A Philosophe's Guide To Religion

Pavan K Verma's new book Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker makes one see Hinduism in a totally different light. Society speaks to the author to know more.

- Rahulpaul

Author Pavan K Verma mentions on the very first page that ‘When religions are largely reduced to rituals, there is always the danger that the form will become more than the substance’. This focusses on how religion is blindly passed on from generation to generation to be blindly followed without even knowing its very existence. Verma chooses one of the greatest minds of all time, Jagad Guru Adi Shankaracharya, to further explore this concept and enlighten the readers about the philosophies that forms the foundation of Hinduism.

“I have observed that very often the practising Hindu doesn’t know that Hinduism is a way of life. The festivals that Hindus celebrate have a lot of meaning behind them. But the meaning is lost. If you ask a Hindu today—what are the teachings of Adi Shankaracharya? What are the three scripts Hinduism is based on? What are the main differences between Hinduism and Buddhism?—most of them would not know. As a result, we have grown up to be religious people who are not searching for the ultimate truth. Today, we have these aggressive self-appointed protectors of Hinduism who claim that this alone is what Hinduism is. And I believe that we cannot question or argue with those who are speaking for us in the name of Hinduism because we are not equipped sufficiently,” Verma tells us.