A Concept of Hinduism (An Old and Rare Book)

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Thyankariyadan Mukundan (born 1906), received his B.Sc. (Agriculture) Degree from Madras University. He joined Government service as Research Assistant, Entomology. After the outbreak of the IInd World War he was commissioned into the army. On release from Military Service in 1946, he was appointed as Dist. Agricultural Officer. He retired as Deputy Director of Horticulture.

After retirement he was appointed as Director of Agriculture under the Government of India (Laksha Deep). Thereafter, he was Hon. First Class Magistrate for an 8-year term in the Railways.

He has published three books, (i) Plant Protection -Principles and Practice, (ii) Laksha Deep - A Hundred Thousand Islands, and (iii) More About Homeopathy. These have had world- wide circulation.

He married Radha from Markoth family. He has four children two boys and two girls. The first son is in a Business House and the second son is a Colonel in the Army who took part in two wars against Pakistan. The elder daughter is married to a Kerala businessman in New Delhi and the second daughter is the wife of the Professor of Cardiac Surgery in Sri Chitra Medical Centre, Trivandrum.

They live in Kumar Nagar, Calicut, Kerala State.

Hinduism is the religion of the vast majority of India. It is mostly to my Hindu brethren, especially to those of the younger generation, who are now too much exposed to the materialistic aspects of the world, not only from the West, but also from our own country, seriously undermining the spiritual values, who go through life, born a Hindu, but are not even remotely aware of what Hinduism is, I am addressing this work. To my brethren of other religions also my request is to peruse this book and understand what Hindu spiritual values are and not to condemn idol-worship and the many other ceremonies and festivals of the Hindus from superficial observations without making any effort to know the why of it.

It is not only non-Hindus, but even many among Hindus, who by present-day standards are deemed cultured, fail to see why sometimes even grotesque and hideous images are worshipped and why any value should be attached to the Puranas and epics that form a great part of Hindu religious literature.

These epics are not to be taken at their face value, but are to be considered as representations of great and sublime aspects of life. Couched in such stories, great ideas are permanently put across to the masses, to whom the naked truth is neither attractive nor easily comprehensible. One can only appreciate and understand what idols stand for i.c. that they are not mere symbols, when one begins to realise their inner meaning. However much one may hear discourses on the principles of Life, Truth, Dharma etc. these get better fixed in mind when one has some symbol or object to concentrate upon or even merely to sec.

Every episode in the Puranas teaches some lesson for human beings to learn and follow. Take for example, the well-known "Pa- lazhimathanam" i.c. churning of the ocean of milk, by the joint effort of devas and asuras. The ocean of milk is the boundless chaos and the impulse of churning "mathana" causes the creation or manifestation of various objects and beings.