Religion and caste system are the cause of concern to humanity.+

Religion and the caste system are causes of concern to humanity. The wars and violence and terrorism are going on in the name of God and religion.

Unless religion is discarded, wars and violence, terrorism, humanity will suffer.

Unless and until all the governments of the world give up the manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction and educate people about the falsity of their religion and the idea of a religious God, it is impossible to stop the wars and violence, terrorism going on in the name of God.

Democracy has to be secular. Secular means free from religious interference in administration. Religious laws and religious sentiments were kept away from the democratic setup.

Religion has to be replaced by spirituality. The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is pure Spirituality.

Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara has nothing to do with any religion or caste or sect because it is universal.

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom will one day replace all the religions of the world because Advaitic wisdom is the knowledge of God in truth.

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom brings universal brotherhood and unity in diversity.

Until Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is propagated effectively, many generations will suffer violence, wars, and terrorism, which is going on in the name of religion and God.

,

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is the power that can lead to universal peace and brotherhood.

It is time for the reform to build a strong society free from dogmas and superstitions. It is high time to realize the truth that their own inherited religion is full of adulteration, and they are simply indulging in worship and activities barred by the Vedas. The Vedas warn not to indulge in non-Vedic activities.

The caste system, which is so integral to Hinduism, was also not practiced in the Vedic era. There is hardly any evidence of a rigid caste system in the Vedas. The Vedas, however, speak of various classes of people, which appear to have been names of professions, and they were not hereditary.

The Lingayat sect is seeking a separate minority religion because they do not belong to Hinduism. Lingayat thinks it was wrong to classify Lingayats as Hindus because their founder rejected the Varnashrama dharma, the Agama Shastras, Vedas, and Upanishads, so they are not a part of the Lingayat sect.

The onus is on Ligayath to prove that all other castes other than Lingayats belong to the Vedic ideology. All the castes founded by the founders of the castes are indulging in worshipping non-Vedic gods and non-Vedic rituals barred by the Vedas.

Since all the castes of India, along with Lingayat, are entitled to get minority status because all the Hindu castes have nothing to do with Vedas and Vedic Religion or Sanatana Dharma and Vedic culture.

It is argued that the purushasukta hymn of the Rig Veda (X.90), which is often referred to as giving a religious sanction to the caste system, was a later interpolation.

Rigveda prohibits: ~ “The very concept of castes by birth, upper/lower castes, superior/inferior castes, outcastes, untouchables, Dalits,

Bhagavata clearly says in 7.11.35 that: ~ “Just because one is born to a Brahmin doesn’t automatically make him a Brahmin. But he has more chances of becoming a Brahmin by acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is the only qualification of a Brahmin to become a Brahmin. If a person born to a non-Brahmin who acquires Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana possesses he/she should be immediately accepted as a Brahmin.”

In the Vedic era, a Brahmin was a person who had acquired Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana Atma Gnana. This was an extremely difficult path of the discipline of body, mind, and intellect, and people, irrespective of their birth or class, who dedicated themselves to such an austere life, were recognized as Brahmins.

A great example of this tradition (that a person becoming a Brahmin, rather than being born as one) is the case of Vishwamitra, a warrior (Kshatriya), who became a Brahmin after attaining Atma Jnana or Self-Knowledge.

A Smritis or code of conduct composed by sage Atri defines Brahminhood very clearly.

"By birth, every man is a Shudra (an ignorant person). Through various types of disciplines (samskaras), he becomes a dwija (twice-born). Through the studies of scriptures, he becomes a vipra (or a scholar). Through the realization of the supreme spirit (Brahmajnana), he becomes a Brahmin.”

The belief that people born in the Brahmin caste automatically become Brahmins is a much later concept in very ancient India. Thus, Brahmin means not a caste but one who has attained Atma Jnana or Brahma Jnana.

By birth, everyone is Shudra. Only with Self-knowledge, or Brahma Gnana or Brahma Gnana, it is possible for every Shudra to become a Brahmin. Those who identify themselves as the Brahmin caste without Brahmajnana are not Brahmins.

Religion and caste, and creed have nothing to do with God. Humanity itself is a religion. Love and peace and equanimity are much necessary to discard the religion and sect that breeds hatred, violence in the name of God and religion.

Santana Dharma deserves to be treated on its own as a distinct religion with its own sacred texts and practices, without interlinking it with Hinduism.

It is for the Prime Minister of India and the Indian Judiciary to recognize that all the castes that come under Hinduism are entitled to get minority status because all the castes of Hinduism indulge in believing, worshipping non-Vedic Gods and non-Vedic rituals, and having their own code of conduct. The Vedas and Sanatana Dharma have nothing to do with the present caste-infected Hinduism.

The word Hindu holds all the castes together. By removing the Hindu tag from castes, all the present minority religions become the majority, and all the Hindus belonging to the castes become a minority. : ~Santthosh Kuaar

The term Hinduism came into existence in British rule.+

A great majority of Hindus are not in contact with their religious history; therefore, they believe their inherited beliefs as the ultimate truth.

In Encyclopaedia Britannica, it says: - The word Hinduism was first used by the British writers in the year 1830 to describe the multiplicity of the faiths of the people of India, excluding the converted Christians. (Volume- -20, Reference -581)

That is the reason today, the majority of scholars say that the word Hinduism is a misnomer.

The correct word should be Santana Dharma, the eternal religion, or the Vedic Dharma, the religion of the Vedas.

Swami Vivekananda says: - The word Hindu is a misnomer; the correct word should be a Vedantin, a person who follows the Vedas.

Hinduism is not a Vedic religion or the Santana Dharma. Hindus do idol worship, while the Vedas bar idol worship. Hinduism is not Santana Dharma or the Vedic religion. Hinduism is not a religion. Rather, it is a group of religions found within India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different.

The ancient peoples of India belong to the Vedic religion or the Santana Dharma; therefore, they have nothing to do with present-day Hinduism.

The ancient peoples of the Indus Valley of undivided India were called Hindus by Muslim invaders.

Hindu idols or deities or the temples have nothing to do with the Vedic religion or the Santana Dharma. Vedic people ate beef. The Hindu practices of idol worship, temple worship, and the ban on beef-eating were introduced many centuries later.

As one peeps into the annals of religious history, he finds that Hinduism, which exists today, is not a continuation of the Vedic religion, and it has no real historical foundation. Hinduism is of a much later origin.

As per the researchers, the two faiths, the Hindu belief system, have drifted miles away from the Vedic faith so that the two seem to be two distinct faiths. It is not difficult to discover that there is no noticeable continuity of Hinduism from the Vedic religion or the Santana Dharma.

The distinctive characteristics of the Hindu belief system cannot be traced in the Vedic literature. Besides, although the Vedas are revered as sacred texts, there are many people in India who do not know what ‘belief in the Vedas’ means. In most cases, the acquaintance of the Hindus with the Vedas is limited to the few hymns that are recited in temples and household liturgies.

Max Müller says ~ “The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal Gods.

Remember:~

Hinduism is not a religion but more a way of life. The term "Hinduism" is used to label the entire Indian people.

Hinduism indulges in non-Vedic beliefs such as idolatry, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priest craft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability, and child marriages. All these lack Vedic sanctions; therefore, Hinduism is not the Ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.

All Hindus indulge in non-Vedic practices barred by the Vedas, introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism at different times, whereas the Vedic religion, or Santana Dharma, is ancient and has no founder.

Hinduism is not Santana Dharma or the Vedic religion. Hinduism is not a religion. Rather, it is a group of religions found within India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different.

The ancient peoples of India belong to the Vedic religion or the Santana Dharma; therefore, they have nothing to do with present-day Hinduism. The ancient peoples of the Indus Valley of Undivided India were called Hindus by Muslim invaders.

Hindu idols or deities or the temples have nothing to do with the Vedic religion or the Santana Dharma. Vedic people ate beef. The Hindu practices of idol worship, temple worship, and the ban on beef-eating were introduced many centuries later.

As one peeps into the annals of religious history, he finds that Hinduism, which exists today, is not a continuation of the Vedic religion, and it has no real historical foundation. Hinduism is of a much later origin.

As per the researchers, the two faiths, the Hindu belief system, have drifted miles away from the Vedic faith so that the two seem to be two distinct faiths. It is not difficult to discover that there is no noticeable continuity of Hinduism from the Vedic religion or the Santana Dharma.

The distinctive characteristics of the Hindu belief system cannot be traced in the Vedic literature. Besides, although the Vedas are revered as sacred texts, there are many people in India who do not know what ‘belief in the Vedas’ means. In most cases, the acquaintance of the Hindus with the Vedas is limited to the few hymns that are recited in temples and household liturgies.

As we peep into the annals of religious History, we find:~

After naming the discriminating principle of casteism of Manu Dharma as Hinduism, the religions of Saivism and Vaishnavism, which were enslaved to the caste discriminating principles, were given a new name as ‘Hinduism’! Thus, the Hindu religion is different from the Santana Dharma or the Vedic religion.

The term Hinduism came into existence during British rule. Hinduism is the caste discriminating principle of Varnashrama Dharma based on the Book of Manu.

After 1750 A.D., Europeans captured certain parts of India and started ruling those areas. The capital of the then British India was Calcutta, the present-day Kolkata.

The Britishers were duty-bound to administer justice to the people living within their dominion. Thus, they set up courts of justice. They needed laws to administer justice through the courts.

To administer justice to the Christian citizens of India living within their dominion, there was Christian Law, based on Biblical principles.

To administer justice to the Muslim citizens of India living within their dominion, there was Islamic Law, based on Quranic principles. But to administer justice to non-Christian and non-Islamic citizens living in British dominion, there was no law book. This created problems for the Britishers.

At this time, Sir William Jones was appointed as the chief justice of the Supreme Court at Calcutta. Local pundits made Sir William Jones believe that the book of Manu was the law book for the people of India.

Sir William Jones believed pundits and translated the book of Manu from Sanskrit to English. Thus, based on the laws of Manu, a law was formed for administering justice to non-Christian and non-Muslim Indians of the British dominion, and this law was called the Hindu law.

The principles of the book of Manu, which was used for drafting the Hindu Law, are called Hinduism. The basic principle of the book of Manu is caste discrimination.

The name coined by Sir William Jones to denote caste discriminating principles is Hinduism. It is not a religion. It is a way of Life. It is the way of life of the Indus people.

In this, a historic false perception crept in. That is when they called the terms Christian Law, Muslim Law, and Hindu Law; both Christian Law and Muslim Law were associated with the Christian religion and the Islamic religion. But in respect of Hindu Law, a false perception of religion was wrongly attributed to it as if it was also associated with a ‘Hindu religion’ which was not there.

This false perception developed a false notion that non-Christian and non-Muslim Indians of the British dominion belonged to the Hindu religion.

Out of the five Indian religions, since Saivism and Vaishnavism were already enslaved to Varnashrama dharma, i.e., caste discrimination or Hindu ideology, the people of India began to use the newly originated common name of ‘Hindu religion’ to denote Saivism and Vaishnavism. The context and substance of the term Hinduism or ‘Hindu ideology ', coined by Sir William Jones, is different from the context and substance of the term ‘Hindu religion’, which was substituted erroneously and used by the people to denote Saivism and Vaishnavism.

The Orthodoxy believes in Varnashrama Dharma or caste discrimination. 

People of India wrongly believe that Hinduism is an ancient religion because they are unaware of the fact that Hinduism is not the Santana Dharma or Vedic religion.

People of India have to liberate themselves from the stranglehold of casteism to realize their original religion is not Hinduism, which is full of different castes and creeds, but the Vedic religion or the Santana Dharma. The people should be educated about the historical truth of the Vedic religion or the Santana Dharma.:~ Santthosh Kumaar

There is hardly any evidence of a rigid caste system in the Vedas.+

Upon close examination, we discover that the religion of the Vedas was not the religion of the Hindus, nor were the Vedic people Hindus, nor will the Hindus of today approve the replacement of the term ‘Hinduism’ with ‘Vedic Religion’.

One can say exactly when the Aryans became Hindus because neither the name Hindu nor its major beliefs and practices existed in the Vedic times.

To this, one must add the marginal place the Vedic gods occupy in today’s Hindu pantheon. Also, as we have seen, the Vedas themselves are not attractive to most of today’s Hindus as sacred texts. The Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad-Gita, Puranas, and Manusmriti may have more to do with the Hinduism of today than the Vedas.

Thus, it is clear that there is no direct ancestry of modern Hinduism traceable in the Vedas, though it does have some influence on it. “The Vedic corpus reflects the archetypal religion of those who called themselves Aryans, and which, although it contributed to facets of latter-day Hinduism, was nevertheless distinct”.

The caste system, which is so integral to Hinduism, was also not practiced in the Vedic times. There is hardly any evidence of a rigid caste system in the Vedas. It is argued that the purushasukta hymn of the Rig Veda (X.90), which is often referred to to give a religious sanction to the caste system, was a later interpolation.

The Vedas, however, speak of various classes of people, which appear to have been names of professions, and they were not hereditary.

“The very concept of castes by birth, upper/lower castes, superior/inferior castes, outcastes, untouchables, Dalits, etc., is clearly prohibited by the Rigveda”.

Rigveda prohibits: ~ “The very concept of castes by birth”.

There is hardly any evidence of a rigid caste system in the Vedas. It is argued that the purushasuktahymn of the Rig Veda (X.90), which is often referred to to give a religious sanction to the caste system, was a later interpolation.

The Vedas, however, speak of various classes of people, which appear to have been names of professions, and they were not hereditary.

The very concepts of castes by birth, upper/lower castes, superior/inferior castes, outcastes, untouchables, Dalits, etc., are clearly prohibited by the Rig-Veda.

The caste system, which is so integral to Hinduism, was also not practiced in the Vedic times.

The Book of Manu was made by Manu Dharma Shastra. The Book of Manu was a book that originated in India in and around the 9th century A.D. This book of Manu was given a false spiritual interpretation by orthodoxy. And this book was projected as ‘Manu Dharma Shastra’ by orthodoxy. It is the Manu Dharma Shastra that is the foundation and cause for caste discrimination.

The orthodoxy that has taken upon the responsibility to maintain, propagate, and perpetuate the authority of caste discriminating principle called Manu Dharma Shastra.

This caste discrimination led to umpteen numbers of castes and sub-castes within the Indian population. Today, because of this, caste discrimination makes the Hindus hate each other, fight each other; therefore, there is no unity among the Hindus.

This caste discriminating tool is used by modern-day politicians to divide and destroy the social fabric of India. The politicians and the orthodox cults preserve and promote Varnashrama Dharma for their own advantage, which is non-Vedic. Orthodox cults and politicians glorify, preserve, enforce, and perpetuate caste discrimination in India.

Remember this:~

Hinduism of today is of a much later origin, and a historical view of Indian religions would endorse a dichotomy between Vedic Religion or Sanatana Dharma and contemporary Hinduism.

Hinduism does not have a long ancestry as is often presumed or propagated by the Hindu ideologues. Historically, religions like Buddhism and Jainism can claim greater antiquity than the Hinduism of today.

Hinduism began to take a systematic form from the time of the South Indian Sage Sankara in the 8th century A.D. In this sense, he may be considered the ‘founder’ of Hinduism, but it was not called Hinduism then.

People in India think Hinduism is a religion, and Santana Dharma is Hinduism. But it is not so. - Hinduism has drifted miles away from the Vedic faith so that the two seem to be two distinct faiths

Vedic Religion or Suntan Dharma deserves to be treated on its own as a distinct religion with its sacred texts, rites, rules of social life, beliefs, and practices, without interlinking it with Hinduism.

Perhaps it is right to maintain that the Mimamsa School, which is concerned with the investigation of the Vedic texts, their correct interpretation, and the meticulous performance of the Vedic rituals and ceremonies, has preserved and defended a part of the heritage of the Vedic tradition.

The Vedanta school may also have received a part of its inspiration from the Vedas. For the rest of the Hindu philosophical schools and religious sects, the influence of the Vedas is nominal.

As one goes into the annals of religious history, he finds:-

When we carefully examine the two faiths, it is not difficult to discover that there is no noticeable continuity of Hinduism from the Vedic religion or the Santana Dharma. Hinduism of today cannot be traced in the Vedic literature.

Although the Vedas are revered as sacred texts, many people in India do not know what ‘belief in the Vedas’ means. In most cases, the acquaintance of the Hindus with the Vedas is limited to the few hymns that are recited in temples and household liturgies.

The Vedas, as a body of scripture, contain many contradictions, and they are fragmentary. For Hindus, scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas are more attractive and appealing than the Vedas.

The Gods and Goddesses they worship differ considerably from the Vedic ones. The collection of hymns called the Vedas, written in praise of certain deities by poets over several centuries, does not seem to have much significance for the Hindus of today.

Hinduism is based on mythology or the Puranas. All the Gods of Hinduism are Puranic Gods with form and attributes.

Vedic Gods like Indra, Varuna, Agni, Soma, and the like, whom the Vedic people worshipped, hardly have any significance in present-day Hinduism. The Gods and Goddesses important to the Hindus of today are Ram, Krishna, Kali, Ganesh, Hanuman, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and the respective consorts of the last three, namely, Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Shakti. None of these deities figured prominently in the Vedic pantheon, and some of them are non-Vedic.

The major Gods of Hinduism, like Vishnu and Shiva, are non-Aryan in origin. Though they may have belonged to the Vedic tradition, they played no major role in the Vedas.

The more important religious sects of Hinduism, like Vaishnavism, Saivism, and so on, did not have a Vedic origin but had come into existence in comparatively recent times.

The Vedic people worshippers did not use temples and idols as Hindus of today do. For them, the sacrificial rituals were more important than temple or idol worship. The major Hindu feasts of today are based on the epic feats of Rama and Krishna and the Puranic lore on Shiva and the Goddess.

Belief in reincarnation, which is central to Hinduism of today, is not attested to in the Vedas, though they hint at life after death. The doctrine of transmigration, as elaborated in Hinduism, has no place in the Vedic hymns. In the early Vedic literature, there is no express mention of the doctrine of transmigration. It is in the Upanishads that it appears for the first time.

The Rig Veda speaks of two paths for the souls of the deceased, namely, the path of the Gods (devayana) and the path of the fathers (pitriyana). Those who go by the former enjoy immortality, and there is no return to physical life after that. The Vedic man longed for this state of life. Whereas those who go by the latter path unite with the fathers and then return to earth after having enjoyed the fruits of their deeds. Raja further states that in the entire Rig Veda ― consisting of about 10,500 verses ~ there is only one occasion where there is mention of a return to this world after death. What is implied here is that it cannot be taken as an important teaching of the Rig Veda.

The theory of Avatar (‘descend’) of Gods, which is very important to modern Hinduism, is non-Vedic.

“Significantly, the term Avatar […] is not found in the earlier Vedic texts, and is absent from the older Sanskrit glossaries”. The caste system, which is so integral to Hinduism, was also not practiced in the Vedic times. There is hardly any evidence of a rigid caste system in the Vedas. It is argued that the purushasukta hymn of the Rig Veda (X.90), which is often referred to as giving a religious sanction to the caste system, was a later interpolation. The Vedas, however, speak of various classes of people, which appear to have been names of professions, and they were not hereditary.

The very concept of castes by birth, upper/lower castes, superior/inferior castes, outcastes, untouchables, Dalits, etc., is prohibited by the Rigveda.

Vedic Religion deserves to be treated on its own as a distinct religion with its sacred texts, rites, rules of social life, beliefs, and practices, without interlinking it with modern Hinduism. Perhaps it is right to maintain that the Mimamsa school, which is concerned with the investigation of the Vedic texts, their correct interpretation, and the meticulous performance of the Vedic rituals and ceremonies, has preserved and defended a part of the heritage of the Vedic tradition. The Vedanta school may also have received a part of its inspiration from the Vedas. For the rest of the Hindu philosophical schools and religious sects, the influence of the Vedas is nominal.

Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati, the founder of Arya Samaj, was the first modern Indian thinker to emphasize the importance of ‘going back to the Vedas’ to bring about social reforms in Hindu society and to purify Hinduism of its many aberrations. The founder of Arya Samaj was the first modern Indian thinker to emphasize the importance of ‘going back to the Vedas’ to bring about social reforms in Hindu society and to purify Hinduism of its many aberrations. :~ Santthosh Kumaar

Santana Dharma deserves to be treated on its own as a distinct religion with its own sacred texts, rites, rules of social life, beliefs, and practices, without interlinking it with Hinduism.+.

As one peeps into the annals of Indian religious history, Hinduism is not ancient Sanatana Dharm or Vedic Religion. 

The Supreme Court of India correctly pointed out that Hinduism, as a religion, incorporates all forms of belief without mandating the selection or elimination of any one single belief. “ It is a religion that has no single founder, no single scripture, and no single set of teachings. It has been described as Santana Dharma, namely, eternal faith, as it is the collective wisdom and inspiration of the centuries that Hinduism seeks to preach and propagate,” ---Hinduism has no single founder or scripture.

The Supreme Court failed to observe that the present Hinduism is not ancient Santana Dharma or Vedic Religion.

Hinduism is not a religion. Rather, it is a group of castes found within India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different. Many may even argue that it is not a religion but more a way of life. The term "Hinduism" was not developed by the practitioners, but by groups outside of the religions as a means for labeling the entire Indian people.

Many groups within Hinduism claim a sort of "going back to the Vedas". While these groups are attempting to create a bond with the Vedas, they will never be followers of Vedism while they still hold their core ideals.

These core beliefs are at odds with those of the Vedas. Many followers of Hinduism translate the Vedas to fit into Hindu thought by changing the translation to reflect the beliefs of monism, reincarnation, the caste system, and the absence of animal and human sacrifice. However, these poor translators

Santana Dharma or Vedic Religion has no founders, whereas Advaita and qualified Advaita, Dvaita, and all other sects and castes identified as Hinduism are identified with their founders.

All of these castes have non-Vedic Gods, rituals barred by the Vedas. The dualism came only in the 12th century. The orthodox Advaita and Dvaita are based on the Abrahamic framework. Both Advaita and Dvaita schools are based on the Vedas, and they condemn each other with Upanishads and Puranic citations and try to prove they are right and others are wrong. The orthodox Advaita has nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman because they worship idols, human worship, and symbol worship, and indulge in non-Vedic rituals barred by the Vedas. 

Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati, the founder of Arya Samaj, was the first modern Indian thinker to emphasize the importance of ‘going back to the Vedas’ to bring about social reforms in Hindu society and to purify Hinduism of its many aberrations. The founder of Arya Samaj was the first modern Indian thinker to emphasize the importance of ‘going back to the Vedas’ to bring about social reforms in Hindu society and to purify Hinduism of its many aberrations.

Remember This:~

Santana Dharma is distinct from Hinduism. Santana Dharma deserves to be treated on its own as a distinct religion with its own sacred texts, rites, rules of social life, beliefs, and practices, without interlinking it with Hinduism. Perhaps it is right to maintain that the Mimamsa School, which is concerned with the investigation of the Vedic texts, their correct interpretation, and the meticulous performance of the Vedic rituals and ceremonies, has preserved and defended a part of the heritage of the Vedic tradition.

The Vedanta school may also have received some of its inspiration from the Vedas. For the rest of the Hindu philosophical schools and religious sects, the influence of the Vedas is nominal. However, inasmuch as elements from the Vedas have influenced some aspects of Hinduism, it may be considered as one of the many factors influencing modern Hinduism.

But by no means can it be maintained that Hinduism has its direct ancestry in the Vedic religion or the Santana Dharma. Therefore, the Hinduism of Vedic times is an imagined community. Hinduism is of a much later origin, and a historical view of Indian religions would endorse a dichotomy between Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma and contemporary Hinduism.

Hinduism does not have a long ancestry as is often presumed or propagated by Hindu ideologues. In fact, historically, religions like Buddhism and Jainism can claim greater antiquity than the Hinduism of today. Hinduism began to take a systematic form from the time of Sage Sankara (8th century A.D). In this sense, he may be considered as the ‘founder’ of Hinduism but he never called it Hinduism.

Thus, Hinduism came into existence with its own code of conduct, beliefs, and rituals after the 8th century. Hinduism, as one knows it today, is of recent origin. He states: “Hinduism did not really achieve its status as a coherent, though still baffling, religious complex until after the establishment of British rule in India.

In discussing the Vedic Religion,n it is also to be remembered that in the course of history, many non-Aryan elements entered into the Vedic Religion.

The Vedic Aryans freely borrowed elements from the culture and the society around them. But we cannot say with precision which are the non-Aryan elements in the Vedic Religion. Therefore, the thesis of the direct ancestry of Hinduism of today from Vedic Religion is to be considered as a myth purported by orthodoxy.:~Santthosh Kumaar

You and your experience of the world disappear when the waking experience disappears. +

You and your experience of the world disappear when the waking experience disappears.

The waking experience disappears in deep sleep. The dream disappears when the waking takes place. There is neither the waking nor the dream in deep sleep.

The seeker has to find out -what is it’ that’ becomes the waking or dream (duality) and ‘what is it’ that becomes the deep sleep (non-duality).

The one that becomes the dual (waking or dream) and that one that becomes non-dual (deep sleep), is the formless Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The invisible Soul is the Self. In the realm of the invisible Soul, diversity has no value because there is unity in diversity in the consciousness.

All three states are made of single stuff. Realizing that single Stuff, which is the invisible Soul, is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

The three states are an object of the invisible Soul, which is the subject. The three states are the state of ignorance.

In all three states, the invisible Soul, the Self, is in ignorance of its own formless non-dual true nature. This ignorance is the cause of the forgetfulness.

Ignorance is the cause of experiencing the three states as a reality. The three states are the cause of experiencing individuality as a reality.

A person, seeing a rope in dim light, mistakes it for a snake. He is as frightened as he would have been if there had been a real snake there. The snake is said to have an ‘illusory reality.

The illusory snake is described as a superimposition on the rope. The snake is not real, because it is found on examination with a light that never existed there.

At the same time, it was experienced as reality till ignorance prevailed. Similarly, this waking experience is experienced as reality till wisdom dawns.

On the dawn of Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, it is known to have no existence apart from consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman.

The waking experience is therefore said to be superimposed on consciousness in the same way as the dream is superimposed on consciousness.

The waking experience is a practical reality because it is real until the attainment of Self-realization. Consciousness alone has absolute reality because it is absolutely changeless. After all, it is ever nondual.

The universe in which we exist is present only in waking experience. The waking experience (duality) appears and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality).

The waking experience is a parallel dream, and the dream is a parallel waking experience.

The Self is neither the waking entity nor the Self is the dream entity, but the Self is the invisible Soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states.

The invisible Soul, the Self, has nothing to do with you and your experience of the world because it is an ever-formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

The world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

A person who stamped his foot on the ground to refute, to show the world, is real, ignores that in the dream he would do exactly the same--stamp his dream foot on the ground and assert it to be real.

The look of an object will depend upon the medium through which the observer views it. In fact, our mental and intellectual conditions determine the three states, observed and experienced. The commoner viewing the three states will see them differently from a Gnani viewing the same three states. Each one interprets the three states that they see in terms of their existing knowledge. The commoner sees everything based on the ego; therefore, he experiences the birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, whereas a Gnani sees everything as consciousness, and he is fully aware of t that there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul or consciousness.

Thus, all the egocentric (religious) adulteration has to be bifurcated to realize the ultimate truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

The waking state is both real and unreal. It is real because it is a manifestation of consciousness, but it is unreal in the sense that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself.

People's approach is more practical, and they are stuck with the reality of the waking state; they take it as real. That is why all the confusion. ~Santthosh Kumaar

Mundaka Upanishad: ~The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. +

Sage Sankara pointed out that those rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less Moksha.

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ ‘The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross the sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise in their own esteem, these deluded men, Proud of their vain learning, go round and round like the blind led by the blind.

The Orthodox person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. And he is required to perform rituals throughout his life. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc., are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.

Sage Sankara viewed this as a distortion of the Upanishad ideals. In order to play down the prominence given to rituals by the Mimamsakas, Sage Sankara relied on the idea of Avidya; he bracketed the ritualistic approach with Avidya and called it an “error”.

Avidya is a word that occurs in the Upanishads, though not often. The word Vidya is used to denote effective discrimination, and Avidya is the absence of it.

As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. In addition, he is required to perform rituals throughout his life. However, the 'Self' has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies the ‘Self’ with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc., are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.- (11- Adhyasa Bhashya)

The orthodox people only teach and preach their knowledge of ignorance, but none of them wants to know God in Truth, which is hidden by the dualistic illusion or Maya.

Remember:~

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (10) - Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they still remain in ignorance of the Atman, the real God.

As a person, one performs rituals throughout his life. The person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view the world in which he exists as a reality. However, the Soul, the Self, is unborn, eternal, hidden by the world in which it exists. From the standpoint of the Soul, the world in which he exists is merely an illusion.

The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc., are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (9) ~ Children, immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: We have accomplished life's purpose. Because these performers of karma do not know the Truth owing to their attachment, they fall from heaven, misery-stricken, when the fruit of their work is exhausted.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 ~ Fools, dwelling in darkness, but wise in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind.

Ish Upanishad declares:~ Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide 10/11/12

The religious orthodox people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide, as it were, are doomed to enter those worlds after death.

This is a condemnation of people who do not try to attain Self-knowledge. They are, in a real sense, committing suicide, for what can be worse than being a slave to sense enjoyment, completely oblivious of the real purpose of life, which is to be one ’s own master?

Sage Sankara says:~ “He who knows the Brahman (God in truth) is one and the ‘Self’ is another, does not know Brahman.”

Sage Sankara also asserts that the Self is realized when all the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of Self-knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the non-Self.

Sage Sankara’s Gnanic path can help the seekers draw and prepare them for the journey to the reality hidden by the dualistic illusion or Maya. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar