We frequently read and hear about Sanatana Dharma but don’t ponder over what it really means or what its fundamental characteristics are. Although we roughly translate Sanatana Dharma as Religion, Righteousness, Morality…etc., no term from any foreign (non-Indic) language can capture the depth and vastness of its meaning. As such, Sanatana Dharma is a non-translatable term. However, it isn’t a far-fetched idea that we can’t relate to or grasp intuitively. I shall try to present it with the help of an analogy: The Banyan Tree.

Understanding Sanatana Dharma

Let's consider a Banyan Tree. Its prop roots project out from the branches and penetrate into ground to become trunk, supporting further propagation of the whole Banyan Tree. After centuries, when prop roots have penetrated firmly into the ground to form parallel units, each unit comprising the trunk, branches, leaves, and fruits will possess the characteristics of a tree. Not only this, many similar tree units will have grown in all the directions. Thus, turning the Banyan Tree into a collection of multiple tree units. What is there on a single tree will be there in all other tree units, thus the same will be considered to exist in the whole Banyan Tree. Each tree unit will be called as tree and the “whole” will also be called as tree. This repetition is synonymous to a reflection of each other, connected through common entity named branches, and the whole Banyan Tree is synonymous to an ecosystem. After several centuries, the ecosystem would grow in such a way that it will become difficult to identify the original trunk and all the units will serve as the center of the whole Banyan Tree, a multicenter ecosystem. Because of this, cutting a single tree unit won’t destroy the whole Banyan Tree. Cutting individual trunks won't destroy the whole Banyan Tree; rather the Banyan ecosystem keeps regenerating itself. To destroy the whole ecosystem of Banyan Tree, all the connected trunks together have to be uprooted. What more? If you want to climb the Banyan Tree, you can choose to climb any of the individual tree units, unlike teakwood (or any other tree) where only one trunk is available to climb atop. To summarize,

• all organs are reflections of each other,
• all organs are inseparable from each other,
• all organs manifest and are connected to the same whole or ecosystem,
• what is there in an individual organ is present in the whole ecosystem,
• elimination of an individual organ won’t destroy the whole ecosystem,
• there is no central authority to represent the individual organ, rather all have the characteristic of central authority.

Continuity, vastness, pervasiveness, completeness, self-sustenance, decentralization, plurality, unity, convergence, independence; these are the essential characteristics of Sanatana Dharma which is an expression of the Upanishadic principle of Brahman.

Brahman: the underlying principle of Sanatana Dharma

Any practicing Hindu would come across the term Brahman in his/her lifetime. The Shaivites call it Shiva Tattva, the Vaishnavites Vishnu Tattva, the Shaktas Shakti, the Sauras Surya, and the Ganapatyas Ganapati. Varied in names, forms, symbols, worship, rituals, and practices, the highest principle in all these independent-but-interconnected denominations refers to Brahman alone, much like the Banyan Tree ecosystem.

According to the Shiva Mahapurana there was only Shiva Tattva in the beginning and It created the whole Universe. This ultimate principle manifests as Purusha and Prakriti in the form of Ardhanarishwara, which in turn gives rise to other Gunas, Rasas, sentient beings, and insentient objects. All of them are manifestations of the same Shiva Tattva; all of them are reflections of each other; and are inseparable and integral parts of the Shiva Tattva. It exists in Gods and Goddesses, sentient beings and insentient objects, gross and subtle entities. It exists in stones and that’s why a Shivalinga is worshiped. Like the Space, Shiva Tattva pervades the entire manifestation.

Individual worship of Gods or Goddesses will unite the individual soul with Shiva Tattva. This process of uniting with Shiva Tattva is known as attaining Moksha, the ultimate objective of any individual. Attaining the knowledge of Shiva Tattva or Jnana is termed Jnanayoga and is one of the pathways to Moksha. All deities are the creation of Shiva Tattva and therefore, Bhaktiyoga is another pathway to Moksha. Meditation is the process in which you try to directly unite with Shiva Tattva and this pathway is called the Rajayoga. All the living beings are the creation of Shiva Tattva and serving them through Sevayoga/Karmayoga also takes one towards Moksha. You may follow any path; it will eventually lead you to Moksha. There is neither central God, nor a sole pathway, nor a uniform belief. This pluralistic, converging, and decentralised approach to Moksha or Brahman, (i.e. all other things came out of Brahman, all are reflection of each other, thus manifesting same Brahman, and native may attain Moksha by following any pathway) is the hallmark of Sanatana Dharma.

Family and Society in Sanatana Dharma

The greatest achievement of our Rishis was to entwine this hallmarked pluralistic and decentralised principle of Brahman into customary and ritualistic structure called as Sanatana Dharma. It is the best and perhaps the only living example of how an idea/concept is turned into a perpetual, non-destructive, self-energised, self-correcting society. It carries a long history of changes and in its current form is called Hinduism.

As in the Banyan Tree, one can never discover the origin of Sanatana Dharma. It will be perpetuating, eliminating hurdles, accommodating changes, self-correcting, self-energising such as banyan tree grows stronger. This illustrates why Sanatana Dharma not only survived so many invasions, but also continued to thrive under foreign rule.

Brahman is the root of Hindu social theory which defines individual’s role in society. If the Banyan Tree analogy is applied, a family (comprising father, grandfather, son, mother, grandmother, daughter) is analogous to a tree unit, while a composition of these families, that is society, is analogous to the whole Banyan Tree. The social codes prescribed in Sanatana Dharma are aimed at reminding a practitioner of his/her role in family, society, human. One should consume what is needed for oneself, provide for family members, while remaining mindful of the well-being of not only fellow human beings but all living beings. The idea of collectivism is inherent and runs as a common thread in prescriptions of Sanatana Dharma. This is in stark contrast to Western education models that promote individualistic thinking.

A deeper understanding of Sanatana Dharma also enables to put the much-maligned Varna system in the right perspective. Each Varna is an equal manifestation of and an inseparable part of Hinduism. The pluralistic Varna system protected Hinduism e.g. our religious scriptures were protected by Brahmins, our Dharma was protected by Kshatriyas (otherwise we would have converted within 50 years like what happened in Iran, Turkey, Iraq, and Middle East), wealth for Dharma was accumulated by Vaishyas, our Dharma was served by Shudras.

Every individual, regardless of whether he/she is engaged with knowledge or security or revenue generation or service in worldly life, is eligible to attain the Summam bonum of life, Moksha. Social conducts given in Smritis are amendable to suit prevailing social requirements. Thus, no single code book or Prophet or God is held as the sole authority. As such, any reform or law that is founded on singularity, exclusivity, and uniformity, is incompatible with the basic tenets of Sanatana Dharma and bound to fail.

Bibliography

1. Swami Paramananda Bharti “Foundation of Dharma”, Gnansamvardhini Pratishthan.
2. Rajiv Malhotra “Being Different”, Harper and Collins.
3. Rajiv Malhotra “Indra's Net”, Harper and Collins.
4. Ishavasyopanishad, Kathopanishad, Prashnopanishad, Mundakopanishad, Aitareyopanishad, Kenopanishad.

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