Sanatana Dharma -Sanatana dharma, in Hinduism, term used to denote the “eternal” or

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.

Dharma-For Hindus, dharma is the moral order of the universe and a

code of living that embodies the fundamental principles of law,
religion, and duty that governs all reality. The Hindu worldview
asserts that is one by following one's dharma, a person can eventually
achieve liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth (samsara). In the
traditional Hindu view, a person’s duties are dependent upon his or
her age, gender, occupation, and caste; dharma is construed at least in
part in terms of prescribed rituals and caste obligations. Hindu
reformers have interpreted dharma in multiple ways. For example,
Mohandas Gandhi argued that dharma should be understood in more
spiritual terms. He reinterpreted the role of dharma in Hindu society
by highlighting its moral precepts and portrayed it as a dimension of
human freedom. Dharma is your purpose. It’s what you set out to do in life. It’s
sort of the goal, whereas karma is what you do to get there. It’s the path of
righteousness and living one’s life according to the codes of conduct as described by
universal spiritual teachings. The purpose of dharma is not only to attain a union of the
soul with the supreme reality, it also suggests a code of conduct that is intended to
 secure both worldly joys and supreme happiness. Rishi Kanda has defined dharma in
Vaisesika as “that confers worldly joys and leads to supreme happiness”.

10 laws of dharma

1. Patience (dhriti) – Staying secure in your own inner peace.

2. Forgiveness (kshama) – Letting go of things that don’t necessarily serve you.
3. Piety or self-control (dama) – Knowing that the best things come to those that wait.
4. Honesty (asteya) – This is really more about non-stealing; don’t take that which does not
belong to you.
5. Sanctity (shauch) – Cleanliness in mind, body, and soul.
6. Control of senses (indraiya-nigrah) – Meditation and life force control.
7. Reason (dhi) – Guiding your life with calm reason leads to great success.
8. Knowledge or learning (vidya) – Gaining skills that significantly add to your ability to offer
value is a huge step towards well-rounded success.
9. Truthfulness (satya) – Realizing that truthfulness brings about the highest outcome for
you and others.
10. Absence of anger (krodha) – Anger poisons our ability to lead our lives in a positive and
powerful way.

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.

VEDIC LITERATURE IS RELIGIOUS IN NATURE

AND, AS SUCH, TENDS TO REFLECT THE
WORLDVIEW & ATTITUDES OF THE BRAHMANS
OR PRIESTLY CLASS OF ANCIENT INDIA.
We do not know much about the authors of these texts: In Vedic tradition the focus
tends to be on the ideas rather than on the authors, which may allow one to look at the
message without being influenced by the messenger. Vedic literature is religious in
nature and as such tends to reflect the worldview, spiritual preoccupations, and social
attitudes of the Brahmans or priestly class of ancient India. The Vedas were first
composed sometime around 1500-1000 BCE in the north-western region of the Indian
subcontinent - present-day Pakistan and northwest India - and they were transmitted
orally over many generations before eventually being committed to writing. Like the
Homeric epics, parts of the Vedas were composed in different periods. The oldest of
these texts is the Rig-Veda, but it is not possible to establish precise dates for its
composition. It is believed that the entire collection was completed by the end of the
2nd millennium BCE.

Vedic Religion - Vedic

religion, also called Vedism, the religion of the ancient
Indo-European-speaking peoples who entered India about 1500 BCE from the
region of present-day Iran. It takes its name from the collections of sacred
texts known as the Vedas. Vedism is the oldest stratum of religious activity in
India for which there exist written materials. It was one of the major traditions
that shaped Hinduism.
Veda borrowed from Sanskrit veda- "knowledge, insight, sacred writings,"
derivative from the base of veda "(he/she) knows," vid- "knowledge"; akin to
Greek oîde "(he/she) knows," Old English witan "to know"

Sage proceeding from or characterized by wisdom, prudence, and good

judgment

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.

The shrutis have been used as a guide for Hindu law

and culture, and are thought to have been divine
truths recorded by rishis. Many choose to study and
meditate on the content of the shrutis and most
mantras are drawn from them for use in both personal
and public worship.
Samhita is a Sanskrit word from the prefix sam (ससस), 'together', and hita (ससस), the past
participle of the verbal root dha (सस) 'put'. The combination word thus means "put together,
joined, compose, arrangement, place together, union", something that agrees or conforms to
a principle such as dharma or in accordance with justice, and "connected
with".[1] Saṃhitā (सससससस) in the feminine form of the past participle, is used as a noun
meaning "conjunction, connection, union", "combination of letters according to euphonic
rules", or "any methodically arranged collection of texts or verses"

Brahmanas - The Brahmanas (/ˈbrɑːmənəz/; Sanskrit: ब्राह्मणम्, Brāhmaṇam) are a collection of

ancient Indian texts with commentaries on the hymns of the four Vedas. They are a layer or category
of Vedic Sanskrit texts embedded within each Veda, and form a part of
the Hindu śruti literature.[1][2] They are primarily a digest incorporating myths, legends, the explanation
of Vedic rituals and in some cases speculations about natural phenomena[3] or philosophy.[4][5]
The Brahmanas are particularly noted for their instructions on the proper performance of rituals, as
well as explain the original symbolic meanings- translated to words and ritual actions in the main
text.[4] Brahmanas lack a homogeneous structure across the different Vedas, with some containing
chapters that constitute Aranyakas or Upanishads in their own right.[6]
Aranyakas - the Aranyakas contain mystical and philosophical material and explications
of esoteric rites.
Upanishads - expounding the Vedas in predominantly mystical and monistic terms.
philosophical concepts and ideas of Hinduism, some of which are shared with religious traditions
like Buddhism and Jainism.[2][3][note 1][note 2] Among the most important literature in the history of Indian
religions and culture, the Upanishads played an important role in the development of spiritual ideas
in ancient India, marking a transition from Vedic ritualism to new ideas and institutions.[6] Of all Vedic
literature, the Upanishads alone are widely known, and their central ideas are at the spiritual core of
Hindus.[2][7]
The Upanishads are commonly referred to as Vedānta. Vedanta has been interpreted as the "last
chapters, parts of the Veda" and alternatively as "object, the highest purpose of the Veda".[8] The
concepts of Brahman (ultimate reality) and Ātman (soul, self) are central ideas in all of the
Upanishads,[9][10] and "know that you are the Ātman" is their thematic focus.[10][11] Along with
the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahmasutra, the mukhya Upanishads (known collectively as
the Prasthanatrayi)[12] provide a foundation for the several later schools of Vedanta, among them, two
influential monistic schools of Hinduism.[note 3][note 4][note 5]
More than 200 Upanishads are known, of which the first dozen or so are the oldest and most
important and are referred to as the principal or main (mukhya)
Upanishads.[15][16] The mukhya Upanishads are found mostly in the concluding part of
the Brahmanas and Aranyakas[17] and were, for centuries, memorized by each generation and
passed down orally. The early Upanishads all predate the Common Era, five[note 6] of them in all
likelihood pre-Buddhist (6th century BCE),[18] down to the Maurya period.[19] Of the remainder, 95
Upanishads are part of the Muktika canon, composed from about the last centuries of 1st-millennium
BCE through about 15th-century CE.[20][21] New Upanishads, beyond the 108 in the Muktika canon,
continued to be composed through the early modern and modern era,[22] though often dealing with
subjects that are unconnected to the Vedas.[23]
With the translation of the Upanishads in the early 19th century they also started to attract attention
from a western audience. Arthur Schopenhauer was deeply impressed by the Upanishads and
called it "the production of the highest human wisdom".[24] Modern era Indologists have discussed the
similarities between the fundamental concepts in the Upanishads and major western
philosophers.[25][26][27]

Smriti- Smriti, (Sanskrit: “Recollection”) that class of Hindu sacred

literature based on human memory, as distinct from the Vedas, which are
considered to be Shruti (literally “What Is Heard”), or the product of
divine revelation. Smriti literature elaborates, interprets, and codifies Vedic
thought but, being derivative, is considered less authoritative than the Vedic
Shruti. Most modern Hindus, however, have a greater familiarity with
Smriti scriptures. The texts include the important religious manuals known as
the Kalpa-sutras; the compilations of ancient myth, legends, and history,
the Puranas; and the two great epics of India, the Ramayana and
the Mahabharata. The latter contains within it probably the single most
influential text in Hinduism, the Bhagavadgita. In time the term Smriti came to
refer particularly to the texts relating to law and social conduct, such as the
celebrated lawbook, the Manu-smriti (Laws of Manu).

Mahabharata - Mahabharata, (Sanskrit: “Great Epic of the Bharata Dynasty”)

one of the two Sanskrit epic poems of ancient India (the other being
the Ramayana). The Mahabharata is an important source of information on
the development of Hinduism between 400 BCE and 200 CE and is regarded by
Hindus as both a text about dharma (Hindu moral law) and a history (itihasa,
literally “that’s what happened”). Appearing in its present form about 400 CE,
the Mahabharata consists of a mass of mythological and didactic material
arranged around a central heroic narrative that tells of the struggle
for sovereignty between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas (sons
of Dhritarashtra, the descendant of Kuru) and the Pandavas (sons of Pandu).
The poem is made up of almost 100,000 couplets—about seven times the
length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined—divided into 18 parvans, or
sections, plus a supplement titled Harivamsha (“Genealogy of the God Hari”;
i.e., of Vishnu). Although it is unlikely that any single person wrote the poem,
its authorship is traditionally ascribed to the sage Vyasa, who appears in the
work as the grandfather of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. The date and
even the historical occurrence of the war that is the central event of
the Mahabharata are much debated.

Ramayana - Ramayana, (Sanskrit: “Rama’s Journey”) shorter of the two

great epic poems of India, the other being the Mahabharata (“Great Epic of
the Bharata Dynasty”). The Ramayana was composed in Sanskrit, probably
not before 300 BCE, by the poet Valmiki and in its present form consists of
some 24,000 couplets divided into seven books.

Dharma-shastra, (Sanskrit: “Righteousness Science”) ancient Indian body

of jurisprudence that is the basis, subject to legislative modification, of
the family law of Hindus living in territories both within and outside India (e.g.,
Pakistan, Malaysia, East Africa). Dharma-shastra is primarily concerned not
with legal administration, though courts and their procedures are dealt with
comprehensively, but with the right course of conduct in every dilemma. Some
basic principles of Dharma-shastra are known to most Hindus brought up in a
traditional environment. Those include the propositions that duties are more
significant than rights, that women are under perpetual guardianship of their
closest male relatives, and that the king (i.e., the state) must protect the
subjects from all harm, moral as well as material.
Bhagavad gita - The Bhagavad Gita is an ancient Indian text that became an important
work of Hindu tradition in terms of both literature and philosophy. The earliest translations of
this work from Sanskrit into English were made around 1795 CE by Sir Charles Wilkins. The
name Bhagavad Gita means “the song of the Lord”. It is composed as a poem and it contains
many key topics related to the Indian intellectual and spiritual tradition. Although it is
normally edited as an independent text, the Bhagavad Gita became a section of a massive Indian
epic named “The Mahabharata”, the longest Indian epic. There is a part in the middle of this
long text, consisting of 18 brief chapters and about 700 verses: this is the section known as
the Bhagavad Gita. It is also referred to as the Gita, for short.

Puranas - Purana,(Sanskrit: “Ancient”) in the sacred literature of Hinduism, any

of a number of popular encyclopaedic collections of myth, legend, and
genealogy, varying greatly as to date and origin.
Rig Veda - Rigveda, (Sanskrit: “The Knowledge of Verses”) also
spelled Ṛgveda, the oldest of the sacred books of Hinduism, composed in an
ancient form of Sanskrit about 1500 BCE, in what is now the Punjab region of
India and Pakistan. It consists of a collection of 1,028 poems grouped into 10
“circles” (mandalas). It is generally agreed that the first and last books were
created later than the middle books. The Rigveda was preserved orally before
it was written down about 300 BCE. (See Veda).

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.