Page:An Essay On Hinduism.pdf/196

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FUTURE OF "RELIGIONS"
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were spreading their traditions they also borrowed the ideas and the traditions of the less civilized tribes.

The work for the future for Hinduism to perform is the creation of a mānava-dharma, common tradition for the whole world, a task which it once attempted, but with very limited success. The course of development in Western Asia and in Europe has been different from the course of development in India and Eastern countries. Once the entire Hindu civilization was in process of spreading itself over the whole world, and was going to accomplish a unification of civilizations in the world. But this course was arrested by the rise of "religions," the great dividers of mankind. These two Semitic religions sharply differentiated themselves from each other and both from the rest of the world, and thus made mutual understanding of men more difficult. When the Europeans saw the workings of the ancient process in India they called it Hinduism, and wrongly regarded it as a "religion."

The process of the creation of a common tradition for India and for the Western world has already begun. The results can be observed to-day. As far as India is concerned the results are as follows: –

(a) There has been a general tendency towards the decrease of the strength of ideas regarding ceremonial purity and pollution.

(b) The truth of the old beliefs and ideas has been suspected, and an attempt is made to discover the truth with the help of modern sciences or by appeal to the authority of modern scientists.

(c) On account of the new ideas and pressure of the new economic conditions the family life of the Hindus is changing. Polygamy is becoming extinct.

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