History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c96.s1.29

v7.c96.s1.29

2. From this conception arose the great tolerance that Hinduism at all times showed to freedom of thought and worship, which has been dwelt upon by the present author in H. of Dh. Vol. II p. 388 note 928, Vol. V. pp. 970-71, 1011-1018 (references to Aśoka's edicts and Yāj. I. 343 and numerous instances of Indian kings and donors of one persuasion making gifts to temples and institutions of other cults and persuasions); vide also Gītā 7. 21-22 and 9 23. To hunt down heretics, real or supposed, has been a favourite business of some religions²⁶⁰⁸ for centuries. This has been absent from Hinduism. Hindusim is not bound by any fixed creed nor does it rely on a single book²⁶⁰⁸ or a prophet as its founder. All that it requires is that man shoud be God-fearing and what matters is not correct beliefs but moral conduct and social behaviour. Hindus do not deny the truth of any religion or reject the validity of another man's religious experience. A verse²⁶⁰⁹ quoted below breathes a broad-minded approach to religious beliefs and worship 'May Hari, the Lord of the three worlds, bestow on you the desired reward, whom the Śaivas worship as Śiva, Vedāntins as brahman, the Bauddhas as Buddha, the Naiyāykas proficient in the means of knowledge as the Creator, those devoted to Jain teachings as Arhat and Mīmāṁsakas as Yajña'. The great logician Udayana who composed his Lakṣanāvalī in śaka 906 (984 A. D.) breathes in his Nyāyakusumāñjali the same spirit as is contained in the verse translated above Tolerance is thus of the essence of Hinduism and even an atheist is often met with amusement and not with persecution.