Difference in Revelation.

19. Difference in Revelation.

Rooted in the above, are other differences. Christianity and Islam are built round historical personalities; Hinduism round the truths of man’s own higher nature. If there was no Jesus or no Muhammad, there would have been no Christianity and no Islam. But according to the Hindu view, man’s religion does not depend on any such exigency. Dharma lies in the soul of a man and it is there all the time. It is eternal, sanatana. It may lie there in eclipse for a time due to various veiling influ­ences, but it is all the time there ready to manifest itself under propitious conditions. It could lie dormant for a time, but it could get activated through a pregnant word, or get triggered by the example of some spiritual personality, or self-awakening could take place on its own when the time is ripe. Spiritual consciousness is also renewed from time to time by historical sages, but there is nothing exclusive, first or last about them. Any such claim is merely pretension, and self-deception,