Religion without a name 

http://www.bhagavadgitausa.com/DeivaththinKural.htm

Deivaththin Kural Part 1 The Call of the Divine

Vaidik Religion Religion based on Vedas

Religion without a name.  By Periyavar in Tamil. Translated by V.Krishnaraj

Hindu (Religion) is a misnomer. Hindu means love. Hindu reviles (Thushiththal = தூஷித்தல் = revile, avoid) causing injury to others.

Hindu as a word is more nominal than actual (and an external appellation from foreigners). No sacred texts have a word, ‘Hindu’ in their contents.  

The word Hindu is an appellation from foreigners. The foreigners came to our country Bharata (The Land of the Bharatas) by crossing the River Sindhu. Therefore, Sindhu became Hindu; the country became India; and the religion was called Hinduism.

பைராகி pairāki = bairāgī. Ascetic pilgrim from North India

Let me tell you how this could have happened with an analogy.

In North India, all Bairāgis (Ascetic pilgrims) when they go begging, receive alms. The Bairagis complain about South Indians for being tight-fisted. They sing a song about the south.

illa pOpa GahE Telungi இல்லா போப கஹே தெலுங்கி. 

The Telugus drive them out with an admonition, Po  Po. (போ போ = leave, leave). But the Telugus do not really say Po Po but say VeLLu VeLLu (வெள்ளு, வெள்ளு).  Po is a Tamil word. Then why do the Bhairagis attribute Po Po to Telugus? When Northerners come down south, the Telugu country is the first in their itinerary. So these wandering mendicants called Tellugu country also as Tamil country.  

Tamil country Telugus call Tamil country Arava Nadu (அரவ நாடு = southern country). The southern part of Telugu country is called Arava Desam. Whatever below that, is also Arava Desam.  

On the same line of thinking, the foreigners, landing in Sindu country, called Bharata country, Hindu country.  

So Hinduism is not the name from antiquity. It was not even a Vedic Religion. It is not even Sanathana Dharmam. If you look into authoritative sacred texts, there is no mention of a name for Hindu religion.  

Reflecting on this, I felt a deficiency. Leave it be for now.  

One day, I was told Ramu was there to see me. Preoccupied with other thoughts, I asked which Ramu it was.  'What Ramu? How many Ramus are there?' so they said.  Then I remembered, my town had four Ramus: Black Ramu, Red Ramu, Tall Ramu and Short Ramu. That was the reason, I asked which Ramu it was, recalling my thoughts from the past. There is no need for an adjective modifier, if there was only one Ramu in town.  

I understood why our religion did not have a name. Only when you have many religions, there is a need for a name. If there is only one religion, where is the need for a name? 

Except our religion, other religions were founded by and named after a Great personage. There was no religion with that name before him.  Buddhism was founded by Buddha and so named after him.  

Jainism was founded by Mahavirar. Jesus Christ founded Christianity. There were no religions in their names before the Advent of the respective founders. Our religion was in existence before these religions came into being. Hinduism was prevalent all over the world. Because there were no other religions, there was no need to attribute a name for our religion. When this came to me (as an epiphany), the existing deficiency in me disappeared. Along with its disappearance, a sense of honor and pride filled me.  

Ok, let us assume our religion is immemorial. The question of who the founder was, arises in our mind. Much research produced no results as to the founder of our religion. It was neither Vyasa of Brahma Sutra nor Krishna of Bhagavadgita. They made mention of preexisting Vedas. Could we call the Rishis, who wrote the Mantras, as the founders? They deny any authorship of the Vedas. The Mantras named after the Rishis preceded the Rishis, who, according to their claim, did not compose the Mantras. The Rishis claim that they saw and received these Mantras from the sky or space, when they were in meditation. They were Mantra-Drstas (Mantra seers) and not Mantra-Kartas (Mantra composers). 

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Space or the sky is the birth place (origin) of many sounds, from which Dristi (Seeing, beholding, intuition, Vision) came about. Science tells us that Space-Vibration is the Causal Agent of this earth. The Rishis, on account of the greatness of their Tapas or austerity, saw the sounds (synesthesia) as soul-liberating Mantras in space. These Apurusheya (Not composed by man) Mantras are the respirations of Paramatman in the form of Space. Having seen and found them, the Best of Rishis gave them to the world.  

If we know this, the fact that we do not know the founder of our religion could be a matter of pride for us. With the Vedas remaining the breath of Paramatman, observing the Vedas and remaining the heirs to the timeless religion, we can experience exhilaration at our heritage.