Conversion to Hindu Dharma - Perspectives from Various Sampradayas

There is an ongoing quest, especially among those who practice yoga and meditation, to dwell deeper into the secrets of life and living. The more they tend to reach out sincerely the closer will they get towards vaidika dharma or sanātana dharma, Hinduism if you will. Once they stand on the threshold of this oldest continuous surviving tradition which is at once a philosophy, spirituality, religion, way of life and culture, they have reached home. Yet many among such seekers do not know how to navigate their way about such vastness, in awe of such freedom and grandeur they tend to lose interest and revert back to what they are comfortable with, or take solace in blaming Hindu dharma for being so complicated and illegible.

Those of us within the dharma enclosure too are unaware of the myriad labyrinthine paths that constitute the DNA of our vision. Hence we end up making light of who we are to those who want to opt in and tell them ‘sab chalta hai’. There are no rules we say, no fixed regulations, you are free to do what you want. In our eagerness to please and in our foolish gladness at someone accepting our way of being, we simply exhibit our ignorance to those who have more often than not studied and lived the Hindu way of life more than we have. Our psychology is not attuned to proselytizing, we are not taught that we are better than others, that we must change everyone to our way of thinking and being, we are not supremacists nor exclusivists. Ours is a universal all-encompassing acceptance. Hence when someone says they want to get in, we are naturally surprised! What is in and what is out? No such paradigm exists for us. There are no gated communities preventing your entry.

Those who want in obviously know more than we do in all our innocence. Where and how do ‘I’ fit they ask, and there we are stumped! While there are many instances of those following a certain guru, of having acquired dīkṣā in that particular sampradāya without any difficulty (Ex. ISKCON, Chinmaya, Arsha Vidya, Isha, Art of Living and so on) there is also a vast majority who would rather simply be Hindus without having to adhere to a particular sect.

How must they achieve this entry into the Hindu fold? And importantly, is this something that is discussed in our scriptures? If so, where? And what do the scriptures say on this matter? The good news is that anyone who wants to be inducted into Hindu Dharma is welcome to do so. As in any induction, the assumption is that the adherent wishes to practice certain customs that they prefer over those of their native religion and has śraddhā on certain core ideas that we might safely say constitutes being a Hindu. What are these essential non-negotiables that make a person a ‘Hindu’:

Introduction

The question of “conversion” to Hinduism, or Hindu Dharma, is a long on-going conversation that has fascinated several generations – Hindus and non-Hindus, scholars and laity alike. The idea of a conversion to Hindu Dharma presents three particular issues, which we have to address, even as conversions to Hindu Dharma are ostensibly happening. Three questions are of particular interest and/or importance, as follows:

1. Can a person, particularly one of non-Indian origin, convert to Hindu Dharma?
2. What does conversion to Hindu Dharma mean in terms of belief and/or praxis
3. Following conversion, is it essential for the new Hindu to be assigned a varṇa or jāti?

In particular, the last two issues are quite complex and we do not take it upon ourselves to offer any definitive answers to them in this brief article. Instead, we will see the relevant textual and historical precedents and provide practical directions as well as the scriptural basis and inspiration behind it. Our position on the aforementioned three issues is as follows:

1. Yes, anyone may convert to Hindu Dharma, though it is less complicated where the person converts to a sampradāya proper.
2. While Hindu Dharma contains within itself several, strongly creedal sampradāya-s, which have neatly defined fundamental beliefs, Hindu Dharma outside the contours of these sampradāya-s is only very weakly creedal (if at all). As a bare minimum, conversion should entail a belief in the reality of Hindu Gods and deities, belief in the basic moral tenets as well as praxis centered around at least one Hindu God or deity.
3. There is no necessity to assign any varṇa or jāti to a convert except in cases where the convert is of Indian origin and Hindu ancestry and has preserved a memory of his former varṇa-jāti identity and opts for a re-initiation into that older identity.

Conversion into a Particular Sampradāya

The Purāṇas began to recognize the possibility of foreigners entering into a particular sampradāya that revolves around a specific deity. The Śivamahāpurāṇa (10th Chapter of the Uttarabhāga of the Vāyavīyasaṃhitā) has Śiva describe the characteristics of his devotees as follows (filler words to be implied into the translation for easier comprehension are given in square brackets while additional explanations are given in parentheses):

mahātmanāmananyānāṃ mayi saṃnyastacetasām |

aṣṭadhā lakṣaṇaṃ prāhurmama dharmādhikāriṇām ||66||

madbhaktajanavātsalyaṃ pūjāyāṃś cānumodanam |

svayamabhyarcanaṃ caiva madarthe cāṃgaceṣṭitam ||67||

matkathāśravaṇe bhaktiḥ svaranetrāṃgavikriyāḥ |

mamānusmaraṇaṃ nityaṃ yaśca māmupajīvati ||68||

evamaṣṭavidhaṃ cihnaṃ yasminmlecche ‘pi vartate |

sa viprendro muniḥ śrīmānsa yatissa ca paṃḍitaḥ ||69||

Of the great souls, of those without [resort to] another [than Myself], of those with (their) minds given up to me, eight-fold qualifications are stated – of those with eligibility in my dharma (Śivadharma – The religion of Śiva) //66

Affection for my devotees, rejoicing in the pūjā (worship) [done by others], doing arcanā (ritual worship) himself, exertion of limbs in [acts for] my sake, devotion in listening to my stories, agitation (quivering) in the voice, eyes and limbs, remembrance of myself always and who depends on me (completely) – thus, in whoever, in a mleccha (foreigner) even, abides these eight-fold signs, he is [equal to] a lord of vipras (learned brāhmaṇas), a muni, a venerable yati (renunciant) and a paṇḍita (scholar).

The Gāruḍa-purāṇa has a remarkably similar passage about the characteristics of the ideal Vaiṣṇava.

iha nityakriyāḥ kuryuḥ snigdhā ye vaiṣṇavāstu te /

brahmākṣaraṃ na śṛṇvanvai tathā bhagavateritam // 219.5 //

praṇāmapūrvakaṃ bhaktyā yo vadedvaiṣṇavo hi saḥ /

tadbhaktajanavātsalyaṃ pūjayaṃś cānumodanam // 219.6 //

tatkathāśravaṇe prītir aśrunetrāṅgavikriyāḥ //

yena sarvātmanā viṣṇau bhaktyā bhāvo niveśitaḥ // 219.7 //

viprebhyaśca kṛtātmatvān mahābhāgavato hi saḥ /

viśvopakaraṇaṃ nityaṃ tadarthaṃ saṅgavarjanam /

svayamabhyarcanañcaiva yo viṣṇuñcopajīvati // 219.8 //

bhaktiraṣṭavidhā hyeṣā yasminmleccho ‘pi vartate /

sa viprendro muniḥ śrīmānsa yāti paramāṃ gatim // 219.9 //

“They who shall carry out the daily rites (or services), the loving (devotees of Viṣṇu) are the (true) Vaiṣṇava-s. He does not hear the Veda (or the praṇava) or Bhagavān’s utterances. Bowing down first, he who speaks with devotion is a vaiṣṇava. Affection for the devotees, rejoicing in the pūjā (worship) [done by others], happiness in listening to the stories (of Viṣṇu), tearful eyes (due to devotion), agitation in the limbs, by whom his entire self is, with devotion, placed in Viṣṇu through a vipra (could be reference to an initiating ācāryā), he is a great Bhāgavata. Renouncing worldly connections for the sake of serving always, doing arcana (ritual worship) himself is one who depends on Viṣṇu completely. There are eight types of devotion indeed; in whoever, in a mleccha even, these (eight) are, he (the devotee), he is [equal to] a lord of vipras (learned brāhmaṇas), a muni, a venerable one who attains the highest end.”

That this Paurāṇika testimony was not just hyperbole or lip service is clear from the example of the Heliodorus’ inscription at Besnagar, Madhya Pradesh, India. Heliodorus was an ambassador of the Indo-Greek King, Antialkidas Nikephoros who ruled from Takṣaśilā (Taxila). He became a Bhāgavata and, as a sign of his devotion, dedicated a pillar to Vāsudeva at Vidiśā (modern-day Besnagar). The original and translation of the Prākrit-language inscription on this pillar are reproduced from Indian Epigraphy (1998) by Richard Salomon. The letters in square brackets are readings for missing characters as suggested by Salomon.

(de)vadevasa v(ā)(*sude)vasa garuḍadhvaje ayaṃ

This Garuda-pillar of Vāsudeva, the god of gods,

kārit(e) i(a?) heliodoreṇa bhāgavatena diyasa putrena ta(khkha)silākena was constructed here by Heliodora (Heliodoros), the Bhāgavata, son of Diya (Dion), of Takshasila (Taxila), yonadūtena āgatena mahārājasa the Greek ambassador who came from the Great King amtalikitasa upa(ṃ)ta sakāsaṃ raño Amtalikita (Antialkidas) to King Kāsīput(r)asa bhāgabhadrasa trātārasa Kāsīputra (Kāśīputra) Bhagabhadra, the Saviour, vasena ca(tu)dasena rājena vadhamānasa prospering in (his) fourteenth regnal year.

Here, a person of Greek ethnic origin converted into the Bhāgavata system with a genuine theological conviction as can be seen from the epithet “Devadeva” applied to Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa). In the mūlasūtra of the Niḥśvāsatattvasaṃhitā, which is one of the oldest Śaivatantra (and possibly oldest Siddhānta-Śaiva text), we have the following:

brāhmaṇo māyavāṃ yastu mlecchaścaiva tvamāyavān / mlecchasyaiva tu dātavyaṃ na tu viprāya dāpayet //

(Between) a Brāhmaṇa who is deceitful and a mleccha who is indeed without deceit, it is (befitting) of the mleccha for (the Śaiva initiation) to be given [to him] and to the vipra (i.e. the brāhmaṇa), it shall not be given.

This universalist attitude towards inducting those of atypical, foreign backgrounds into the fold continued to shape the Śaiva tradition. For instance, we have a verse from the Kiraṇa-Āgama, which was commented upon in tenth-century Kashmir which emphasizes that the mantras employed during an initiation effect their grace on even those living at the margins or peripheries of the social order:

yathāsthitena bhāvena mantrāḥ kurvanty anugraham / yatas tato ‘ntyajasyāpi dīkṣā kiṃ tv atra mānasī //

As per the emotional state (or mental disposition), the mantras (employed during initiation) do [the act of granting their] grace / Since [that is the case], therefore even to an antyaja (one existing at the margins of the social order), there is initiation but through the mind//

Although this verse does not expressly mention foreigners, the term, “antyaja” can be read broadly to refer to not just those who live at the margins within Bhārata but also foreigners who were similarly born far removed from any traditional social order such as the varṇāśrama-dharma. In the Uttara-Kāmika (the later portion of the Kāmika-Āgama used in a majority of Śiva temples in Tamil Nadu), after a lengthy description of the initiation that confers liberation (nirvāṇa-dīkṣā) on the initiate’s soul, we have the following concluding verses which affirm an eligibility for the nirvāṇa-dīkṣā:

ityevaṃ kathitā dīkṣā sarvapāpavimocanī |

catvāro brāhmaṇādyāścāpyanulomāśca ye matāḥ || 220 ||

nyāyajā gūḍhajātā vā dīkṣāyāmadhikāriṇaḥ |

antyajānāṃ na hotrī syāt kiṃ tu teṣāṃ tu cākṣuṣī || 222 ||

– 23RD CHAPTER OF UTTARA-KĀMIKA

Thus has been told, the initiation that releases one from all sins. The four varṇa-s beginning with brāhmaṇa-s and anuloma-s (those with mixed varṇa heritage where the father is of a higher varṇa than the mother), those who have been born legitimately, those born secretly (i.e. illegitimately) are considered eligible (recipients) of initiation. For antyaja-s, the initiation should not be done as a fire-ritual but for them, it is by vision (the initiating guru initiates them by seeing them).

That these textual prescriptions and directives are not entirely theoretical, but can be given life to in the form of actual initiation, is clear from the fact that persons of non-Indian origin have been initiated into specific Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava sampradāya-s in even recent times.

For example, around 2013, an American couple, after some serious spiritual introspection, received initiation into the śrauta-śaiva-siddhānta tradition based in Andhra Pradesh. In another example, in 2001, an American woman was formally initiated into the śaiva-siddhānta tradition based in Tamil Nadu. On the Vaiṣṇava front, we can also find an example of a Westerner being initiated into the śrī-vaiṣṇava in 2013.

Therefore, it is quite evident that a foreigner may convert to Hindu Dharma and the procedure for conversion is particularly clear with respect to specific sampradāya-s.

Authored by Ghora Angirasa and Kavita Krishna Meegama. Published by Brhat.