Sanatana Dharma

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This jewel of the book on the fundamental doctrines and the basic principles of Hinduism was prepared more than a hundred years ago by a group of established scholars of the subject at the request of Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya ji, the founder of Benares Hindu university. It was to serve as a compulsory -- although subsidiary -- reading for every student who was studying at the University irrespective of the field or subject of his or her study.

The present book is an excellent introduction not only to the moral and ethical values of the Hinduism, but also to the beliefs and the multiple religious rites which an adherent of this religion, the sanatana-dharma or Hinduism, is supposed to perform on different occasions, daily, monthly, annually or on other particular occasions along with the rituals accompanying them. It also sheds light on the main body of its philosophical tenets like the theory of the immortality of the soul, the theory of Karman, the system of re-birth and the nature of final salvation (moksha) etc. The best part of the book is that every statement and the performance of each rite is corroborated by appropriate quotations from religious texts making the book very authentic and dependable.

THE Board of Trustees of the Central Hindu College has laid down the following principles on which religious and moral teaching is to be given in all institutions under its control.

The object of the Central Hindu College being to combine Hindu religious and ethical training with the western education suited to the needs of the time, it is necessary that this religious and ethical training shall be of a wide, liberal and unsectarian character, while at the same time it shall be definitely and distinctively Hindu. It must be inclusive enough to unite the most divergent forms of Hindu thought, but exclusive enough to leave outside it, forms of thought which are non-Hindu. It must avoid all doctrines which are the subject of controversy between schools recognised as orthodox; it must not enter into any of the social and political questions of the day; but it must lay a solid foundation of religion and ethics on which the student may build, in his manhood, the more specialised principles suited to his intellectual and emotional temperament. It must be directed to the building up of a character-pious, dutiful, strong, self-reliant, upright, righteous, gentle and well balanced-a character which will be that of a good man and a good citizen; the fundamental principles of religion, governing the general view of life and of life's obligations, are alone sufficient to form such a character. That which unites Hindus in a common faith must be clearly and simply taught; all that divides them must be ignored. Lastly, care must be taken to cultivate a wide spirit of tolerance, which not only respects the differences of thought and practice among Hindus, but which also respects the differences of religion among non Hindus, regarding all faiths with reverence, as roads whereby men approach the Supreme.

SANATANA DHARMA means the Eternal Religion, the Ancient Law, and it is based on the Vedas, sacred books given to men many long ages ago. This Religion has also been called the Aryan Religion, because it is the Religion that was given to the first nation of the Aryan race; Arya means noble, and the name was given to a great race, much finer in character and appearance than the races which went before it in the world's history. The first families of these people settled in the northern part of the land now called India, and that part in which they first settled was named Aryvarta, because these Aryans lived in it. "The land) from the eastern ocean to the western ocean, between the two mountains (Himavan and Vindhya), the wise call Aryavarta."

**Contents and Sample Pages**