People of India are not in contact with their religious history therefore, they believe Hinduism itself is Sanatana Dharma.+

People of India are not in contact with their religious history therefore, they believe Hinduism itself is Sanatana Dharma.

As we peep into the annals of the religious history of India we find that Santana Dharma or Vedic religion was not the religion of the Hindus: ~

Every one of the great religions in the world, excepting our own, is built upon such historical characters; but ours rests upon principles. There is no man or woman who can claim to have created the Vedas. They are the embodiment of eternal principles; sages discovered them.

Santana Dharma or Vedic Religion 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 Santana Dharma or Vedic Religion. None 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. In addition, 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 Aryas, and which, although it contributed to facets of latter-day Hinduism, was nevertheless distinct”.

It is time for every Indian must realize the Grandeur of the Vedic Religion and Sanatana Dharma. 

People of India think Hinduism is Vedic Religion or Sanatana Dharma but it is not so. Vedic Religion or Sanatana Dharma is prior to Buddhism. Hinduism was established after overthrowingBuddhism.     

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 caste and creeds but Vedic Religion or Sanatana Dharma. The people should be educated about the historical truth of the religion of Vedas. 

People of India are not in contact with their religious history therefore, they believe Hinduism as their religion.   People of India sentimentally and emotionally involved with their inherited religion. They think it is irreligious to think or speak that their religion is not ancient Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma.  

Hinduism is not a religion. Rather it is a group of religions 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.

There are some groups within Hinduism that 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 Vedic religion while they still hold their core ideals.

These core beliefs are at odds with those of the Vedas. Many followers of Hinduism do 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.

Remember:~

Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru:~ 'The word Hindu can be earliest traced to a source the tantric text in the 8th century and it was used initially to describe the people, it was never used to describe religion. (The discovery of India” on page -74 and -75) 

According to Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, Its connection with religion is of late occurrence. The word Hinduism is derived from the word Hindu.

The word Hinduism was first used by the English writers in the 19th century to describe the multiplicity of faiths of the people of India.

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)

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

The word Hinduism is a misnomer.

Aryans were an ancient people who originally inhabited Central Asia and later migrated southwards to the regions stretching from Iran to northwest India. These early Aryans had a similar language, race, culture, and religion with many variations. The Aryans influenced by the Dravidic culture and in later centuries other peoples also invaded and migrated to India bringing other influences and mixing many cultures' ideology and beliefs.  

Ancient peoples of India belong to the Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma, therefore, they have nothing to do with the present-day Hinduism. 

Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma is not Hinduism. The word Hindu came originated from the word Sindhu which is another name for the river Indus. Maybe people who stayed along the Sindhu (Indus) valley came to be known as Hindus. 

An exact date of the birth of Santana Dharma cannot be given.  They say that Santana Dharma is as old as planet Earth. Some claim it is 5000 to 7000 years old Ancient India consisted of indigenous people.  Aryans, Dravidians, Jews, Christian, and Muslims have invaded India and all ingenious people were converted to different faith from time to time.  Thus, Hinduism is a group of different caste, creed, and faith. 

The Hindus believed in polytheism, believing all of their Gods to be separate individuals, which were introduced much later by the founders of Hinduism which contains diverse beliefs caste and creed.  

Remember:~

The term Hindu religion is totally a new name that cannot be found in any Indian literature prior to 1794 A.D.

Out of the five Indian religions of Buddhism, Jainism, Saivism, Vaishnavism, and Sikhism; Saivism and Vaishnavism were brought under the Varnashrama principle.

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 Santana Dharma or Vedic religion.

The term Hinduism came into existence in 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.

In British Raj, 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, on the basis of 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 were 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 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 was belonging to the Hindu religion.

The book of Manu is nothing to do with the Vedas and Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma.

Indian populace wrongly believes that Hinduism is an ancient religion because they are unaware of the fact that Hinduism is not the Santana Dharma or Vedic Religion. The people in India believe in Varnashrama Dharma or caste discrimination.

The people of India have to liberate from the stranglehold of casteism to realize their original religion is not Hinduism which is full of different caste and creeds but the Santana Dharma or Vedic Religion. The people should be educated about the historical truth of the religion of the Santana Dharma or Vedic Religion.

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

The term Hinduism came into existence in 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, on the basis of 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 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.

The seekers of truth must realize that Hinduism has nothing to do with Spirituality because Hinduism is based on the matter whereas Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is based on the Spirit(Atman).:~Santthosh Kumaar