Unforgivable Lack Of Hinduism
This is 'the Story of India', right?
We're treated to virtually an entire episode detailing the life of Buddha and the tenets of Buddhism, an atheistic offshoot of Hinduism. Yet, as mentioned by Wood, Buddhism as a practiced religion in India is nearly non-existent, with less than 1% of the population being adherents as of 2001.
We're treated to an entire episode on the moslem conquest of India, which was white-washed to the point of a single battle between two moslem armies, followed by apparently nothing but happiness and cooperation until the big bad Brits showed up. All this accompanied by numerous instances of Wood lamenting the fact that Islam did not conquer and convert the whole sub-continent. Islam adherents count for 13.4% of the population as of 2001. (Is this guy a moslem? The only time I saw him take part in any religious ceremonies, despite being where the Buddha attained enlightment, and despite attending numerous Hindu festivals, was when he donned a head cover and placed something on the tomb of an ancient moslem prophet.)
And what do we get concerning Hinduism? The religion whose adherents make up over 80% of the population? The oldest extant major religion on the planet, 3rd largest with over a billion adherents? The religion which has shaped Indian culture for thousands of years, since the time of the Pharoahs?
We get virtually nothing other than a repeated misrepresentaion of Hinduism as a polytheistic belief system.
Very little of the prehistoric oral history of the Vedics. No mention of the Upanishads. No Guadapada. No Shankara.
This is 'the Story of India', right? Because it seemed to me there was a big hole in that story.
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How 'bout that LEM, huh!?!