Page:An Essay On Hinduism.pdf/57

press them, they called their conduct "Mlechchha-dharma."

Thus the great difference between the Hindu conception of the "dharma" and the European conception of "religion" is this. To a European, Christianity or Christian religion are self-defined terms, and the acceptance of those ideas and practices that are indicated by the word would make a man Christian. In the case of Hindu-dharma, the relation is different. Hindus are a definite body, and "Hindu-dharma" is that indefinite thing which the Hindus consider their own dharma.

I have said that the word "sampradāya" comes very near the word "religion.” If this is the case, a question may be asked: why do the Hindus regard a religion like Christianity merely as a tribal tradition?

The reason is this: many sampradāyas give rise to castes and tribes. The teacher and his disciples tend to form an exclusive community. If they do so they simply become tribes, open to those who wish to come in. The tribes which sampradāyas or religions give rise to are trying to extend their membership, but for that reason they do not cease to be exclusive, as they restrict the social intercourse of the members to the people who are already in the tribe. There are some sampradāyas in India that do not disturb the existing social arrangement by the foundation of new tribes, and therefore such sampradāyas are regarded as orthodox and are generally tolerated. But those sampradāyas which make theological doctrine, cult or a mode of worship a pretence to form a new tribe are hated as heterodox, and in my opinion the antipathy shown to them is perfectly reasonable. When Europeans see that Hindus hate the spread of Christianity and the rise and