What is Sanatana Dharma?
What is Sanatana Dharma?
Let’s understand each of the two
words seperately and then decipher what “Sanatan Dharma” means.
SANATAN:
A quick Google search of the
meaning of “Sanatan” gave me the following results:
सनातन
Transliterated version: sanatan.
विशेषण
1. परंपरानुसार चला आता हुआ।
2. परंपरानिष्ठ, ऑर्थोडॉक्स।
3. सदा बना रहनेवाला, शाश्वत, नित्य।
4. अनादि और अनंत (जैसे—ईश्वर की सनातन लीलाएँ)
The Jews say
Judaism is sanatan (oldest). The Muslims claim Islam is
sanatan (has always been there). The Buddhists say that the
Dhamma (truth, nature, natural laws) as taught by the Buddha
is sanatan. They are all correct according to their professed religions.
The TRUTH, the Dhamma/Judaism/Islam, existed before
the Buddha/Abraham/prophet of Islam. It has always been there and will always
be. So, all truths/religions are eternal/sanatan according to the followers of
their adopted religions.
Judaism is sanatan
Islam is sanatan
Dhamma is sanatan
Plus all other faith systems that claim to be
eternal are sanatan according to believers of their respective faiths.
Similarly, the religion of the Brahmins (Brahminism) too, is sanatan according
to them.
If someone says that their religion/way of
life/faith is eternal, the real truth or sanatan, should you just take their
word for it without investigation?
Merely labelling/calling something eternal or truth
doesn’t necessarily make it eternal or true.
Food for
thought: What is the name of the religion that is
eternal (ie sanatan)?
If I was the
founder of a new religion, I think it would be a brilliant move to simply name
it and popularise it as “TRUTH” or “FOREVER LIVING (sanatan)”, so that the non
believers would not hesitate to say, “We are not the follower of the TRUTH” and
I could boldly claim, “my religion is Truth /the eternal religion”
DHARMA:
Dharma is a Sanskrit word meaning duty (or
responsibility). It does not mean religion.
For example;
The Dharma of the parents is to raise their
children in the best possible manner.
The dharma of a pilot is to ensure a safe flight.
The dharma of a wife is to treat her husband like a
god (according to some).
The dharma of a teacher is to teach.
The dharma of the student is to learn and respect
his teacher..
The dharma of a warrior is to master the art of
warfare.
The dharma of tradesman is to trade.
The dharma of a Shudra is to serve the Dwija.
The dharma of followers of a system called
Varnashram Dharma (I.e. followers of Varnashram Duties) is ONLY to perform the
duties meant for their particular varna (class) and not to perform the duties
reserved for those who fall in other varnas.
At least, from the decline of the Ashokan Empire to
the rise of the Mughal Empire in Jambudeep, there were only four main dharmas.
Namely, the Brahmin dharma, Kashatriya dharma, the Vaishya dharma and the
Shudra dharma. All others were varnaless..No specific dharma/duties were
assigned to them for they were simply the untouchables or the unseeables who
survived by doing the jobs no Varanashrami (person with a Varna label), the
Sa-Varna would perform.
SO – What is
Sanatana Dharma?
ANSWER:
ETERNAL DUTY or ETERNAL RESPONSIBILITY from birth to
death (according to the responsibilities of the varna one falls in).
Author: Shekhar Bodhakar
Also Read:
1. Is
Hinduism a religion or a way of life?
2. What is
Hinduism? Can it be defined?
3. Will
Hinduism survive in India?
4. What are the
names of the six shastras of Hinduism?
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