The Dhaarmik Traditions - Indic Studies Foundation

"One."
There is an excellent discussion of this topic in Arvind Sharma's "An introduction
to Classical Hindu Thought", Oxford University Press, 2000 in Chapter 1.In short, a
person can choose a deity that suits his mix of guNAs (Rajas, Tamas, and Sattva).
Hinduism does not subscribe to a one size fits all theory when it comes to personal
worship.
11. How did the name Hindu originate
This is a very pertinent question. In the very distant past (about 7 to 8000 years ago)
when there were major cities and towns along the river valleys of the Saraswathi and
Sindhu Rivers and the Doab surrounded by their tributaries , the people were known
either by the regional appellations or by their lineage of the royal house that was
ruling the land at that period in history. I have been referring to the people in the
aggregate as the Vedics. There were many tribes or clans among the Vedics who
went by names such as Bharatas, Panchalas, Yadus, Druhyus, Anus, etc... These
tribes or clans were very much like the Scottish clans of much more recent vintage.
Many of these clans inhabited an area that came to be known as the Sapta Sindhu
area, the Sapta standing for the 7 tributaries of the Indus river at that period in
history. Eventually some of these clans moved westward towards the area we know
now as Iran. Their dialect was slightly different from those that were left behind. They
got into the habit of pronouncing a 's' as an 'h'. Thus Sapta Sindhu eventually came
to be known as Hepta Hendu or Hindu for short and the people who inhabited the
area came to be known as Hindus. During that era there was no religious connotation
for the word Hindu. It was simply a geographic connotation. As the millennia rolled
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