Sanatana Dharma
You would have heard this
verse:
Om Sarve bhavantu sukhinah
Sarve santu niraamayah
Sarve bhadrani pashyantu
Ma kaschit duhkha bhaagbhavet
Om Shantih Shantih Shantihi
What does it mean?
It means, ‘May all be happy;
may all be free from worries and diseases; may everyone see only goodness; may
no one be sad; may all the living things in this world (ever) always have
peace, prosperity, happiness’. Such benevolent thoughts are the foundation
stones of Sanatana Dharma. The word ‘Sanatana’ means ‘most ancient’, and it
also stands for ‘ever new’; which means everlasting, eternal. Sanatana Dharma
was born and flourished in India. Today, this has been understood as Hindu
Religion.
Sources of Sanatana Dharma
1.Shrutis
Vedas are the main sources of Sanatana Dharma. The word
‘Veda’ means knowledge. The Vedas are the most ancient and important texts of
the ancient religious literature of India. The Vedas are called ‘Shrutis’, as
this knowledge is heard and learned by the sages. This knowledge has been
passed on through the tradition of Guru-Shishya, without the help of a script.
The
abundant knowledge of the Vedas available in the ancient times could not be
learned or taught to the student in one’s lifetime. So sage Krishnadwaipayana
categorized the immeasurable cluster of Vedas (‘Vyasa’ in Sanskrit also means
to classify) and hence he was also called ‘Vedavyasa’ (the one who classified
the Vedas).The four Vedas available today are Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and
Atharvanaveda. Each Veda again has four ‘skandas’ or divisions. They are:
1. Samhitha: These are mantras, praising the natural elements
after giving them human embodiment. These are mentioned with different poetical
metres. The samhitas also contain hymns of different deities.
2. Bramhana: It is the part of the Vedas which deals with the
ritualistic methods of performing the yagnas. It is mostly written in the form
of prose.
3. Aaranyaka: It is the part of the Vedas which gives
interpretations of the stotras and yagnas.
4. Upanishad: They are the philosophical discussions between Guru-Shishya about the creation, the creator of the universe and the existence of human beings.
The Upanishads have a special importance amongst the four
parts of the Vedas. If Samhitas, Brahmanas and the Aaranyakas give importance
to Karma, Upanishads however are concerned with knowledge. It removes the
ignorance of man and propounds true, other worldly knowledge.
2. Smritis
Smriti means that which is remembered. These works of the
post- Vedic period are called Smritis because they are reminiscent of the Vedas
and the Upanishads. These are also called Dharmasutras, manuals on Dharma,
because they give the rules of everyday life, the rules to lead a worldly life,
its ethics and etiquette and the rules of good character and conduct.
Though there are eighteen Smritis, the most ancient and
influential among them is the Manusmriti. Although it has been revered as a
Doctrinal text of the Sanatana Dharma for nearly two thousand years, no one
today would ever accept the hierarchical world view it advocates. Rather, our
Constitution is the highly regarded foundational text of our social outlook.
Traditionally along with Dharmasutras, the Smritis corpus also includes Vedanga
, Purana, Itihaasa and Darshanas.
Vedangas
Vedangas are the auxiliary disciplines to understand the
Vedas, its pronunciation and practice. They are Siksha (phonetics), Chandas
(prosody), Vyakaran (grammar), Nirukta (etymology), Jyotishya (astrology) and
Kalpa (religious practices). All Vedangas have the tradition and history of
teachers and the taught.
Itihasa and Puranas
Ramayana and Mahabharata are the two great epics of India.
These epics contain numerous discussions, stories and sub-stories which answer
our questions regarding moral and religious practices. Even to this day, these
epics are the guiding lights for good values. Ramayana and Mahabharata have
been re-told in many ways in the Indian languages. The eighteen puranas and
equal number of upapuranas, contain stories of devatas, genealogy of kings, the
rules and rituals of worship and instructions and guidelines to worship.
Darshanas
Darshanas are the pillars of Indian philosophy. The six majors
Darshanas are Nyaya, Vaisesika, Saankhya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa and Uttara .
These are classified into two broad groups- the Asthika group and the Nasthika
group. The Asthika group accepts the authority of the Vedas, whereas the
Nasthika group does not accept their authority. Jainism, Buddhism and Charvaka
are non-Vedic nasthika group of Darshanas while the rest are Asthika Darshanas.
Worship of idols:
In the Vedas, Brahma is considered dualistically as- Saguna
and Nirguna. Having Nama (name) Roopa (form) is Saguna and having no name and
form is Nirguna. The worship of deities bearing names and forms is found in the
Vedas itself. Agama Sahitya which accepted Vedas and grew into a theistic
branch gave scope to the worship of idols. Vaishnava, Shaiva and Shaakta are
the three major schools of ‘Agama traditions’. Consisting of such vast and
diverse sources, Sanatana Dharma basically accepts pluralism in principle. It
rewards diversity and permits differences of opinions. ‘Aano bhadrah kratavo
yantu vishwatah’, a Vedic chant which means ‘Let good things flow to us from
all sides of the universe’ is the aim of Sanathana Dharma. The following words
of Swami Vivekananda, from his lecture on the last day of the Chicago
Parliament of Religions (dated 27/ 09 / 1893), have always been and should be
worth emulating for all religions: “Help and not fight; Assimilation and not
destruction; Harmony and peace and not dissention”.
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