[Advaita-l] mleccha-s not eligible to take Hinduism??

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

> That means any one born in the entire universe legitimately belongs to and automatically becomes a "sanAtana Dharmi' by birth itself. No eligible natives and ineligible aliens. He/she would not have needed a stamped certificate from an assigned authority to be called a "sanAtana Dharmi." 
> It is akin to any one being born in India, automatically becoming a citizen of the country. (A certificate may be needed for transactions later in life but that is a different matter). 
> 
 
That is precisely what a number of Acharyas of different sampradAya-s in recent times
have said. There is no general conversion rite because by birth everyone already has a
place under that vast umbrella called dharma.
 
I wish this discussion had not veered off into avenues such as this. Personally speaking,
let me applaud Sri Shivashankar for speaking up and stating his position. He has long 
been a mostly silent member of this list. sanAtana dharma is a lived tradition; unlike
some other religions, it is not fossilized in books. Yes, we need thorough grounding in
the texts, but at the same time, we need to look at what decisions have been taken in
specific cases, by AcArya-s whose knowledge of nuances of dharma far outstrips the
average member of this list.
 
In the course of this discussion, the names of Swami Dayananda Saraswati of Arsha 
Vidya Gurukulam and Sringeri Jagadguru, Swami Bharati Tirtha, have been brought up.
I have no authority to speak for either of them and what they do certainly doesn't need
any defense from the likes of me. But knowing what I do of both, let me just say that
they do not do things lightly or for the sake of name, fame or political goodwill. Sringeri
has a long reputation of being one of the most traditional and arch-conservative voices,
but again, it is Sringeri that has historically demonstrated numerous instances of "liberal"
action. Sri Sriram already pointed out the example of the founders of Vijayanagara, who
had the blessings of Swami Vidyaranya, 700 years ago. When a Sringeri Sankaracharya
says something and does it, rest assured that there is deep reason and thinking behind
it. The beneficial consequences for the world will be seen for centuries to come.
 
Regards,
Vidyasankar