hindu law
CONTENTS OF PROJECT REPORT.
1. Introduction.. These were enshrined by the Constituent Assembly inthe Constitution of India
Hinduism, it has rightly been said, is a mass of fluctuating faiths and opinions, embracing within itself a vast spectrum, ranging from the wandering fancies of savage superstition to the highest insight of daring thought. This brings us to a moot question, viz., who is a “Hindu”?
Under the codifying Acts, namely, the Hindu Marriage Act, 1956; the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956. The orthodox concept of the term “Hindu” has undergone a radical change and it has been given an extended meaning. These codifying Acts not only apply to Hindus by Birth but also to a large number of other persons.
The term “Hindu” is not very precise in its significance. Actually, the term is nowhere to be found in the ancient Sanskrit texts. The word “Hindu” appears to have been firstly used by the Persians for the people living to East and West of the river Sindhu, having a territorial significance than having a creedal connotation. On the other hand Greeks referred them as “Indoi” which metamorphosed into the word “Indian”.
Monier Williams observes: That part of the great Aryan race which immigrated from Central Asia, through the mountain passes into India, settled first in the districts near the river Sindhu (now called Indus). The Persian pronounced this world Hindu and named their Aryan brethren Hindus. The Greeks, who probably gained their first idea of India from the territory across the Sindhu river lived Vedic Aryans, aboriginal tribes, savage and half-civilized people, the cultured Dravidians and they were all Hindus as they were the sons of the same mother.
So diverse are the ways of the Hindus that it is almost impossible to exactly define what Hinduism is? It is very aptly said that Hindu religious system is encyclopedia in character and is a
1. Introduction.. These were enshrined by the Constituent Assembly inthe Constitution of India
Hinduism, it has rightly been said, is a mass of fluctuating faiths and opinions, embracing within itself a vast spectrum, ranging from the wandering fancies of savage superstition to the highest insight of daring thought. This brings us to a moot question, viz., who is a “Hindu”?
Under the codifying Acts, namely, the Hindu Marriage Act, 1956; the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956. The orthodox concept of the term “Hindu” has undergone a radical change and it has been given an extended meaning. These codifying Acts not only apply to Hindus by Birth but also to a large number of other persons.
The term “Hindu” is not very precise in its significance. Actually, the term is nowhere to be found in the ancient Sanskrit texts. The word “Hindu” appears to have been firstly used by the Persians for the people living to East and West of the river Sindhu, having a territorial significance than having a creedal connotation. On the other hand Greeks referred them as “Indoi” which metamorphosed into the word “Indian”.
Monier Williams observes: That part of the great Aryan race which immigrated from Central Asia, through the mountain passes into India, settled first in the districts near the river Sindhu (now called Indus). The Persian pronounced this world Hindu and named their Aryan brethren Hindus. The Greeks, who probably gained their first idea of India from the territory across the Sindhu river lived Vedic Aryans, aboriginal tribes, savage and half-civilized people, the cultured Dravidians and they were all Hindus as they were the sons of the same mother.
So diverse are the ways of the Hindus that it is almost impossible to exactly define what Hinduism is? It is very aptly said that Hindu religious system is encyclopedia in character and is a