Slok prays to sacred rivers e. g. Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada,Sindhu and Kaveri t

Who is a Hindu? Yogesh Kumar Saxena, Advocate, High Court, YOGREKHA

Ekam Sadhvipra Bahuda Vadanti [2] means that He is one but we call Him by various beautiful names.

Further to this it may be appropriate to mention the following verse which also gives clear message that Hindusthan means place [ sthan] of Hindus or land of Hindus or Hinduland [e.g. England ,land of English people, Ireland , land of Irish people ] .Hindusthan’s ancient name is Bharatvarsh.

Uttare cha Samudrashya Himadreshu cha Dakshinam,

Tadvarsha Bharat Nama Bharati Tatra Santati. [3]

The land which is north to the Hind Mahasagar[ Indian Ocean] and south to the mighty, magnificent Himalayas is Bharat, sons and daughters of this ancient land are called Bharati or Bbharatiya[Hindusthani]

Bharat also means knowdge or Gyan means away from ignorance or away from darkness so Bharat means land of source of light or knowledge. True knowledge is in the Ved so Bharat is also known as Ved Bhoomi.

Bhayam Ratam Bharatam [4] means Bharat is submerged in light or is full of light so foundation and backbone of Bharat is knowledge where life is led by knowledge therefore ignorance and superstitions have no place in the land of Hindus.

What unites us is our spiritual and cultural heritage and its inner and most powerful strength since beginning of our civilisation. Our heroes and heroines are supreme who inspire and guide us just remembering their names provide new and instant energy, strength, courage, hope and peace to name a few e.g. Raam, Krishna, Arjun, karn,Bhishma, Mahaveer, Buddha, Sri Raamkrishna, Dhruva,Prahalad, Hanuman,Sita, Radha,Tiruvallavur, Adi Sankaracharya, Guru Nanak, Samarth Guru Raamdas,Shivaji, Maharana Pratap, Bhamasah, Sant Yogeshwar, Swaminarayan, Meera Bai, Tulsidas, Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Govind Singh, Valmiki, Vedavyas, Kalidas, Swami Dayanand, Swami Vivekanand, Ramana Mahirishi, Srila Prabhupad, Valmiki, Soordas, Kabir,Subhas Chandra Bose, Khudi Ram Bose,Bhagat Singh,Chandra Shekhar TiwariAzad,, Bankim chandra chattopadhyaya, Sri Aurvindo, Dr.Hedegewar, Mangal Pandey,Sardar Ballabha Bhai Patel, Veer Savarkar, Dr. Ambedkar , Yogi Yoganand, Swami Chinmayanand, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,Sivaya Subramaiyaswami, Sai Baba,Sri Sri, Sri Ravishankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Satyamitranand Giri,Sadhavi Umashree Bharati,Shri RameshBhai Oza and Sadhavi Ritambhara there is no end to this list and we are proud of them.

We recite the following Slok while bathing which is so satisfying and unifying us from Himalayas to Hind Mahasagar and all the Hindus living anywhere in the world

Gange Cha Yamune Chaiva Godavari Saraswati,

Narmade Sindhu Kaveri Jalesminsannidhim kuru.[ 5]

A Hindu while chanting this Slok prays to sacred rivers e. g. Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada,Sindhu and Kaveri to come and join in the water being used for bath or shower. It is a unique and enlightening experience and at the same time so unifying which inspires me to say that one Hindu is for all and all Hindus are for one. Origin of the word Hindu has been traced from an ancient scripture called Brihanardi Puran in which there is a verse

Himalayan Samabhya Yavat Bindusarovaram,

Hindusthanmati Gyatam Hii Antarakshar Ayogatah.[6]

It means the country between the Himalayas and Bindu Sarovar is Hindusthan so combining the first letter Hi of Himalayas and last compound letter Ndu of word Bindu forms Hindu so purely and simply this is a Sanskrit word. Our ancestors wrote so much including two largest epics Raamayan and Mahabharat and foreigners gave us the name Hindu cannot be accepted .This verse is also mentioned in the Nardeeya PuranWhich is a short version of original Brihannardi Puran.

Hinam Nashyati Iti Hindu[ 7 ] means those who uphold righteousness and fight ignobleness are Hindu.

Our motherland is also known as OM Bhoomi, Ved Bhoomi, Avatar Bhoomi, Devi Bhoomi, Devata Bhoomi, Punya Bhoomi, Rishi Bhoomi, Teerth Bhoomi, Gurukul Bhoomi, Guru Bhoomi, Sanskrit Bhoomi, Sanskriti Bhoomi,Sabhyata Bhoomi, Sant Bhoomi,Van Bhoomi, Veer Bhoomi,Raam Bhoomi, Krishna Bhoomi, Ras and Raas Bhoomi and Mahaveer Bhoomi, Buddha Bhoomi,Tiruvallavur Bhoomi, Kavi Bhoomi,Kavya Bhoomi, Sangeet Bhoomi,Nritya Bhoomi, Maharana Pratap Bhoomi, Shivaji Bhoomi, Lakshami Bai Bhoomi,Guru Nanak Bhoomi, Hedegewar Bhoomi, Sardar Patel, Veer Savarkar Bhoomi and above all Matri Bhoomi which inspired Shri Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya who wrote Vande Mataram.