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Sanatana Dharma
Sanatana Dharma
Sanatana Dharma
absolute set of duties or religiously ordained practices incumbent upon all Hindus, regardless of
class, caste, or sect. Different texts give different lists of the duties, but in general sanatana
dharma consists of virtues such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, purity,
goodwill, mercy, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, generosity, and asceticism. Sanatana
dharma is contrasted with svadharma, one’s “own duty” or the particular duties enjoined upon
an individual according to his or her class or caste and stage of life. The potential for conflict
between the two types of dharma (e.g., between the particular duties of a warrior and the general
injunction to practice non-injury) is addressed in Hindu texts such as the Bhagavad Gītā, where it
is said that in such casessvadharma must prevail.
The term has also more recently been used by Hindu leaders, reformers, and nationalists to refer
to Hinduism as a unified world religion. Sanatana dharma has thus become a synonym for the
“eternal” truth and teachings of Hinduism, the latter conceived of as not only transcendent of
history and unchanging but also as indivisible and ultimately nonsectarian. Sanatana
Dharma is is the original name of what is now popularly called Hinduism or Hindu
Dharma. The terms Hindu and Hinduism are said to be a more recent development,
while the more accurate term is Sanatana Dharma. It is a code of ethics, a way of living
through which one may achieve moksha (enlightenment, liberation). It is the world's
most ancient culture and the socio, spiritual, and religious tradition of almost one billion
of the earth's inhabitants. Sanatana Dharma represents much more than just
a religion; rather, it provides its followers with an entire worldview, way of life and
with a coherent and rational view of reality. Sanatana Dharma do not denote to a creed
like Christianity or Islam, but represents a code of conduct and a value system that has
spiritual freedom as its core. Any pathway or spiritual vision that accepts the spiritual
freedom of others may be considered part of Sanatana Dharma.
10 laws of dharma
Vedas - The Vedas are a collection of hymns and other ancient religious texts written
in India between about 1500 and 1000 BCE. It includes elements such as liturgical material as
well as mythological accounts, poems, prayers, and formulas considered to be sacred by the
Vedic religion.
The origin of the Vedas can be traced back as far as 1500 BCE, when a large group of
nomads called the Aryans, coming from central Asia, crossed
the Hindu Kush Mountains, migrating into the Indian subcontinent. This was a large
migration and used to be seen as an invasion. This invasion hypothesis, however, is not
unanimously accepted by scholars today. All we know for certain, mainly through
linguistic studies, is that the Aryan language gained ascendency over the local
languages in the Indian sub-continent. The language of the Vedas is Sanskrit, an
ancestor of most of the modern languages spoken today in South Asia.
Shruti - Shruti is a Sanskrit word meaning "that which is heard" and is the
collection of most authoritative religious works in Hinduism. The shrutis are
different than other collections of Hindu philosophical texts in that they span a
great amount of time and cover much of Hindu history. The collection contains
the four Vedas: Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads.
Sama veda - "Sama Veda" is an ancient Hindu scripture and one of the four main Vedas of
Hinduism. It is a collection of melodies and chants, and is also called the "Book of Song," "Veda
of Chants" or even "Yoga of Song." It is basically the words of the "Rig Veda" put to music.
"Yajur Veda" is an ancient Hindu scripture devoted to the worship of the gods. It
describes the way in which religious rituals and sacred ceremonies should be
performed. The name comes from Sanskrit word, yajus, meaning "worship" or
"sacrifice," and veda, meaning "knowledge."
Atharva veda
The "Atharva Veda" is an ancient Hindu scripture and is one of the four Vedas commonly known
as the fourth Veda. Sometimes it is called the "Veda of Magical Formulas," although this name
is not approved by scholars. It is a collection of 20 books containing hymns, chants, spells and
prayers; and involves issues such as healing of illnesses, prolonging life, black magic and rituals
for removing maladies and anxieties. Unlike the other three Vedas, the "Atharva Veda" is not as
concerned with sacred rituals, but addresses the daily problems of Vedic people.