The word Hinduism is coined by the British to collectively refer to the assortment of various religous beliefs and faiths existing in India at the time of their rule. Whatever is referred to as Hinduism is a set of beliefs that have evolved over a long period of time. What began was the religion of the Vedas which was referred to as Sanatana Dharma. Over the ages there have been numerous transformations, additions, modifications, deletions, refinement etc etc to the erstwhile Sanatana Dharma which witnessed the emergence various other dharmas, some related and some unrelated to the Sanatana Dharma. For example Varnashrama Dharma is a later evolution owing to developments in society and structuring of society on varna lines.
I request the honorable members in this forum to discuss the various Dharmas which have evolved during the ages, their origin, their nature, the meaning of their names, how they were derived etc.
For example I wish someone throw light on the literal and figurative meaning of Sanatana Dharma. This may be extended to other Dharmas.
I think we need not stick to the term Hinduism, coined by the British, who are totally incompetent to comprehend the great concepts of our Dharmas and hence owing to their limited and narrow mind they went to the extent of coining the term Hinduism, which is inappropriate and which had created plenty of misunderstandings, chaos and confusion of our great dharmas.
Instead of discussing what Hinduism is and what Hinduism not is, let us discuss what our Dharmas are and let us educate and enlighten the world on our Dharmas. After all the dharmas of our great land are far superior and broader to be christened and confined as some 'ism'.
Shri Iyer,
The sanskrit word "sanaat" means from / of old, always, for ever. Sanaatana hence means everlasting, eternal. But in truth, this sanaatana dharma has not remained unchanged; it has undergone lots of changes, both minor and radical, from the earliest source to which it can be traced today, viz., the rigveda.
The rigvedic religion is mostly prayers to natural forces, envisaged as deities. The most important deity is indra and his killing of vritra is perhaps the most important theme contained in that veda. The extraction os juice of the soma plant which was offered as oblation in fire to the deities, and also drunk by the rigvedic priests, is yet another important aspect of their religion.
By the time the composition of the Yajurveda - as it is today - was completed, the rituals had become highly complex and specialize, demanding specialized classes of priests called brahma, hotru, adhvaryu, udgata, etc., and the zest for animal sacrifices reached a climax. These people - called "poorva meemaamsaka" today - seem to have believed that the yajna or yaaga involving the sacrifices of animals will, by themselves, earn "punya" for the people involved, to the yajamaanan mostly (and also to the various classes of priests). Human sacrifice was also not unknown and was called "naramedha" and the relative procedure is still available in the vaajasaneyi samhita, I understand. The belief that is still vigorous in the minds of hindus in general ( and brahmins specially) in conducting fire rituals like homas of various hues, is proof of the deep roots which this "sacrificial phase" has in people's mind even today.
When the wanton rage for sacrifices reached unbearable proportions, murmurs rose, in the form of upanishadic thoughts but not as outright rebellion, which was led by caarvaaka, mahaaveera and buddha. This gave a fillip to the upanishadic line too, of registering mild protests against the vedists, i.e., the yajna enthusiasts.
With the ascent of buddhism under asoka, the vedic religiom came under eclipse. the vedists had to find ways and means to ingratiate themselves into the society, without converting to buddhism; of course many notable buddhist philosophers were brahmin converts too. vegetarianism, abhorrence to eating meat, killing animals, etc., must have started during this eclipse. Side by side the puranas also originated with the objective of assimilating the various tribal/local beliefs which were still followed vigorously by different groups of people. During this phase new gods and goddesses arose in the main vedic religion. indra and other vedic deities lost their throne and one or the other of the gen next gods, like vishnu, siva, skanda, krishna and radha, devi, kali, narasimha, ganapathy, etc., became objects of worship. This was what the european indologists called pantheism, probably.
mahayana buddhism underwent an unexpected twist to incorporate "tantra" into itself. The vedists adopted these also and later toned down their tantric practices to levels tolerated by society. the credit for this is given to adi sankara.
In the aforesaid scenario, the word "dharma" comes in as a suffix to sanaatana only. Hence i don't think it will be possible to locate "dharmas" which will apply to modern conditions. whatever is practiced today in the name of hinduism is like the tailbone (coccyx) of humans - a stunted remnant of a once vigorous entity. It will not be possible to make any rules or concensus as to what the dharma of say, a man, a woman, a parent, a son/daughter should be nor will it be possible to lay down rules or norms of religious behaviour. It is best to silently witness the various ways in which "hinduism" is practised today, what it was in your childhood and, in case you are young enough, to see what all changes come in future.
It is this
laissez faire attitude that is the most significant aspect of sanaatana dharma or hinduism, IMO.
