This Krishnaite propaganda, which coincided with the Reformation in Europe, was the last great religious movement in India.  Since that time there has been considerable activity of a minor kind.  Protests have been raised against abuses and existing communities have undergone changes, such as may be seen in the growth of the Sikhs, but there has been no general or original movement.  The absence of such can be easily explained by the persecutions of Aurungzeb and by the invasions and internal struggles of the eighteenth century.  At the end of that century Hinduism was at its lowest but its productive power was not destroyed.  The decennial census never fails to record the rise of new sects and the sudden growth of others which had been obscure and minute.

Any historical treatment of Hinduism inevitably makes Vishnuism seem more prominent than other sects, for it offers more events to record.  But though Sivaism has undergone fewer changes and produced fewer great names, it must not be thought of as lifeless or decadent.  The lingam is worshipped all over India and many of the most celebrated shrines, such as Benares and Bhubaneshwar, are dedicated to the Lord of life and death.  The Sivaism of the Tamil country is one of the most energetic and progressive forms of modern Hinduism, but in doctrine it hardly varies from the ancient standard of the Tiruvacagam.

9. European Influence and Modern Hinduism

The small effect of European religion on Hinduism is remarkable.  Islam, though aggressively hostile, yet fused with it in some sects, for instance the Sikhs, but such fusions of Indian religion and Christianity as have been noted[29] are microscopic curiosities.  European free thought and Deism have not fared better, for the Brahmo Samaj which was founded under their inspiration has only 5504 adherents[30].  In social life there has been some change:  caste restrictions, though not abolished, are evaded by ingenious subterfuges and there is a growing feeling against child-marriage.  Yet were the laws against sati and human sacrifice repealed, there are many districts in which such practices would not be forbidden by popular sentiment.

It is easy to explain the insensibility of Hinduism to European contact:  even Islam had little effect on its stubborn vitality, though Islam brought with it settlers and resident rulers, ready to make converts by force.  But the British have shown perfect toleration and are merely sojourners in the land who spend their youth and age elsewhere.  European exclusiveness and Indian ideas about caste alike made it natural to regard them as an isolated class charged with the business of Government but divorced from the intellectual and religious life of other classes.  Previous experience of Moslims and other invaders disposed the Brahmans to accept foreigners as rulers without admitting that their creeds and customs were in the least worthy of imitation.  European methods of organization and advertisement have not however been disdained.