The short answer is – yes and no.

In these current times, most of us do refer to Vedic Dharma as Hinduism, it is practically acceptable. But ‘Hindusim’ is a very narrow term and is not appropriate for Vedic Dharma. (I got a series of questions thus this typical post).

Now the long answer.

I have repeatedly mentioned in my several posts that time till 2035 or so is extremely turbulent. Around 2035, we will get a very small window of opportunity to bring things back in balance. The leader of Bharat / India will have to take this decision, which may not be very ‘democratic’ or ‘secular’ or even pleasant, but it will be a necessary decision to literally save humanity. This choice will come after 10yrs or so, so I won’t predict beyond 2035. Predictions after 2035 depend on this choice, when through that leader we all will choose our destiny.

The fact is that ours is the only generation which will have seen such disasters after disasters in our lifetimes. Conflicts on such a grand scale. And the root cause of every conflict always ideological, no exceptions. Every War begins with an Idea.

The ‘-isms’ are the foundation of every war, every aggression and every occupation. It begins when a group of people think that their ideology is the best and want everyone else to follow their ideology or die, no third option. The religions are also ideological ‘ism’ constructs which think that their religion is the best and everyone should follow their life philosophy or die, no third option. These ‘ism’ followers take very aggressive efforts, by terror or by influence or by soft power, to convert new people into their religions. And in case these others do not convert, the followers of these ‘-isms’ will actively try to destroy them, erase their existence. We are seeing the intense effects of such uncompromising missionary movements of two major religions of the world which are actually rooted in the third. 

Bharat follows Vedic Dharma. And Vedic Dharma is not a religion, it is not a ‘ism’. Modern people call it ‘Hinduism’, and we are also in the habit of referring to ourselves as Hindus. But the words ‘Hindu’ ‘Hinduism’ do not really match the innate energy of ‘Vedic Dharma’. We are a Vedic people, not ‘Hindu’.

Historians derive ‘Hindu’ as a name that the Persians gave us, from their point of view. The ‘accepted view by today’s scholars’ is that the ancient Persians named the that people eastward of the Sindhu -> Hindu. (This ‘accepted theory’ seems rather faulty to my mind). The word “Hindu’ was first used by a Persian King named – Anglicised ‘Darius’, Persian ‘Dārayavauš’ but actually in Sanskrit ‘Dhṛtavasuḥ’. Persian is a derived language, its mother is Devbhasha Samskrutam aka Sanskrit. The original Iranians were followers of Vedic Dharma. Their Rishis were of the Maharishi Bhrugu lineage.

Whatever the ‘accepted theories’ may be, the word ‘Hindu’ can be easily linked to Sanskrit. The root √dul means – to swing, to be unbalanced, to be unsteady, to be in rhythmic oscillation, agitated shaken. The prefix ‘hiṃ’ is an intensifier. In Sanskrit and also in Marathi, a swing is called a ‘hindola’ and students of classical Indian music can also connect the energy of the word ‘Hindu’ to the ‘oscillatory’ movement of the Raaga Hindol. Thus the energy of the word ‘Hindu’ is linked to – oscillations, agitation, it does not grant stability. Try to consciously avoid using ‘Hinduism’ as a synonym for Vedic Dharma. Consciously refer to yourself as Vedic, a Vedic person, a follower of Vedic Dharma.

There is a theory often practically applied in politics. To spread fake negative information about someone, create a negative perception, give a wrong and damaging label to a individual /group /nation. And then use that created bad reputation as a justification for real harm to that individual /group/nation.

If we analyse history, then around 500BC, the Persians were fighting the Indians. They had conquered lands upto Sindh/ Sauvira, Gandhara/ Takshashila, Kamboja /Kabul, Madra/Punjab, which was a huge chunk of land. At that time, the Persians still had access to the secret and exclusive knowledge of the Atharvaved, which the Bharatiya side had lost. And it is possible that this energy was also used to label the Bharatiyas as ‘unstable’. This is my personal opinion and it is possible given the historical events of that time. You must also do your own independent research on history. We should go beyond ‘accepted theories’ about Bharat, Persia and the rest of Asian supercontinent, these are inadequate theories are developed by biased western minds. We must know our past, so that we understand our present and then map out our future.

Vedic Dharma is the only way you can realise the original and the foundational metaphysics of Reality. Some of us do not want to realise it, so they follow the Nastik sampraday, the YOLO type of life philosophies, and this is fine. We all have the fundamental right to choose. But we have no option on the fruits of that action. And those fruits come up with Time.

Our founder Vedic Rishis meditating on the banks of the river Sarasvati realised this Truth, this Existence for the first time. (Sarasvati flows from Uttarakhand to Gujarat, via Haryana, Rajasthan etc. The region between the Narmada and Sarasvati is the actual cradle of Intelligence.) These Maharishis are the common ancestors of all humanity, not just Bharat. And in this realisation, they also ‘discovered’ the Vedas, as the foundational warp and weft of Creation. But they only realised this Reality, only discovered this Truth, they did not ‘invent’ it or ‘make ‘it. They just Saw it, divined it, intuited it. Thus the Ved are not considered to be a human work, the Vedic wisdom is Apaurusheya, without an author. Vedic Dharma is Eternal, it is the very fabric of the Consciousness. It is the vibration of Existence. The Ved are that ‘cup containing an essence’ which if you absorb into yourself, you realise your own Reality. And this Reality, is the same Reality of every atom, every particle of this created Universe.

Vedic Dharma is not just to the ‘east of the river Sindhu’. Vedic Dharma is not limited by this vague line of the Sindhu and thus must not be limited to ‘Hindu’.

• We should consciously use ‘Vedic Dharma’ to refer to our life foundation.
• Or – Arsha Dharma – the ‘foundations given to us by our Maharishi’.
• Or – Astik Darshan Shastra – which means ‘the metaphysics which allows us to Experience the Existence’. It is a paradox, so is possible only if we follow this path of the Veds.
• You can also refer to it as Sanatan Dharma – which simply means ‘the Eternal Foundation’.

But the most appropriate name for our Dharma is, without a doubt, – Vedic Dharma – a strong assertion that the Ved are the Foundation. Try to use the term ‘Vedic Dharma’ as much as you can. This is a very conscious acknowledgement of your life philosophy. This will also help your subconscious mind register that the Vedas are the foundation and you have to finally come to the Ved. As you repeat the word ‘Ved’ again and again, you will also be drawn to them. Thus you will be able to evolve beyond the junior school of the puranic books. You will eventually be able to leave behind all distorted concepts and the wrong perceptions. And realise the Self. 

Another thing, try to refer to the Gods / deities as Dev. In North India they use the term Bhagwan more often, which is fine. Bhagwan means the possessor of the Bhaga. Bhaga means to distribute, to divide, to apportion, to assign. So Bhagwan is that intelligence who ‘divides’ the Eternal intelligence/ Paramatma into small individual egos/ jivatma. And then ensures that the divided jivatma get their share of karmic fruit etc. But the word ‘Dev’ is something very different and we must consciously use this word ‘Dev’ very strongly. (I will write a post on the ‘Dev’).

In recent times, some followers of Nastik sampraday, are now referring to their life philosophy as ‘Sanatani xyz’. ‘Sanatan’ means ‘eternal’, it is a neutral sort of a word. So for eg, ‘Sanatani Muslim’ would be an ‘Eternal Muslim’, which is fine. They are simply reinforcing their eternal commitment to their life philosophy. But the general perception is that they have somehow started following Vedic Dharma is not really correct. A ‘Muslim’ by definition has to follow specifically approved books – ie Kuran, Hadiths etc. All other life philosophies are forbidden to them, it is apostasy, for which the punishment is death. They are infact required to destroy all the other life philosophy books. Thus a person who identifies as a ‘Muslim’ with any prefix/ suffix, by their own strict rules, cannot read or follow the Ved. They cannot follow Vedic Dharma, because their own rules are very strict on that. Words have precise meanings, the vibrations of the words are the real meanings, so try to think on what is really being said.

Then some ‘modern Hindus’ people refer to themselves as ‘Sanatani Hindu’, literally ‘eternally on the east side of the Sindu’. Or just ‘Sanatani’, literally ‘eternal’ which is somewhat vague.

Sound, Vaak is the ‘visible’ manifestation. It is the Pratyaksha Darshan of the Eternal Paramatma, so avoid twisting words or using new fancy terms. Even a syllable here and there can completely change the meaning of the word. eg Indha means the spark of light and Andha means blind, just one ‘I’ to ‘A’ change and the meaning dramatically changes.

SO promise yourself that you will try to develop your intelligence, work on your mind. So that at some point, and it may take several lifetimes, you will be able to first read and then understand the Ved. For this obviously you will need to learn and understand Sanskrit first. Devbhasha Samskrutam is essential.

I am from Maharashtra and have been living in Uttar Bharat for the past 15yrs or so. I have noticed that here they often mispronounce the names of the Devatas. The worst example – Devi Sita’s name is distorted to Siya, eg ‘Jai Siya-Ram’ instead of ‘Jai Sita-Ram’. Please do not distort the names of the Devatas. You must pronounce the names of the Devatas exactly as the Maharishis wrote them. They encoded some mantras in their work, in the names of the people. Do not distort these as you may end up with something completely opposite of what they intended. Trust only Maharishi Valmiki and Maharishi Vedvyas, they are the actual authors, their work is the real thing! And everyone else, however respected they may be, are just translators or copycats.

Reading the Ved is not possible for most of us, the ‘samadhista bhasha’ the symbolisms are not for the unprepared minds. But reading the two Itihas – Ramayan and Mahabharata is quite possible. Do read these 2 books, they are the apex of human creativity which generate the ‘Shaanta rasa’. (Buy the entire set from Gita press, so that you can also read the Sanskrit verses side by side).

There is a huge misconception as to what Vedic Dharma means. If you are a follower of Dharma then you have to believe and practice your freedom of choice. This is compulsory. And this is not random choice, it means Vivek, it is an intelligent choice which is born from discrimination. You are required to think, to try and understand what is right/ wrong, what is ethical/ unethical. You have to be able to differentiate between what is Dharmic and what is Adharmic. You have to Think! And thinking, cultivating intelligence is actually the most difficult thing.

Vedic dharma gives us the widest freedom possible, but in the limits of the Ved. It encourages us to think and then act. We have the freedom to choose and the Ved gives us a limitless number of options. These options are not random but based on the foundation of the Ved /pure energy.

And then despite knowing that Vedic Dharma takes us to our own Reality, we, followers of Vedic Dharma, do not claim that we are the best. This is because we do not bother as to what religion or -ism or life philosophy others follow. We do not try to convert anyone, we do not force others to listen to us because we know that Dharma is a personal choice. I choose my life foundation. My Dharma is my personal thing. Dharma preserves this essential individual freedom of choice, because this ‘choice’ is what creates karma and later the fruits of this karma. 

But if others try to stop Vedic people from following Vedic Dharma, then this is interference on the personal Dharma level, an interference on free will. As per Dharma, individuals make up families and families make up societies. So by extension, if anyone forcibly tries to stop a Dharmic society or a Dharmic family or a Dharmic individual from practicing his or her Dharma then this will create a deep seated conflict. Eventually this conflict will take the form of a Dharma – yuddha, examples are the Shri Krishna – Mahabharata war, Shri Ram – Ramayana war, Shri Narasimha – the elimination /vadh of Hiranyakasipu etc and relatively recently with the Vijayanagara empire etc.

So if you want to understand who you really are, try to follow Vedic Dharma in life. Follow karmakaand /Vedpurva. Develop your physical body – do Yogasana. Develop your pranic body – do Pranayama. Develop your emotional body – do mantra jaap. Develop your intellectual body – learn the Vedang, read Mahabharat, Ramayana, Vedant and practice the associated Vidyas/ Shaastras. Follow the direction of the Astik Darshan Shastra…

Dr. Tejaswini Arvind Patil.