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What is Sanatan Dharma
- Thread starter zenzero
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John Martin
Active Member
The word dharma comes from the root dhr, which means to hold, so support. It is like the hub of a wheel which holds all the spokes. In this sense Dharma is that which holds the whole of creation. There is also another word Rta, rita is the cosmic order or cosmic dharma, which holds the rythm of creation like Dharma. These two words also are identical with Sat or Tat. Sat is that which exists by itself. Its existence does not depend on anything else but all the other forms of existence depend on it. For example take the earth and a tree on the earth. The earth does not depend on the tree but the existence of the tree depends on the earth. We can call the earth as Sat and Tree as Asat.
Rigveda says: ekam sat vipra bhahuthi vadanti. Self exisitng being is one but sages call by many names. Another word is Tat, that. Tat vam asi, you are That, eternal self.This also refers to Sat. Other words used for God are Brahman, Atman and OM. The word Brahman comes from the root br which means to swell,to bubble, to spring forth or creativity. Atman is the foundation on which everything stands. While Brahman is understood as the ground and the source of the universe, Atman is understood as the ground of the human consciousness but in the final Atman is Brahman. OM is the primordial word from which all the manifestations of creation comes. OM is also identical with Brahman and Atman. So All these words Dharma, Rita, Sat, Tat, OM, Brahman and Atman refer to God, the one ultimate reality.
Sanathana: it means ancient or eternal.
The word dharma is generally understood to mean duty, a rule of life.
There are different types of dharmas:svadharma- one's own duty, sampradaya dharma, dharma that comes from the tradition, varna dharma,the duty of a particular caste, ashram dharma, the duty in a particular stage of one's life.
Yuga dharma, the dharma or duty for a particular time or yuga and then sanatana dharma, eternal duty. It sounds as a very big word,heavy but it is very light.
Sanathana dharma means eternity manifesting in the present. It is living moment by moment. It is freedom from the past and freedom from the future. A sannyasi in Hinduism lives in sanathana dharma. A sannyasi is not allowed to stay in any place.He has to be always on the move. He cannot take the food from this village to the next village.It will be provided there. Santhana dharma is the way a person lives. It is not identical with any religion. In Sanathana dharma an individual makes God a pilgrim. it is a pilgrimage from eternity to eternity.
In the Old Testament when God was leading the Israelites in the desert, he fed them with Manna. They were suppose to collect Manna necessary for that day only. They cannot collect more than necessary. If they do it would get spoiled. It is to be completely dependent on the providence of God. It is like the life of a sannyasi. Jesus Christ said, the foxes have their holes, the birds have their nests but the son of Man has no where to lay down and rest. This is living in Sanathana dharma, knowing and doing the will of God moment by moment. He did not know what will be the will of God next. Sanathana dharma is to live in a pathless path. Just as the birds make their journey without entering the traces left by others and do not leave the traces for the others to follow, just like fish make their journey without entering the traces left by others and do not leave traces for others so also a person who lives in Sanathana dharma lives like them. Just as the birds do not contaminate the sky, fish do not contaminate the waters so also a person who lives in sanathana dharma keeps the path uncontaminated for the others. He does not carry any burdens from the past and does not leaves any burdens for the future. He manifest eternity in the present. Sanathana dharma, though very big word, can be lived only moment by moment, freedom from all burdens or all other types of dharmas.
Hence sanathana dharma is that which frees people from the burden of all dharmas. Krishna told to Arjuna 'renounce all dharmas and come to me I will give you salvation'. Jesus Christ said, 'come to me all who carry heavy burdens I will give you rest. Take my yoke(dharma) upon you and learn from me that I am meek and humble of heart(free from all dharmas) and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke(dharma) is east and my burden is light. Jesus lived the life of sanathana dharma and he invited everyone to live the life of sanathana dharma and be free from all burdens.
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paarsurrey
Veteran Member
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad- The Promised Messiah wrote a small book of ten pages in Urdu titled Sanatan Dharam; one could access the same on the following link:
Ruhani Khazain - Computerised
Ruhani Khazain - Computerised
paarsurrey
Veteran Member
Speech of Pundit Gopi Nath of Sanatan Dharm made in the “Conference of Great Religions”on December 26-29, 1896 at Lahore, in the then British India.
Pundit Gopi Nath described the reasons why he believes Sanatan Dharm to be the best faith:
First: Sanatan Dharm as the most ancient faith on earth. There is no book on earth more ancient than that of Sanatan Dharm Hinduism. Its literature is the most extensive, which proves that countless lovers of God appeared in this faith. He argues that its being the oldest is a proof of its truthfulness.
Second: Despite being old, it still holds strength. Even though the political power has been lost, it has done no harm to the Sanatan Dharm faith.
Third: Its scriptures are the oldest.
Fourth: It did not start with a single prophet or reformer. Rather, a countless number of saintly individuals have graced it. He said that people criticize us because we worship 330 million gods. He said that we don't consider any of these 330 or 430 million to be the founders of our faith, of our faith is One God; all these are His servants.
Fifth: It does not restrict redemption to the members of any single faith. The division into castes is only to distribute work systematically. That is why Sanatan Dharm abhors the change of faith.
Sixth: Sanatan Dharm does not prostelise and does not "try to bring corruption into other faiths." He quoted Sri Krishna: "It is better for every one to die in his own faith."
Seventh: It shows the path of salvation to all - rich and poor. There are three means of attaining salvation: (a) true love, (b) worship, (c) true knowledge of God.
Then Pundit Ji explained what faith is according to Sanatan Dharm. There are ten qualities; whoever has those qualities is a man of faith -- whether he is a Hindu, Muslim, Christian or anything else:
1. Steadfastness
2. Forgiveness
3. Staying on the Right Path
4. Not to Steal
5. Chastity
6. Keeping all five senses under control
7. Intellectual honesty
8. Knowledge
9. Truthfulness
10. Not to be angry and excited
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Regards
Pundit Gopi Nath described the reasons why he believes Sanatan Dharm to be the best faith:
First: Sanatan Dharm as the most ancient faith on earth. There is no book on earth more ancient than that of Sanatan Dharm Hinduism. Its literature is the most extensive, which proves that countless lovers of God appeared in this faith. He argues that its being the oldest is a proof of its truthfulness.
Second: Despite being old, it still holds strength. Even though the political power has been lost, it has done no harm to the Sanatan Dharm faith.
Third: Its scriptures are the oldest.
Fourth: It did not start with a single prophet or reformer. Rather, a countless number of saintly individuals have graced it. He said that people criticize us because we worship 330 million gods. He said that we don't consider any of these 330 or 430 million to be the founders of our faith, of our faith is One God; all these are His servants.
Fifth: It does not restrict redemption to the members of any single faith. The division into castes is only to distribute work systematically. That is why Sanatan Dharm abhors the change of faith.
Sixth: Sanatan Dharm does not prostelise and does not "try to bring corruption into other faiths." He quoted Sri Krishna: "It is better for every one to die in his own faith."
Seventh: It shows the path of salvation to all - rich and poor. There are three means of attaining salvation: (a) true love, (b) worship, (c) true knowledge of God.
Then Pundit Ji explained what faith is according to Sanatan Dharm. There are ten qualities; whoever has those qualities is a man of faith -- whether he is a Hindu, Muslim, Christian or anything else:
1. Steadfastness
2. Forgiveness
3. Staying on the Right Path
4. Not to Steal
5. Chastity
6. Keeping all five senses under control
7. Intellectual honesty
8. Knowledge
9. Truthfulness
10. Not to be angry and excited
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Regards