back and Islam 1400 years back. And Hinduism has been existing since time immemorial.
This religion has very well-documented scriptures. It has predominantly four Vedas, 18 principal Upanishads, 18 major Puranas, Smiritis, Dharm Shastra, Agmas, and two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It has more scriptures than any other religions of the world. Today, Hinduism exists on this planet due to its well-structured and documented scriptures; otherwise, it has been extinct like other many ancient religions. Many other ancient religions have been extinct due to the lack of their well-documented scriptures. They believed in oral tradition which lost over time.
Despite being the oldest religion and having well-structured and documented scriptures - why did Hinduism not grow over time? Why could it not become the number one religion of the world? Why did it fail to convince the people of other faith to convert and accept the oldest religion? Why did it fail to prevent Hindus converting into other faiths? Why did it fail in propagating Hinduism and its profound philosophy at the large scale internationally?
For all these, Hindus have been its reflexive enemies. They have closed all the doors for the people of other faiths to convert and accept Hinduism even though they want. The word Hinduism for this religion was given in the 19th century by the English. The original name of this religion is Sanatan Dharma (the eternal religion) or Vedantist (one who reads and believes in Vedas). The base of this religion is four Vedas (Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda). That entails, you cannot be the part of the Sanatan Dharma without reading and understanding Vedas or being a Vedantist.
Hindus are divided in four Varnas i.e. Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. Further, they are split up into many castes, sub-castes, and Gotra in each Verna. And among them, some are Surya Vanshi, some are Chandra Vanshi, some are Bhardwaji, and thus along. In Hindu itself, across India, in a different part, the different customs and traditions are observed. In the south, the marriage with the cousin is allowed, but not in the north, although both claim they are Hindus. Many gods and goddesses, who are prominent in one part of the country, but not in the other parts. Many gods and goddesses are known in one part are completely unknown to the other part of the nation. Some worship Rama, some worship Krishna, some worship Shiva, some worship Kali, some Parvati, some Durga, some worship altogether many deities, etc. Everyone claims the supremacy of their deity over others.
Notably, reading Veda was limited to the one section of the society that is Brahman. Others were not allowed to read and propagate Vedas. It was highly restricted. That implies - other segments of the society did not have the access of the Vedas. And some sections of the society were not granted even to listen Vedas. How can one learn the Vedas and become Vedantists with so many restrictions? And the restrictions were not temporary but continued years after years.
As time went along, people accepted those restrictions as a mode of life without caring the future of this religion. They did not realize the importance of reading and learning Veda. Resultant, they remained Hindu without understanding their religion. They remained Hindu for name sake only. How many Hindus have read the Vedas which are the base of this religion? Unfortunately, this is continued today also. The majority of this religion does not understand the essence of this religion. They are confused and perverted. These are a few reasons why many superstitions and blind beliefs took place, and people easily get trap of it even today.
No two Hindus can give the same explanation of their religion. They will explain according to their background and faith, not on the basis of what Vedas says about this religion.
And how they can read and talk about Veda as Veda is written in Sanskrit. Sanskrit is a very rich language. There is a separate word for each and everything known to the world. And now, Sanskrit is a dead language. We are proud of our religion and we should be. But, at the same time, we should be ashamed that we could not save Sanskrit in which all the scriptures are written.
Chances would be more for any religion to spread fast for which scripture is written in the language of the masses. And without any restrictions, the scriptures must be translated into other languages as time passes, so that, people who ever want to read and learn about the religion and its philosophy can read and learn without any restrictions.
If any religion becomes adamant about the language and put access restrictions to the scriptures of various kinds on the basis of Varna, caste, language, ethnicity, region, birth, color, food habits and etc., chances would be high for such religions to extinct, no matter how great and profound it is. The same thing happened with Hinduism. Due to the illogical and irrational restrictions of various kinds, we closed all the doors of its propagation and left it to its destiny to suffocate in delineated boundaries of orthodoxy and die. It was not allowed to flow freely and dispel the darkness of ignorance of the whole humanity which is the nature of this religion.
We should be thankful to 19th-century German scholar, Max Muller, who took the pain to learn Sanskrit and translated the Vedas into English and opened the door to many readers who were interested to know about this religion.
If someone desires to be the part of this religion, for him, there would be a lot of confusion. First of all, in which Verna, caste or sub-caste he is going to be part of. If someone wants to relinquish Hindu religion and join other religions, for him, that would be a very easy exit. If he is going to be a Christian, then he would be a Christian, there would not be any restrictions to the scriptures or Church or this caste or that caste, he is free to choose his way. If he is going to be a Muslim, then he would be a Muslim, there would not be any restrictions to the scriptures or Mosque. If he wants to be a Buddhist, then he will be a Buddhist.
The exit is very easy and entry is very tough and full of complications in Hinduism.
Hindu is one religion, but all the people of the Hinduism are not seen and treated equally. They are divided. The people of this religion are more adamant and orthodox. This attitude has contributed in rifting this religion into pieces and stopped its propagation as it should be.
In order to save the originality of this religion, first of all, we must burn the outer cover of the fabricated stories of gods and goddesses and superstitions and reach to the authentic scriptures of this religion, that is – Veda, Vedanta, and Bhagawat Geeta. We need to pay attention in reviving the original language of these scriptures that is – Sanskrit and translate and propagate it in as many languages as it could be without any prejudices. We need to throw all the Smirits books and Dharam Shastra e.g. Manu Smiriti, Brihaspati Smiriti etc. These books do not have any social and scientific importance. These books have divided, misguided and exploited the society at very large scale. These books have done irrecoverable harm to this religion.
People are talking about removing the reservation in India. It is very tough till the caste system exists in Hinduism. There would always be an injustice. Many capable SC/ST do not require any reservation. They can do well without any reservation. Still, they get it because of the system. Many people from General Category are incapable and backward who genuinely need a reservation to come into the mainstream of the society. But, they are not allowed to avail this facility.
The justification cannot take place in our society. One or another section of the society will always feel victimized and exploited. We are talking about removing the caste based reservation, instead, why are we not talking about removing the Varna Vyastha or caste system itself? If there is no caste system, there would not be any reservation on the basis of caste. And there would be an easy entry for the people of other faiths who want to be the part this religion.
A great reformation is required in this religion. Nothing external is dangerous for this religion, but its internal turbulence and irrationality.
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