and practices may be, provided they have not openly abjured Hinduism
or married outside of Hindu society."

Mr Satyendra Nath Tagore, another Bengali Hindu, whose family is among
the most distinguished in India, writes:--"There are no dogmas in
Hinduism. You may believe in any doctrine you choose, even in atheism,
without ceasing to be a Hindu. You, as a Hindu, must in theory accept
the Vedas as the revealed religion, but you may put your own
interpretation on the Vedic texts. This leaves a loophole for you to
escape from the thraldom of dogmatism. It is the adherence to certain
practices--rites and ceremonies--that Hinduism imperatively demands.
Chief of these is the system of caste as at present constituted, the
slightest deviation from which cuts one off from the community. In
determining the question proposed, the text is, What is it that
entails excommunication of a Hindu? Surely not any specific article of
belief, but a deviation from established usages and customs--such, for
instance, as the remarriage of widows, etc. Again, non-observance of
the prevailing modes of worship, non-observance of idol worship,
especially on ceremonial occasions, might entail serious consequences.
It is true that certain articles of belief obtain among the large body
of Hindus, but they are by no means universal or essential to
Hinduism. You may renounce the belief, provided you conform to the
ceremony which is the outcome of such belief. For instance, it will
not do to discountenance the practice of making funeral offerings to
deceased ancestors, although you have no faith in the immortality of
the soul."

Mr P. T. Srinivas Iyengar is principal of a college in Vizagapatam. He
writes:--"The evolution of religion in India has not provided the
Hindus with any belief or practice common to all who now go by that
name. The pre-Aryan tribes had their own religious beliefs and
practices, on which were superimposed those of the Aryans. The Vedic
age, the post-Vedic times, the Buddhist age, and the age of the
Paranas, have each contributed innumerable ideas and customs. The
religion of each one of us contains relics of all these strata, but
not one of these can be called essential to the Hindu religion,
because every belief or practice that is considered absolutely
necessary by Hindus of one corner of India is unknown or ignored by
some other corner. It is true that the various schools of Hindu
philosophy agree in regarding a few fundamental