07-27-2005, 01:42 AM
Acharya,
If a person becomes a Sikh from Sanatani or vice versa, I don't understand why do you call this a conversion. Sanatan Dharma is not the whole of Hindu Dharma and Samaj but it's largest numerical component. The Bauddhas, Jains, Sikhs and others are Hindus too. This is proven in the historical perspective as in the ritual prone Hindu Samaj inter marriage and inter dining was freely permitted within these communities. There are many families in NW India where some brothers are sardars and some are sanatanis. And they are not treated as different. Also remember the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar is called Shri Harimandir/Harmandir Saheb. The english word 'conversion ' has two distinct connotations in the Indian context. One is Dharmantar-total secession from the beliefs and values of the Hindu Samaj, like converting to Islam and Christianity. The other may be termed as Diksha-initiation into another section of the Hindu/Indian group of faiths than the one he or she is born into. It is like a Roman Catholic becoming a Methodist or a Baptist. Guru Nanak Dev's concept of faith was actually a follow up of the formless worship of the advaitavadin/nirakarvadin tradition of the Upanishads - opposed to the image worshipping ritualistic traditions of the puranas.
If a person becomes a Sikh from Sanatani or vice versa, I don't understand why do you call this a conversion. Sanatan Dharma is not the whole of Hindu Dharma and Samaj but it's largest numerical component. The Bauddhas, Jains, Sikhs and others are Hindus too. This is proven in the historical perspective as in the ritual prone Hindu Samaj inter marriage and inter dining was freely permitted within these communities. There are many families in NW India where some brothers are sardars and some are sanatanis. And they are not treated as different. Also remember the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar is called Shri Harimandir/Harmandir Saheb. The english word 'conversion ' has two distinct connotations in the Indian context. One is Dharmantar-total secession from the beliefs and values of the Hindu Samaj, like converting to Islam and Christianity. The other may be termed as Diksha-initiation into another section of the Hindu/Indian group of faiths than the one he or she is born into. It is like a Roman Catholic becoming a Methodist or a Baptist. Guru Nanak Dev's concept of faith was actually a follow up of the formless worship of the advaitavadin/nirakarvadin tradition of the Upanishads - opposed to the image worshipping ritualistic traditions of the puranas.