In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sanjaya continuing his accord in detail with regards to the constituents of our Bhaarata Desha, and finally explaining why this place is undoubtedly the land of “Dharma”. We’ve seen details of enormous holy rivers, mountains, “Punya-Khetras”, etc. along the length and breadth of this great country, and no wonder this place is deemed to be the land of “Sanaatana Dharma”. Thus, from the south of Himalayas to Kanyakumari, which is the southern tip of the country, including the likes of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Singapore and Bangladesh, this “Punya-Bhoomi” has been the hub of all activity pertaining to our “Sanaatana Dharma”, with innumerable kingdoms ruled by various righteous kings across various time periods. The art works, music, dance forms, literature pertaining to “Bhakti” across various languages spanning across different time periods are virtually incomparable in this world! Not only these – Our Bhaarata Desha has its own traditional medical sciences such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, etc., along with Mathematics, Astrologiccal sciences, Geographical sciences, etc. being clearly talked about in our Vedas and Upanishads. Such is the richness of our “Sanaatana Dharma” and this is something that all of us as ardent followers of Bhagawan Krishna should understand.
So when we say “Sanaatana Dharma” time and again at various places, this is the time wherein we’ve to understand the true meaning of this terminology. At a time when many so-called “secular” people coin their own meanings for this term without adequate reading and reference, we shall now understand what “Sanaatana Dharma” really means. As per Sanjaya’s explanation till this moment to King Dhritarashta, a collection of all whatever we’ve seen till now – Our Bhaarata Desha along with its various kingdoms, kings, righteousness, literature, art forms, architecture, various sciences being explained in our Vedas and Upanishads together constitute the term called “Sanaatana Dharma” or “Sanaatanam”. This terminology called “Sanaatana Dharma” simply means “Way of living life as per the principles of “Dharma” mentioned in the scriptural texts composed by various great Maharishis!”
If such is the case, however, some so-called learned illiterate people of today give various meanings to this terminology without any prior knowledge on this subject. These so-called “Secularists” of today equate our “Sanaatana Dharma” to “Casteism” and the hierarchy of caste systems that existed in yesteryears. Of course, the caste system that comprises the four “Varnaashrama Dharma” principles are part of our “Sanaatana Dharma”, but that is not entirely what is meant by “Sanaatana Dharma”. To be very upfront, in the Mahabharata and Ramayana time periods, casteism has never been the talk of the town, as it is today. Each and every caste has its own “Dharma” and the differentiation is primarily based on occupations that each person does. This has no connection with discrimination of people with regards to “high-caste” and “low-caste”. We should understand one thing very clearly here – Our “Sanaatana Dharma” does not differentiate and discriminate people based on the “Varnaashrama Dharma”. It was only during the later Vedic period that such differentiations and discriminations came into force due to some vested agendas of certain misleading people. We should hence not get carried away by these false narratives that certain Dravidian secularists are spinning today. There can be no other neutral religion other than our Sanaatana Dharma in the entire world today, and it has been proved time and again in many forums and in many situations.
Moreover, at a time when many wars are being fought across the world today, we should think about why these wars are being fought, isn’t it? The basic reason is “discrimination” against one community of people! We can witness this right from the time when the world wars were fought till today. Hence, given this fact, these so-called secularists are so unprepared, ignorant and illiterate to such an extent that the word called “Secularism” today just means “Hindu-bashing” in today’s context. Readers must see this episode as an eye-opener and should take this opportunity to understand the in-depth knowledge and wisdom that our “Sanaatana Dharma” possesses. If such in-depth wisdom isn’t available here, how will we be able to write thousands of episodes as part of our blog series spanning across various projects like Srimad Ramayana, Srimad Bhaagawatha Puraana, Mahabharata, etc.? Every scriptural text of our “Sanaatana Dharma” consists of enormous treasures of knowledge and wisdom that we can learn for our today’s life! Hence, we should never forget this aspect and should completely discard those unpopular narratives that are being spinned by these pseudo-seculars, whose only agenda is to win elections and involve themselves in looting and plundering our country’s wealth.
Moreover, it is very comical and ironic to see some groups of listless people trying to take a vow that they will not rest until they destroy our “Sanaatana Dharma”! No matter how much they try to do so, we should be sure that they will not be able to succeed in any of their attempts! So for today, let us understand the real meaning of “Sanaatana Dharma” and let us continue this discussion in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 