Before going on to consider the Jana Sangh's efforts to present itself as a vehicle of Hindu nationalism, it will be useful to take a brief look at certain strands in the Indian philosophical tradition. There are important differences of theme and emphasis between the various schools of Hindu nationalist writing, but all have their immediate origins in the intellectual ferment of the nineteenth century, when the religious and philosophical texts of Brahmanic Hinduism were the object of wide-ranging analysis and debate both in India and abroad. It is to that process that we must now turn.

Brahmanism and Hindu nationalism

Brahmanism may be briefly defined as that system of religious beliefs and practices based on the ancient texts knows as the Vedas and their associated literature. Traditionally, this literature was the preserve of the Brahman castes, transmitted for centuries by oral tradition, but in the nineteenth century it came under intensive scholarly scrutiny, first in Europe and then in India itself. As it became more accessible and, through interpretation, more comprehensible, some Indian writers and intellectuals believed that it might serve as the foundation of a reformed and broadly based faith. However, the works concerned – the four Vedas, the Mahabharata and the Upanishads – vary considerably in form and content and are not easily organized to constitute a consistent statement of belief.