What does being a Hindu Mean?

[Siri]

Hello, I am a new participant on this website. I was born into a Hindu family and hence was exposed to some religious ceremonies and other cultural aspects. I am on a quest to seek answers to my several unanswered questions on being a Hindu. I was hoping to get some answers to the following questions:

1) What does being a Hindu Mean?

2) Should a Hindu eat meat?

3) What does Hinduism say about abortion?

4) Which books/scriptures form the basis of Hinduism?

[Gauracandra]

Its a bit hard to answer this because I'm not sure exactly what Hinduism is. For instance, is meat eating allowed by Shaivites? I don't know, but they'd be classified as Hindu. From a Vaisnava perspective here are my trys:

 

1)A Vaisnava seeks devotion to Krsna and tries to develop the qualities of humility, cleanliness, self-control, austerity etc...

 

2)A Vaisnava shouldn't eat meat. Meat is food in the mode of ignorance and can not be offered to the Lord.

 

3)I don't have any particular quotes against abortion, but (I'm stealing this from something JNDas once wrote) ultimately in the cyclical nature of the world everything we do we do to ourself (not an exact quote but something like that). Every action we take will have a reaction. If you kill the unborn child in the womb you will suffer some reaction. Apparently many Indians are performing this activity to such an extent on female unborns that there is a major shift in populations in India underway.

 

4) I'd say the Bhagavad-Gita is the most famous, and encapsulates all of the major points.

[madhav]

Jai Sri Krishna! I am new here.

Would be gland to help when I can,

and learn when I can.

 

Let me try to answer the questions posted:

 

1) What does being a Hindu Mean?

 

Any one who accepts the authority of the Vedas and tries to live by it is a Hindu or Sanatana Dharmi or Arya or Varnasrami. (Aryan is not a race according to teh Vedic scriptures.) The 700-verse summary of 80,000 verses of the Vedas is Bhagavad Gita. So, I wish and pray that every Hindu know Gita well.

 

2) Should a Hindu eat meat?

 

Ideally, No. As one becomes more and more serious in his/her sadhana (dharma practice), one gives up meat eating, wine, etc.

 

3) What does Hinduism say about abortion?

 

It is sin. Hindu way to avoid unwanted pragnency is to not get pragnent by control of sex desire. Enjoying sex while using artificial means to avoid pragnency is also sinful.

 

4) Which books/scriptures form the basis of Hinduism?

 

I would recommend gita.

see http://www.asitis.com

Oh, there is gita here too:

http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/

 

Then also read Ramayan, Mahabharata, and Srimad Bhagavatam.

Knowing is one thing, then one needs to live by it.

Just knowing does not make one a Hindu.

 

Jai Sri Krishna!

 

[Guest guest]

If you go to the letters to the editor section, there are many nice replies and explainations, also.