Before explaining the meaning, origin, definitions and characteris-tics of Hinduism as a religion, it seems befitting to discuss the signifi-cance of religion even in the modern age. Modern age is the age of sense and science. In this scientific age, religion has been attacked from various sides. Some people, who are attracted by the dazzling glory of science, believe that religion has nothing to do with the welfare of man. By inventing the labour saving devices and goods of luxury, science has minimised the troubles of man to a great extent. Again, man's landing on different planets like moon, building sky laboratories in the space, producing tube babies present a grave challenge to believe in the legendary gods and goddesses. These incidents compel him to rethink about man's belief in God's creative power according to which God is supposed to be the creator of this world and each creature is supposed to be the result of His divine will. Thus, according to some, it is ludicrous to believe that God is the creator of this universe. Again, the modern psychologist, like Sigmund Freud believe that religion is an illusion. It originates from the feeling of dependence. In childhood, man depends on his parents for his daily needs and when he grows up, he believes in different kinds of gods and goddesses thinking that they would protect him in the hours of distress. The so-called symbols of gods and goddesses are the fabrications of human minds. They are the substitutes of mother and father. While explaining the Freudian concept of religion Enrich Fromm writes thus: "... religion has its origin in man's helplessness in confronting the forces of nature outside and the instinctive forces within himself". Thus, we see that Freud views religion as an illusion. Likewise, we see that Karl Marx, the well-known thinker of communism decried religion and tried to discuss it as the opium of the people. According to him, man believes in the existence of an Unseen Power like God because he feels that God will save him in his difficulty. Religion, according to him, is the outcome of man's fearful nature. Man believes in God because he does not have faith in himself. So long as he does not have faith in his own power, he is forced to believe in an Unseen Power. As religion deprives man of having faith in himself, Marx declared religion as the opium of the people. According to him, religion is a hindrance in the progress of man. While explaining the views of Marx in this context P.B. Sen Gupta writes thus: "Man's belief in God creates in him a sense of complacence towards the ills of human life which fosters inactivity and spirit of submission".2 Marx laid emphasis on the socio-economic development of the society and felt that so long as man would think that he was helpless and weak he would not progress in socio-economic field. Man's social and economic insecurities are responsible for his belief in an Unseen Power like God. This belief would vanish if human society would be economically sound. He fought against social and economic exploita-tion. The capitalists, who exploited the poor class made the poor people think that though they were not leading a happy life in this world in this life they would be rewarded in heaven. Thus, in order to remove this false notion Marx laid emphasis on the economic development of the society and thought that the only solution for removing man's fear and insecurity was to set up socialistic pattern of society. We further see that the positivistic humanist like Auguste Comte did not believe in the existence of metaphysical assertions like God, Absolute, Noumena etc. According to him, all the metaphysical asser-tions are futile. While explaining his positivistic humanism Comte pointed out that human mind had passed through three stages of evolution-the theological stage, the metaphysical stage and the posi-tivistic stage. The first stage of the evolution of the human mind was called by him the theological stage in which man believed in gods and their super-natural powers. This stage as stated by Comte consisted of three stages-fetichism, polytheism and monotheism. The theologi-cal stage began with fetichism in which man at first began to worship spirits. In polytheism man attributed super natural powers to each department of nature like the sky or the sea. The last stage of the theological stage was monotheism in which all different deities were gradually fused into one all powerful God who was considered to be ruler of this universe. The next stage, according to Comte, is the metaphysical stage in which the acts of supernatural beings are replaced by abstract prin-ciples. In this stage, the volitional power of supernatural beings is explained by abstract principles. This stage is succeeded by the last stage which is called positivistic stage according to Comte. In this stage man believes in the reality of this phenomenal world and he believes that any attempt to know something beyond this phenomena is considered to be fruitless. Regarding this stage of Comte, Wright writes thus: "The third and ultimate stage is of course the positive stage. In this, scientists content themselves with observation of the laws of phenomena, without any longer attributing them to unseen and unknowable spirits or forces". 3 On the basis of this stage he tries to xplain his humanism which is known as 'positivistic humanism'. He bes not believe in metaphysical assertions like God,
Dr. (Smt.) Shail Kumari Singh is a Professor of philosophy in the M. D. D. M. College, B. R Ambedkar Bihar University. Muzaffarpur. She joined the college in 1965, She was awarded the degrees of Ph. D., in 1981 and got her D. Litt. Degree in 1988. Her first book, Religious and Moral Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, was published in 1983. Being influenced by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda she has been trying to serve the humanity in so many ways. Besides, she has interest in classical and light music.
This book presents a brief survey of Hinduism from the vedic to the modern times. Hinduism is one of the oldest religions of the world. It has its roots in the vedas. It has developed through ages and has given birth to many sects. Though different sects have varying rituals but the basic striking features of Hinduism is the belief in a pantheon. It believes in the principle that the service to humanity is service to God. It is in this background that the authoress has tried to present the salient features of Hinduism in a lucid and compact manner. It is a useful study for understanding the contributions of Hinduism to Indian culture.
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