Busting the Myths regarding Hinduism

Majority of our Hindu population are not actually aware of the true teachings of Hinduism and end up
misjudging our cultures and in many cases believe in wrong set of cultures. As a contrast to what our
population thinks, Hinduism is much more liberal, scientific and practical then western cultures. The
major population of Hindus are oblivious to the very basic nature of Hinduism and what it represents
and teaches. Most of us are fed wrong ideas about Hinduism by self-acclaimed scholars on religion,
Extremist Hindu radicals and other such elements in our society. Also, most of us the ideas of modern
Hinduism is heavily influenced by the arrival of Abrahamic cultures and British in India. Here are few
myths which is heavily believed to be true.

The first myth is that, Bhagavad Gita, the holy book of Hindus embodies the whole Hinduism. This is not
true at all. Bhagavad Gita is just a small part of Bhishma Parva which is again a part of 14 Parvas of the
epic Mahabharata. The idea of a ‘holy book’ only came into being in modern times and Bhagavad Gita
was one of the earliest Hindu scriptures to be translated in English as a result, gained much popularity in
18th and 19th century.

The second myth is popular among the young population which is that, Hinduism has a lot of rules about
what is wrong and what is right. Again, this is not true at all. There are no hard set rules in any of the
Hindu scriptures be it the Vedas, Puranas or Upanishads. These are but textbooks which guide us and
remain relevant to the modern times as well.

Third myth being that Hinduism promotes monastic living and celibacy, living a secluded life not
influenced by material world. This is true to some extent as Hinduism has various facets to it and there is
no right or wrong with following a particular path. Vishnu as Krishna and Ram teaches us to attain
liberation, moksha, through involving in material world and enjoying it. Shiva is a hermit, tapasvin, who
secludes himself from the material world but still teaches us to outgrow our animal mind. Shakti, the
Goddess, eventually domesticates Shiva and makes him a householder and he is then known as
Shankara.

Fourth myth is that, Hinduism oppresses women. This myth is used by many men to exert control over
women and it is a good thing that this is a myth. The oppression of either men or women was never
seen in our society until Abrahamic cultures entered India. The concept of women being inferior to men,
high regard of chastity and not seeking any pleasure is purely a European concept. Women in Vedic
society enjoyed equal rights as men and this is a fact which is told in many stories from Vedas and
Puranas. For example, Goddess Kali is portrayed as a naked warrior holding weapons, hair unbound
symbolizing the Nature itself. In Hinduism women are equated to Nature and men to Mind. This also
symbolizes that like nature, women should not be controlled. On other hand, there is Parvati who is a
householder, perfect half of Shiva, an ideal wife, teaches women to be in perfect harmony with their
men. These symbols are enough to tell that women are not actually an inferior gender in Hinduism.

Hinduism is extremely practical and scientific in nature. The lesson it teaches is timeless. It teaches us
economics, science, Dharma (way of life) and many other things. Modern India has been forced to view
Hinduism through the eyes of Victorian concepts. Reading stories from our scriptures will enable you to
see Hinduism in a whole new way.