can be best defined as Sanatana
Dharma... something that exists from times immemorial.
Hinduism does not have a beginning... it exists
ever since Humanity came into existence. The inner
strength of Hinduism
is Dharma... which also forms the base of all Religions
existing on Mother Earth. No Religion can ever survive
without a Dharma. Dharma is the root of all Religions.
of Jainism we cannot understand the basics without
delving into the Life of the 24th Tirthankara Bhagwan
Mahavira. It was only in the time of
the 24th Tirthankara Bhagwan Mahavira that Jainism
rightly came into existence. Whatever form of Jainism
existed before the 24th Tirthankara was limited
to the Spiritual Masters only. All that was knowable
to these Spiritual Masters was not available to
the masses for the prime reason that the intellect
of a common man was not as developed as was required
to fathom the depths of the Sacred wisdom we know
as jaina doctrines.
the times of Bhagwan Mahavira... the common masses
came to understand what was being taught by the
masters of the era. Gradually as the momentum picked
up... the followers of Jaina doctrine came to be
known as Jains and the following Jainism. Before
Bhagwan Mahavira the existence of Jainism as such
did not hold good as it was only limited to the
Spiritual Masters of the day.
the Teachings of Gautama Buddha came to be known as Buddhism and its followers
Buddhists. Buddhism is also known as the eightfold path. Gautama Buddha advocated
the eightfold path also known as the middle path for he realized that not while
living in the family and nor while attempting the Life of the dense forests could
one gain knowledge of the sacred Scriptures. He advocated maintaining a balance
between the two and advised the common man to take the middle path. Neither getting
totally immersed in family Life nor practicing austere practices to its extreme.
to understand that before the advent of Gautama Buddha... there was nothing we
can call as Buddhism. The Teachings of Gautama Buddha primarily form the core
Teachings of Buddhism. The existence of Buddhism Religion... the following of
Gautama Buddha came into being only after the advent of Gautama Buddha.
In Christianity also, the
core Teachings of the Bible contain the Essence
of the Teachings of Jesus Christ and his trusted followers. Before
the advent of Jesus Christ nothing existed on Mother Earth we could call as Christianity.
The following of Jesus Christ is known as Christianity and the followers Christians.
before the advent
of Prophet Mohammed there existed nothing we could call as Islam. The
advent of Islamic Dharma came into being after Prophet Mohammed and his Teachings
came into the scene. The followers of the Islamic Dharma are called Islamists
and also Muslims and the Teachings of Prophet Mohammed are contained in the sacred
book of Islamic Dharma, the Koran.
even before the advent of Prophet Mohammed, Jesus Christ, Gautama Buddha and Bhagwan
Mahavira... the Humanity existed and that too without the help of any Religion.
Why so? Because, no Religion existed before the advent of Bhagwan Mahavira...
the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism. Whatever existed was the eternal Dharma. In short,
the Definition Dharma can be stated as, "our right to do what is just and right
and not what were destined". This right of Dharma gives freedom to every individual
Human Being to live an independent Life. One may belong to any Religion, caste
or creed... the eternal Dharma is always there to guide us on the right path.
No living being
can survive without Dharma. The society itself would fail in the absence of Dharma.
The Sacred Dharma is the eternal disciplinary force that inherently guides all
living beings every moment of our Life. We may be a follower of any Religion or
not... the eternal Dharma is always there to guide us in our journey of Life.
Dharma is the core of every living being. It is ingrained in every living being.
The shortest Definition Dharma can be put as, "our right to live a truthful and
justly Life". Which primarily means that without encroaching upon the rights of
another individual we are at liberty to live our own Life.
moment one indulges in Adharma (encroaching upon the rights of the others)...
Life just wavers and becomes hell maybe not materialistically but truthfully our
inherent being loses its grace and we become totally restless from within.
Gita... the core teaching of Hinduism... the doctrine put forward by Lord
Krishna during the Battle of Mahabharata
between Pandavas and Kauravas has no parallel in the total history of mankind.
Bhagavad Gita contains in itself the complete wisdom of the cosmos. The knower
of Bhagavad Gita becomes omniscient... there is nothing left for him to learn
further. Life makes a complete circle for the knower of Bhagavad Gita... the journey
of Life reaches its culmination point... the 8.4 Millionth manifestation. Beyond
which there is nothing else but the stage of Salvation (moksha in Hinduism).
Even before the advent
of Lord Krishna when there was no existence of Bhagavad Gita, the Humanity survived
on the basis of the Dharma. And this Dharma forms the core of Hinduism. Ever since
Human Beings came into existence... existed Sanatana Dharma... the ever-existing
Dharma since Times Immemorial. The word Sanatana means something without a beginning...
in other words existing since Times Immemorial.
in other words is defined as Sanatana Dharma... it is not a Religion... it is
not the preaching... Hinduism exists for the existence of Life itself. In the
times of Rama who came much before Lord Krishna existed Dharma and only Dharma.
There was no Religion in existence at that time. The society survived because
of the ingrained Dharma in every living being. Even before the word Hindu got
coined by the followers of Islamic Dharma... India existed as Bharatvarsha. The
word Bharatvarsha was derived from the King Bharat who reigned over the region
where prevailed the Sanatana Dharma.
region beyond the Indus River which divides the territory between the present
India and Pakistan, everything beyond the sindh territory (now in Pakistan) lived
the followers of Sanatana Dharma who were pronounced as Hindus (which stood for
the people who lived beyond the sindh and as sindh was pronounced as Hind by the
followers of Islamic Dharma... the immigrants of the Hind region came to be known
as Hindus. The territory came to be known as Hind territory and finally Hindustan
and the following Hinduism.
Bharatvarsha, Hindustan, India whatever we may call it... the total inhabitants
of India are followers of Sanatana Dharma. As time passed by and with the advent
of Bhagwan Mahavira... the doctrine of Bhagwan Mahavira came to be known as Jainism
and the followers as Jains. This does not mean that the followers of Jainism are
not the believers of Sanatana Dharma. Culturally Jains may deny following the
Teachings of Sanatana Dharma but everything ingrained in the doctrine of Bhagwan
Mahavira contains the complete Essence of Sanatana Dharma.
Buddhism, Christianity and Islamic Dharma came into existence. The followers of
all these three Religions inherently are also the followers of Sanatana Dharma
(that in other words means the perennial Dharma existing since Times Immemorial).
Hinduism is the foremost
of all Religions because Lord Krishna came about thousand years before Bhagwan
Mahavira, about 77 years after Bhagwan Mahavira came Gautama Buddha, another 423
years later came Jesus Christ and two decades further Prophet Mohammed. The prime
roots of Dharma always existed in India. In the Teachings of the Bhagavad Gita...
the foremost of all Scriptures of Hinduism... the complete Essence of the total
cosmic structure is explained in detail.
How with a big bang a new cosmos starts... how all atmans souls get scattered
all over the Cosmos and begins the journey of atman the soul within. At the opportune
time when atman the soul within on its cosmic journey finds a planet like Mother
Earth that is conducive for manifesting a body... the evolution of Life starts.
In the beginning
phase, our atman the soul within initially manifests the body of an amoeba (a
single cell formation)... the first in the series of 8.4 Million manifestations
every atman the soul within is required to manifest in cosmic journey (the total
journey of 96.4 earthly Million years). Thereafter the Life evolves into a multi-cell
formation then insect Life, plant Life, animal Life and finally the form of a
Human Being. By the time Atman within our body manifests the form of a Human Being
it has already manifested a total of 7.3 Million lives (starting from amoeba and
up to the stage of an animal).
explained above is contained in Bhagavad Gita... the core of Hinduism. Such Teachings
do not find any place in the Teachings of Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ or Prophet
Mohammed. Whatever is contained in Bhagavad Gita is not fully covered in the doctrine
of Jainism put forward by Bhagwan Mahavira, the middle path Teachings by Gautama
Buddha, the Bible in Christianity and the Koran of Islamic Dharma. On the contrary,
everything contained in the doctrines of Jainism, the Teachings of Gautama Buddha,
the Bible and the Koran is existent in Bhagavad Gita.
There is nothing beyond Bhagavad Gita in hinduism which one is required to follow
to reach the stage of Kaivalya Jnana (omniscience) and finally Salvation (moksha
in Hinduism). This is not a mere declaration on behalf of the followers of Hinduisum
but whatever is contained in Bhagavad Gita cannot be denied by people of any Religion
Faith or creed. People in the west look with awe at the Teachings contained in
Bhagavad Gita. The depth of the Teachings makes them completely bewildered. Those
intelligent ultimately realize having reached the final document required for
one to proceed towards the journey of Salvation (moksha).
knower of Bible, the knower of Koran, the knower of Teachings of Bhagwan Mahavira,
and the knower of the doctrine advocated by Gautama Buddha can ever reach the
stage of Salvation (moksha in Hinduism). Only after one is able to understand
the inner meaning of the Paras contained in Bhagavad Gita can one reach the final
journey of Life... the 8.4 Millionth manifestation beyond which our atman the
soul within liberates forever from the cycle of birth
and death. Our atman the soul within gains immortality never to manifest
a body again.
never criticizes any other Religion, doctrine or Teachings by a Spiritual Master.
The importance of Hinduism has been well defined in Bhagavad Gita. As no body
can survive without a soul the atman within... similarly Humanity cannot survive
without the Teachings contained in hinduisum in form of Bhagavad Gita and the
Hinduism and Bhagavad Gita form the core of every living being. We may or may
not agree upon the Teachings of Bhagavad Gita and Hinduism but our survival is
fully dependent upon the Teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita.
The meaning of reincarnation, theory of karma, the Definition Dharma, where lies
the swarga (Heaven) and hell (Naraka) is all explicitly defined in the Sacred
Bhagavad Gita. Anything every Human Being can desire to learn of the cosmic wisdom
is contained in one and only document of its kind existing on Mother Earth the
Humanity knows as Bhagavad Gita and which forms the core of hinduisum.
Bhagavad Gita, Sanatana Dharma, bhagavad gita, hinduism religion symbols gods
articles, bhagwad gita... everything bogs down to... whether or not we understand
the core of hinduism!
Kumar "Atma Jnani"
Vijay Kumar... The Man who Realized God in 1993
explains the concepts of Hinduism. For more on hinduism
here Ref. 041229