कौण्डिन्यस्मृतिः-Kaundinya Smrti with English Translation (Some Salient Features of Hinduism)

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Sanatana Dhamra which is now known as Hindu Dharma (Hinduism) is as old as the humanity itself.

For the last 12 centuries the Sanatana Dharma has been facing the greatest menace, conversion, from two directions, the Islam and Christianity. For a follower of Sanatana Dharma the very concept of conversion is repugnant. It is beyond his comprehension why one should denigrate the religion of others and impose his own religion on them. There are, of course, many spheres of human activity where logic, reason and rationality meet with utter failure and religion seems to be one such among them. Today the practice of conversion is going on unabated in India with redoubled vigour, through the use of every possible method like intimidation, coersion, force, temptation, offer of several allurements and even removal of those who are opposed to this concept from the scene. Apart from the above methods, Christianity has been pursuing a novel but mischievous method for the last two and half centuries.

The ancient Indian civilization is accepted by all historians and thinkers as the oldest in the world. Its source, the Vedas consist of knowledge of the creation, the various forces governing it, the structure of the universe, the science of Astronomy, and many truths about the world in which we live. It is an ocean of knowledge. This formed the basis of defining the principles and the objective of human life. The materialistic civilization was given the second place while the human conduct occupied the first place of importance. The object ultimately aimed at was the redemption and release of the inner man from the forces of bondage and suffering which is working as death and rebirth. This was the greatest contribution to human thought from the ancient Indian thinkers.

The way of life they adopted was called the 'Aryan way'. At a time when this vast sub-continent of India consisted of many tribes and fewer members of civilized and educated people, the Vedic culture regulated the life of the people at all levels. The enlightened society was regulated by codes of conduct, codes of ritual and prescription of virtues like charity, sacrifice, celibacy etc. As the society progressed in civilization, more and more people joined this well regulated main stream of society. What we call Hinduism today is the final shape taken by the ever-growing society, believing in the sanctity of the ancient principles of living. The systematized division of society called the caste system, the rituals or Samskaras prescribed to the individual in the early life, the principles of wedlock, definition of the moral conduct of the individual - man or woman, teacher or disciple, the ruler and the ruled etc., gave rise to a very complex system of codes. The most ancient codes (the Brahmanas) primarily consisted of the ritualistic rules of application of the Vedas - the Yajna. Secondarily, the codes that came into existence in course of time right from the times of Mahabharata up to the recent - most centuries consisted of religious observances on the basis of the Astronomical calendar of the year. The religion went on growing into a very meticulous system of observances, celebrations, charity, pilgrimages, purificational rituals and most importantly, performances in honour and satisfaction of the departed ancestors. This literature consists of a wide range from Brahmanas, Smritis and Dharma Sastras and ultimately moral and spiritual teachings. The vastness of literature in the entire India with all its regional peculiarities from the Himalayas to the south end is such that it defies a singular definition or an attempt to bring the subject in between two covers.