Many answers have been put forth to the question “Who is a Hindu?”. A believer in the divinity of the deities mentioned in the Puranas seems to be simplest.
Another question frequently asked is “Who is a Hindu?” I have not put it with the FAQs because it does not have a clear answer. Key in “who is a hindu” on Google and you will be amazed at the variety of responses. I would like to interpret this question as what is the minimum requirement for a person to be a Hindu.
In the Levant religions there is a rite of initiation into the religion, like baptism or circumcision. I am not aware whether this rite is sufficient for the person to be deemed a member of the religion. However no such initiation rite exists in Hinduism so the question does not arise.
Hinduism accepts all faiths as legitimate paths to God and therefore some people have advocated that anyone who believes in God is a Hindu. This definition is not tenable because those who subscribe to other religions would not call themselves Hindus. This is true of other Indic religions like Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism as well. The subscribers to such religions may identify more with Hinduism than with Occidental religions but they would not call themselves Hindus. And unfortunately today because of the prevalent religious acrimonies even many Hindus would not readily accept this definition.
One of the most common definitions of a Hindu is one who accepts the authority of the Vedas. As far as blind acceptance of the authority of the Vedas is concerned this definition would be workable but at a practical level there are problems.
The Vedas are not unequivocal authoritative texts (expect as relating to liturgical functions). They present various points of view, often conflicting. Hence one can accept one part of the Vedas but not another. Another problem with this definition is that the Vedas are complex scriptures and many Hindus would have little idea of what is written in them and very few would have actually read them. Hence to hold the acceptance of Vedic authority at a meaningful level is untenable because it would exclude a large section of Hindus.
A simple condition would be to believe in the divinity of the deities mentioned in the Puranas. Most Hindus would go beyond mere belief and actually practice the more basic rituals. However there are many who do not practice for want of time or lack of perceived need. They are content in belief.
Please check my course on Hindu Mythology
Please check my articles on Mythology from India
