Being a Hindu...

To understand who is a Hindu and who is not, we will have to understand what actually Hindu Dharma is.

If we go back to origins of Indian history, we will see that there was no dharma called Hindu existed till Muslims came to India. It was only Sanatan Dharma. Here,  we do not have a proper English term to mean the word “dharma” . “Religion” is a European word meaning a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith . Broadly in Europe it means to believe in God is to believe that he wrote a book; only one in all those ages, and to go to Church is the minimum of religion.  

 Whereas our Sanatan Dharma do not have any unidirectional ideology, rather it is totally based on the continuum process of evolution.  Sanatan means eternal or universal.  This dharma is and has always been democratic in nature allowing an individual to adopt any philosophy or way to self-realization.

It is not possible to dissociate Sanatan Dharma from Bharat Varsha. Because it evolved from Bharat, Brahma vidhyam tasyam ramate iti bharata- one who is always reveling in what the truth is…

Bharat is more than a geographical area, Bharat is a vision, a philosophy…so is Sanatan Dharma. The whole vision of Indian culture is to transform from samsara, bondage to Nirvana, which mean freedom.

For better understanding, please read the quotes below:

Sri Aurobindo wrote – “But what is the Hindu religion? What is this religion, which we call Sanatan, eternal? It is the Hindu religion only because the Hindu nation has kept it, because in this Peninsula it grew up in the seclusion of the sea and the Himalayas, because in this sacred and ancient land it was given as a charge to the Aryan race to preserve through the ages. But it is not circumscribed by the confines of a single country; it does not belong peculiarly and for ever to a bounded part of the world. That which we call the Hindu religion is really the eternal religion, because it is the universal religion, which embraces all others. If a religion is not universal, it cannot be eternal. A narrow religion, a sectarian religion, an exclusive religion can live only for a limited time and a limited purpose. This is the one religion that can triumph over materialism by including and anticipating the discoveries of science and the speculations of philosophy. It is the one religion, which impresses on mankind the closeness of God to us and embraces in its compass all the possible means by which man can approach God. It is the one religion which insists every moment on the truth which all religions acknowledge that He is in all men and all things and that in Him we move and have our being. It is the one religion, which enables us not only to understand and believe this truth but also to realize it with every part of our being. It is the one religion, which shows the world what the world is, that it is the Lila of Vasudeva. It is the one religion which shows us how we can best play our part in that Lila, its subtlest laws and its noblest rules. It is the one religion, which does not separate life in any smallest detail from religion, which knows what immortality is and has utterly removed from us the reality of death…”.

Now read this quote from Hinduism and the Clash of Civilizations by David Frawley : “the Eternal or Universal Dharma. Dharma means universal law, the fundamental principles behind this marvelous universe like the Law of Karma. Sanatana means perennial, referring to eternal truths that manifests in ever-new names and forms. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world because it is based on the eternal origins of creation. But it is also the newest religion in the world because it adjusts to new names and forms to every generation and looks to living teachers not old books, as its final authority”.

Who is a Hindu?

In Merutantra, the word ‘Hindu’ has been defined as 'Hinani Gunani dushyati iti Hindu.' The one who destroys the inferior Raja-Tama components or guns is a Hindu. Thus, to be a Hindu is to follow a way of life that enhances the spiritually pure Sattva component and Sattva predominant qualities like love, humility, courage, expansiveness, etc. and overcomes the spiritually impure Raja-Tama predominant attitudes like anger, attachment, jealousy, greed, lust, pride etc.

According to Merutantra  one can be a Hindu by his actions (karma) or birth (Janma). Since to be a Hindu is an attitude, a Karma Hindu is a true Hindu. He is Hindu by action and thought, a follower of Dharma and spreads Dharma, which is a sāttvik or spiritually pure way of life. 

Following which, I would also like to add that in sanatan Dharma, no one is even Brahman, Kshytriya, Baishya or Sudra by birth! 

Atri defines brahminhood very clearly in smritis:

"By birth, every man is a Shudra (an ignorant person). Through various types of disciplines (samskaras), he becomes a dwija (twice born). Through the studies of scriptures, he becomes a vipra (or a scholar). Through realization of supreme spirit (brahmajnana), he becomes a brahmin."

A  Brahmin has to attain highest spiritual knowledge by following an  extremely difficult path of discipline of body, mind , and intellect. People irrespective of their birth or class, who dedicated to such an austere life were recognized as brahmins. A great example of this is the case of Vishwamitra, a warrior (kshatriya), who became a brahmin after attaining brahmavidya, and composed the Gayatri mantra, the most sacred hymn of the Hindus.

Thus, the very essence of Sanatan dharma lies solely on the concept of Karma. That is why the birth factor is irrelevant. The one who is on the path of self-realization, freedom from the bondage of birth-cycle is following Sanatan Dharma, and so a true Hindu by Karma.