Who is Hindu - Riddle 1 - Solved

Swami Vivekananda

Ambedkar in 'Riddles in Hinduism'  : Who is Hindu ? Now ask the same question to a Hindu and there is no doubt that he will be completely bewildered and would not know what to say. 

Answer : “The word Hindu, by which it is the fashion nowadays to style ourselves, has lost all its meaning, for this word merely meant those who lived on the other side of the river Indus (in Sanskrit, Sindhu). This name was murdered into Hindu by the ancient Persians, and all people living on the other side of the river Sindhu were called by them Hindus.”

- Swami Vivekananda

Yes, Hinduism is not a single religion, it is a civilization and more as a way of life. Ambedkar made a conjecture by comparing with Abrahamic religions. What he would say about the vertical split of Buddhism in India through Mahayana and Hinayana, as one sect considers Buddha as a great human being while other considers as a god. 


Hinduism is based on Vedas. Gods, Upanishads, various sects, tantras, puranas and all the literature of the Hinduism is based on the Vedas. In the words of Vivekananda, it is better for Hindus to call themselves as Vedantins instead of Hindus. Whatever it is, due to the passage of time and linguistics formed, the word Hindu emerged as synonym for the "Sanathana Dharma".