To demystify the word 'Religion'

In a chat, "Religion is beyond nation and is personal to an individual and not connected to any one particular religion. Geographic boundaries don't define a religion" said a well-read, well-travelled, right-wing Hindu. This article is to demystify the word religion and give a dose of filtered coffee to wake up Hindus.

Deity and its Land

An average Hindu must be familiar with the Vedic rituals of Homam. In Homam, Hindus seek blessings from Ishta Devataa, Kula Devataa, Grama Devataa, and other deities that influence our lives.  If my friend is right, either these rituals are not part of the religion or religion is not only personal but includes clans and lands. The latter is more likely to be true. Of the Devataas mentioned here, the Grama Devataa is the most relevant one for this topic. Grama Devataa is supposed to unite the people of a village - defined by some boundaries on land. They are the Kshetrapalas - protectors of the land, its people, and its flora and fauna. The connection between the deity and the land continued even in urban contexts. Rich and powerful people donated land to those temples. People living around the temple respected the landowner and performed their duties to the temple. There were flower suppliers, musicians, and dancers who performed for the temple deity and maintenance workers who ensured the upkeep of the place. We have so far covered the connection between the land and the deity.  

Holy Places 

Mahabharatam, considered a Hindu epic has two interesting episodes describing the geography of Bharata and its holy places. Dhaumya, the priest of the Pandavas describes various holy places (Thirta) to the Pandavas. Narada does the same when he visits them in the forest. They advise the Pandavas to visit those Thirtas for 'personal' reasons of earning punya and getting rid of Papa. More scholarly Hindus may identify these sections as later-day insertions and were not part of Vyasa's work. Even if that were true, why does a religious text mention these places? Because religion is not separate from the land and its features. From a religious angle, our mountains are sacred, our rivers are sacred and our forests are sacred.  (An interesting question - If forests are sacred, why did Krishna order the destruction of the Kandava forest?  Feel free to find fault with Krishna - we don't issue Fatwas.  We are Hindus.  A discussion on this event should elevate one's understanding of the Hindu world.)

Nation and Land

Wikipedia (I know, I know) says, "The consensus among scholars is that nations are socially constructed, historically contingent, and organizationally flexible."  In the absence of Indic contributors getting recognized even in India, this is a Western notion of a nation. The Wikipedia article on 'Nation' doesn't stress the territory part. Don't Hindus, the majority in India, need their definition of a Nation - at least their Nation? The Western notion speaks of the nation only for the people - not for the environment, not for the land and definitely does not speak for other living beings. But India, that is Bharat is different. Our National Anthem praises the land and appears to be very different from the anthems of many countries. (Interestingly Bangladesh's National Anthem written by the same Tagore praises the produce of Bengal and the season. It's a bit melancholic, but I love it.) It was from this kind of Hindu mind came the idea of Bharata Mata - the nation as a deity to be worshipped.

If the nation is in people's interest, it must include people's beliefs. Shouldn't the nation include what its people consider sacred? Or does the nation exist just to exploit these natural resources to benefit its people? 

Nation and Land in Other Religions

The religion that is a well-diversified corporation and the religion that is expanded by the sword are less 'personal' but more 'political'. The history of Christianity and Islam is all about how they conquered lands and not how personal those religions are or how enlightened their adherents are. The Church and the Waqf Board have nothing to do with personal religion, but have everything to do with land.  To these religions, land is material wealth not a sacred one worthy of worship.

Summary

I wish the educated elite Hindus understood the connection between their religion and their land. It is good to go overseas, learn new things, make a lot of money, and live a life of comfort.  They are building temples there. Let them not take just the architecture from India, let them take the sense of sacredness as well from India. It would be great if overseas Hindus consider the rivers, mountains, and valleys in their adopted land as sacred as Ganga, Kaverai, and Hrishikesh. In the process, they might discover the Kshetrapala and Thirtapala of those lands. That is the Akhand Bharat I like to see.