Hindu and Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?

What is Hindutva?

As per Sanskrit grammar, the 'tva' pratyaya (suffix) indicates 'being' so 'Hindu-tva' is simply being a Hindu. 

Just as 'Mātru (mother) + tva' = Mātrutva (motherhood). 

Or 'Nāgarik (citizen) + tva' = Nāgaritva (citizenship). 

But who is a Hindu? 

For that I like to start with Veer Savarkar's definition of a Hindu. Savarkar defines a 'Hindu' thus:

 आसिंधु सिंधु पर्यन्ता यस्य भारतभूमिका ।
 पितृभू: पुण्यभूश्चैव स वै हिंदुरिति स्मृत: ॥ 

One who considers this Bharat bhoomi - from the Sindhu (Indus) river originating in the Himalaya to the Sindhu (ocean) at the southern tip (Sindhu also means ocean in Sanskrit) - as their ancestral homeland (Pitṛbhūḥ) and their sacred land (Puṇyabhū), is a Hindu.

To the above, I would also add Matrubhoomi to connect the diaspora spread across the world today. Therefore, one who considers Bharat to be their Pitrubhoomi (land of ancestors), Punyabhoomi (sacred land) and Matrubhoomi (birthplace of their culture, tradition, language, ethos) is a Hindu. 

In conclusion...

Ultimately, it is about आस्था (āsthā) which is a reverence, a connect, a love for this timeless Sanatana Dharma and the land that has birthed it and nourished it since time immemorial. 

If you have this āsthā, you have Hindutva within you!

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