how do you explain hare krishna and hinduism?

[Guest guest]

I was having this debate with one of my colleagues last week. how would you describe, in your own words, hare krishna and hinduism. is one an offshoot of another? do you simply say sanatan dharma?

 

[jagatpurush]

the term hinduism is a modern one used to describe the modern manifestation of what used to be Vedic culture. there is no mention of this word in Sanskrit. it is thought to be derived from the word 'sindhu', which refers to the residents of sindha-desa, or modern day Pakistan. so it is just a word used by outsiders to describe Vedic religion.

 

Prabhupada said we are not Hindus. the reason for this is that there are many things in Hinduism which are not bona fide--and by bona fide i mean found in the Vedic scriptures. worshipping 'avataras' like Ramakrishna, thinking all gods are the same, etc. etc. are all manifestations of modern hinduism.

 

so you have said correctly that what Krishnas follow is sanatana-dharma. sanatana-dharma is different than hinduism because it is the eternal nature/duty of the soul. that is the main difference and that is why we reject modern hinduism in favor of the authoritative scriptures.

 

on the other hand, we do not want hindus to think that we are not hindus at all, because we have much in common with them and we want their support. but we want to keep in tact the understanding that Krishna consciousness is more elevated. Krishna consciousness is meant to purify the Hindus of their misconceptions (apasiddhanta).

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna.

 

Many devotess are confused and don't really know the differences between Vedic religion, Hindu religion (Hinduism), sanatam dharma, and the hare krishnas.

 

The word Hindu means one who follows Hinduism/Vedic/Sanatam Dharma.

 

Sanatam Dharma means the eternal religion which has the name of 'Vedic' and Hinduism is the modern name for the Vedic religion.

 

The hara krishna movement is the Vedic religion, but the hara krishnas follow the Vedic scriptures properly and completely. Thus hare krishnas are purest followers of the Vedic religion/Sanatam Dharma/Hinduism.

 

The Indian Hindus also follow the Vedic scriptures but they don't follow them properly or completely. They are basically polluted and that's why Srila Prabhupada wanted to distance himself and his movement, ISKCON from the average Hindu movements. Thus he did not want his followers to be labelled as Hindus as the average Indian Hindu is not following the Vedic scriptures properly.

 

Most Indian Hindus are worshipping all sorts of Gods and competely ignore the injunctions of the Vedic scriptures like the Bhagavad-Gita. Some worship Lord Shiva as God, some Sai Baba as God, some Swaminarayan as God, some

worship Kali as God and so on.

 

The hare krishnas follow the Bhagavad-gita where Lord krishna says I am the only God and only worship me. Thus the hare Krishna worship only Lord Krishna.

 

The hara krishna movement is not an off shoot of Hinduism but merely pure Hinduism, revived by Srila Prabhupada.

 

You can say the hare krishnas are orthodox Hindus.