witnessed a more puritan form of Islam, especially in Saudi Arabia, return
to India seeking to purge Islamic practice of “non-Islamic” accretions. Other
Muslims may join sectarian Islamic movements that are perceived to be
more “global” or more “pristine.” Hindus may become followers of certain
gurus or sectarian movements that offer specific interpretations of the
Hindu way. These include followers of such “god-men” as Satya Sai Baba or
such movements as the Brahma ̄kumarı ̄s. Other movements attracting
a sizable following, especially of upper-class Hindus, are the A ̄rya Sama ̄j
or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; these latter movements are especially
committed to making India a polity in which core Hindu values will
dominate. We turn to the story of some of these movements.
Gurus and their movements
A practice that goes back at least to the days of the Upanis.adsis that of seekers
associating themselves with particular teachers or gurus. It is a practice one
finds in contemporary India as well as in the Indian diaspora. As people seek
to rediscover the essence of their faith, and, in the process, their own
identities, they attach themselves to the exponent of a particular school
of thought or practice, whether from a distance through the guru’s books,
or in ashrams or mat.hasto meditate in the presence of the teacher. Such
teachers are selected for any number of reasons: a friend recommends some-
one with whom he or she has been in contact; one is impressed, by word
of mouth, with a guru’s style or “miracles”; the guru speaks one’s own
vernacular; or, if one is an Anglicized urbanite, one may be impressed by
the guru who is also Anglicized and a globe-trotter. So, if one is a Tamil
sma ̄rtabrahman, for example, living in Mumbai, away from one’s home, one
may look to the S ́an.kara ̄ca ̄rya ̄ (the exponent of S ́an.kara’s Veda ̄nta) for
guidance – usually the S ́an.kara ̄ca ̄rya ̄ of Ka ̄ñcı ̄puram if one is from eastern
Tamil Nadu and the S ́an.kara ̄ca ̄rya ̄ of Sringeri, if one is from the southwest.
“Gurus” are abundant in the Indian landscape; there is little quality control
save as devotees become impressed with the charisma or “wisdom” of the
teacher. At times each guru starts movements distinctive to his or her own
particular perceptions of the “truth.”
The Brahma ̄kumarı ̄s
Take, for example, the Brahma ̄kumarı ̄ movement. While the Brahma ̄ku-
marı ̄s (Daughters of Brahma ̄) are not a numerically large group by Indian
standards (perhaps 100,000 devoted members over all), it illustrates one of
the ways in which the Hindu tradition is reinterpreted in the modern
214 Religion in Contemporary India