#Thread
#KnowYourDharma
#Hindu
Basics of Sanatan Hindu Dharma :-
In the last thread I have said that path to the unending peace and pleasure is Sanatan Hindu Dharma.
To understand this we have to focus on some basic concepts of Sanatan Hindu Dharma. At first I want address a
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very frequently asked question here that,
What is difference between Dharma and Religion?Are they same?
The answer is big No. Religion and Dharma are two different concepts. Religion can be simply stated as - Group of people who have same faith. Who are guided by one religious
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book and who have faith on one god.
On the other hand Dharma is not same as religion. Many scholars of Sanatan Dharma have given the definition of Dharma. Acharya Shankara in the introduction of Bhagwad Gita Bhashya says,
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'द्विविधो हि वेदोक्तो धर्मः,प्रवृत्ति लक्षणो निवृत्ति लक्षणश्च,जगतः स्थितिकारणम्,प्राणिनां साक्षादभ्युदयनिश्रेयशहेतुः।' meaning
Vedas state a two-fold dharma for the maintenance of the world one characterized by Works and the other by Renunciation.Dharma is that which directly
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leads to liberation and worldly prosperity.
Mahabharat also gives us the definition of Dharma i.e.
'धारणात् धर्म इत्याहुः धर्मों धारयति प्रजाः।
यः स्यात् धारणसंयुक्तः स धर्म इति निश्चयः।।'That which holds together,unites and removes separation that is called Dharma.Such Dharma
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holds the society together.That which has the capacity to unite the entire society is most definitely dharma.Maharshi Kanad gives us simple definition of Dharma that is "यतः अभ्युदय निःश्रेयस सिद्धिः स धर्मः।"meaning Dharma is that which fulfils the prosperity and the ultimate
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goal of human life which is Mukti (liberation).
In simple words we can say that Dharma is righteous duty of a person at that state of time,place and gender which will either give him or her the prosperity or pleasures or liberates him or her.We can illustrate further by taking
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example as, if a boy is studying in school or college so the righteous duty of that boy is studying as he is a student. So studying is the dharma of a student. In the same way fighting for a country is the dharma of soldier on duty.
Dharma has many different types such as
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सामान्य धर्म (Samanya Dharma),विशेष धर्म (Vishesh Dharma) etc. I will write special thread on Dharma some other day.
So this is the main difference between Dharma and Religion.Hence Sanatan Hindu Dharma cannot be called as Hindu religion. Here we come at our main question
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that, what is Sanatan Hindu Dharma? What does Sanatan mean?
Sanatan is Sanskrit word which can be defined as, one who do not has beginning and one who do not has end. One what was neither started nor it will end is Sanatan. One who is there all the time is
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Sanatan.Thus Sanatan Dharma is that Dharma that was there,that is there and that will be there all the time.
What is the real idea behind Hindu Dharma?
To know the idea,we will go through some basics of Hindu Dharma.
Brahman(ब्रह्म)-
According to Sanatan Dharma 'Brahman'
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is the supreme reality.All the universe, species,all the things are came from Brahman.Nearly all the religious scripts in Hindu Dharma provides information about Brahman.Sanatan Dharma further says about 'Brahman' that it is formless,timeless and has occupied everything.
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The Taittiriya Upnishad says that Brahman is 'सत्यं ज्ञानं अनन्तं'.Meaning that Brahman is the real truth, it is the real knowledge and it is infinite. Here real truth means, the truth that cannot be affected by time. It is कालातीत i.e. timeless.Going further about Brahman in
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Vivek Chudamani Adi Shankaracharya says,
अतः परं ब्रह्म सदद्वितीयं
विशुद्धविज्ञानघनं निरञ्जनम्।
प्राशान्तमाद्यन्तविहीनमक्रियं निरन्तरानन्दरसस्वरूपम्।।
Meaning that Brahman is real, it is the only thing, it is pure, the real knowledge,it does not get affected by anything, it
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is peaceful, it is beginning of everything, it is infinite and it is unending and real happiness.
So the main goal of everyone's life should be to know Brahman by आत्मज्ञान i.e. by knowing oneself and have मुक्ति(liberation) and unending happiness.
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Aatman(आत्मा) -
We can say Aatman is Brahman in every living being.Atman is also formless, timeless and spaceless.Aatman is real Chetna meaning real strength in every living being which is keeping us alive, once the Aatman is gone there will be no livingness left in the body.
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The Aitreya Upnishad says,
आत्मा वा इदमेक एवाग्र आसीन्नान्यत्किञ्चन मिषत्‌।
स ईक्षत लोकान्नु सृजा इति।।
Aatman is only thing that was there all the time. From Aatman all the universe arrived.
Discussing about Aatman Adi Shankaracharya in Vivek Chudamani says,
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प्रकृतिविकृतिभिन्नः शुद्धबोधस्वभावः
सदसदिदमशेषं भासयन्निर्विशेषः।
विलसति परमात्मा जाग्रदादिष्ववस्था
स्वहमहमिति साक्षात्साक्षिरूपेण बुद्धेः॥
Aatman is different from all the physical things we are seeing or feeling. It is pure knowledge. It is real truth and it is there in all
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the three states of living beings that are Jagrut(waken), Swapna(dream), Sushupti(deep sleep).
As every river at the end meet ocean like that every Aatman's goal should be to unite with Brahman.
Maya(माया) -
Every perishable thing we see, we feel in this universe is Maya.
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Maya means all the falsehood which we believe to be true. For example a human body which we believeve is us, the real us but it is not because human body is going to end at one time, this is Maya.
Adi Shankara says,
अव्यक्तनाम्नी परमेशशक्तिः
अनाद्यविद्या त्रिगुणात्मिका परा।
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कार्यानुमेया सुधियैव माया
यया जगत्सर्वमिदं प्रसूयते।।
Maya is creation of Ishwara, it is not real knowledge, it is ignorance, composed of three gunas satva, rajas and tamas and from which all these perishable things came into existence. Samarth Ramdas Swami in their Dasbodh
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states about Maya that,
माया दिसे परी नासे । वस्तु न दिसे परी न नासे ।
माया सत्य वाटे परी मिथ्या असे । निरंतर ॥
We think that Maya is the real thing but that is not the case, the only real thing in this universe is Brahman. Maya is Mithya i.e. untruth.
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So, these were some concepts regarding Hindu Dharma which I think necessary to understand our Dharma and our culture. I hope you liked the thread..! Please comment down your views about this thread..!
Thank you..!
Jay Shirram..!