Shuddhi (Hinduism)
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Shuddhi (
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
: शुद्धि ''śuddhi'',
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
: शुद्धि ''śuddhi'', Punjabi: ਸ਼ੁੱਧ ''śuddh'') is a
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
word meaning purification or cleansing. In the context of modern
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
, it describes a
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
religious movement started by
Arya Samaj Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...
, initially aimed at re-converting former Hindus who departed the religion for
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
or
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, but later expanded to convert non-Hindus altogether. This term is also present in some medieval smritis, as well as in later Sikh literature, also in the context of re-conversion.


Etymology

Shuddhi is derived from the
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
word शुद्धि ''śuddhi'' ("purified"), the past passive participle of the verb शुध् ''śudh'' ("to purify"). This word ultimately derives from
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
*(s)ḱew- ("to shine"). Although the Sanskrit word शुद्धि was inherited into Hindi as सुध ''sudh'' and into Punjabi as ਸੁੱਧ ''suddh'', both inherited words are generic and neither are used to refer to the shuddhi movement.


Origins

The practice of shuddhi began by the 10th century AD as a response to Islamic incursions into the Indian subcontinent and the subsequent conversion of
Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
to
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, and is credited with reversing the mass Islamic conversions in the wake of Muhammad ibn Qasim's
conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...
of
Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
. Some ''smritis'' were composed in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
during this time to promote shuddhi, such as the Devala Smriti, Atri Samhita, and Brihadyana Smriti, all of which were cited in Arya Samaji pandit J. B. Chaudhary's 1930 publication ''Shuddhi Sanatan Hai''. The Devala Smriti is the most detailed of these texts, but it is lost and only partially survives in quotations from later writers. Multiple reconstructions have therefore been attempted throughout the 20th century, with the most extensive being done by Mukund Lalji Wadekar in 1982. The Devala Smriti prescribes shuddhi rituals for anyone from the ages of 11 to 80. This would even include women who were impregnated by Muslim men, who would have to undergo the ''santapana krcchra'' penance of consuming cow urine, cow dung,
milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...
,
ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...
, and kusha grass,
fasting Fasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic sta ...
for one day and night and cleaning their private areas with
ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...
. Additionally, such women would be considered half-'' mleccha'' until they gave birth, which is when they would regain their caste, but their child would be considered '' pratiloma'' (impure mixed-caste) and hence could not be retained. However, shuddhi rituals were usually not this strict, and were permissible for individuals who had followed Islam for less than 20 years (unless they committed forbidden acts, such as killing or consuming cows, or having intercourse with non-Hindu women, in which case that period would be less than 4 years). The author of the Devala Smriti tied Islamic conversion (and even mere association with Muslims) to caste contamination, which would require shuddhi; since Muslim Arab conquest was not yet seen as a full-fledged imperial project, but as another migration in a long line of
barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...
'' mleccha'' incursions which ended in their eventual settlement and Hinduization. The author of the Devala Smriti is said to be highly unorthodox by the standards of the time. The historian
Al-Biruni Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (; ; 973after 1050), known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously "Father of Comparative Religion", "Father of modern ...
writes that his
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
informants did not accept the readmission of Hindu converts to Islam back into their
caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...
and religion. The practice of shuddhi disappeared by the 12th century AD, and the idea that Hindus must be born into the religion took hold, as Hindu proselytization activities gradually ceased.


Arya Samaj Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...
movement

The socio-political movement, derived from ancient rite of ''shuddhikaran'', or purification was started by the
Arya Samaj Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...
,and its founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati and his followers like Swami Shraddhanand, who also worked on the ''Sangathan'' consolidation aspect of Hinduism, in
North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...
, especially Punjab in early 1900s, though it gradually spread across India. Shuddhi had a social reform agenda behind its rationale and was aimed at abolishing the practise of
untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...
by converting outcasts from other religions to
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
and integrating them into the mainstream community by elevating their position, and instilling self-confidence and self-determination in them. The movement strove to reduce the conversions of Hindus to Islam and Christianity, which were underway at the time. In 1923, Swami Shraddhanand founded the 'Bhartiya Hindu Shuddhi Mahasabha' (Indian Hindu Purification Council) and pushed the agenda of reconversion, which eventually created a flashpoint between Hindus and Muslims as Hindus were the recipients of the violence..
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
made a comment on Swami Shraddhananda in an article titled 'Hindu-Muslim-Tensions: Causes and Resistance' in the May 29, 1922 issue of Young India. Gandhi further wrote Dayanand that "he narrowed one of the most liberal and tolerant religions of the world." Swami responded to Gandhi's article that "If Aryasamaji is true to themselves, then the allegations of Mahatma Gandhi or any other person and invasions also cannot obstruct the trends of Arya Samaj." Shraddhanand followingly kept moving towards his goal. The main point of contention was the reconversion of Malkana Rajputs in western United Province As a result, the movement became controversial and antagonized the Muslims populace untouchable assertion
''The Politics of the Urban Poor in Early Twentieth-century India'', by Nandini Gooptu. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2001. . ''Page 157''.
and also led to the assassination of the leader of the movement, Swami Shraddhanand by a Muslim in 1926. After Swami Shraddhanand died this movement continued. In the late 1920s, prominent Goan Hindu Brahmins requested Vinayak Maharaj Masurkar, the prelate of a
Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...
ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Masur, Satara district; to actively campaign for the 're-conversion' of Catholic Gaudas to Hinduism. Masurkar accepted, and together with his disciples, subsequently toured Gauda villages singing devotional '' bhakti'' songs and performing '' pujas''. These means led a considerable number of Catholic Gaudas to declare willingness to come into the Hindu fold, and a ''Shuddhi'' ceremony was carefully prepared. On 23 February 1928, many Catholic Gaudes in Goa were re-converted to Hinduism notwithstanding the opposition of the Church and the Portuguese government. The converts were given Sanskrit Hindu names, but the Portuguese government put impediments in their way to get legal sanction for their new Hindu names. 4851 Catholic Gaudes from Tiswadi, 2174 from Ponda, 250 from Bicholim and 329 from Sattari were re-converted to Hinduism after nearly 400 years. The total number of the converts to Hinduism was 7815. The existing Hindu Gauda community refused to accept these neo-Hindus back into their fold because their Catholic ancestors had not maintained caste purity, and the neo-Hindus were now alienated by their former Catholic coreligionists. These neo-Hindus developed into a separate endogamous community, and are now referred to as ''Nav-Hindu Gaudas'' (New Hindu Gaudas). However, in Northern India this movement faced stiff opposition from Islamic organizations such as the
Barelvi The Barelvi movement, also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah (People of the Prophet's Way and the Community) is a Sunni revivalist movement that generally adheres to the Hanafi school, Hanafi and Shafi'i school, Shafi'i schools of jurisprudenc ...
movement's Jama'at Raza-e-Mustafa which attempted to counter the efforts of the Shuddhi movement to convert Muslims to Hinduism in British India.


In Sikhism

In the Shamsher Khalsa, a volume of the Twarikh Guru Khalsa historical treatise written by Giani Gian Singh, there are several accounts dated to the first half of the 18th century AD labelled "shuddh karna" ( Punjabi: ਸ਼ੁਧ ਕਰਨਾ or ਸ਼ੁੱਧ ਕਰਨਾ, "purification"), where
Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...
who were forcibly converted to
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
during wartime were then re-converted to
Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
after the defeat of Muslim forces. A notable episode is the "Turknian Shuddh Karnian" ( Punjabi: ਤੁਰਕਨੀਆਂ ਸ਼ੁੱਧ ਕਰਨੀਆਂ, "purification of Islamic zedwomen") which took place after Vadbhag Singh Sodhi's defeat of Nasir Ali, whose army captured and raped women and forcibly converted them to Islam. Re-conversion into
Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
only required retaking Khande Ki Pahul.


See also

*
Shaucha () literally means purity, cleanliness, and clearness. It refers to purity of mind, speech and body. is one of the of Yoga. It is discussed in many ancient Indian texts such as the Mahabharata and Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. It is a virtue in Hi ...
* Ghar Wapsi


References


Sources

* * * * * *


External links

* * by Pandit J. B. Chaudhary of
Arya Samaj Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...
{{Hindudharma Rituals in Hindu worship Arya Samaj Hindu movements Salvation