Why Imbibe the Eternal Truths of Sanatana Dharma

The imperishable wealth that the selfless rishis (seers) offered the world, out of compassion, constitutes the principles of Sanatana Dharma. Just as air and water are necessary for life, these principles are necessary for anyone seeking peace. Sanatana Dharma does not ask anyone to believe in a God sitting in the sky.

“Have faith in yourself. Everything is within you.” This is what it declares. The power of an atom bomb, which can reduce a whole continent to ashes, lies in the minuscule atom. The peepal tree (Indian fig, Ficus religiosa) with branches that spread over a vast area emerges from a tiny seed. Likewise, divine consciousness is within us all. This can be discerned through intellectual inquiry or experienced through sadhana (spiritual practice). Faithfully following the path for awakening that power is enough to realise this divine consciousness.

Sanatana Dharma teaches shraddha, bhakti and vishvas (loving trust, devotion and faith). It does not ask anyone to believe blindly. When we use a machine, we must know how to operate it. If not, it may get damaged. Knowing how to do something properly is jnana. Imbibing that knowledge and working with full awareness is shraddha. Once, a man was filling a tank with bucket after bucket of water. Even though he kept pouring water until the evening, the tank did not get filled up. When he investigated, he discovered that one of the outlets in the tank was not sealed. Knowing that it is pointless to keep pouring water into the tank when the outlet is not sealed is jnana. Work done with jnana is shraddha. Only if we work with shraddha will our efforts bear fruit.

Five people were entrusted with farming a piece of land. One person dug a hole. The second added fertiliser. The third watered it. The fourth then covered the hole with earth. Nothing sprouted even after many days. When they looked into the cause of the problem, they realised that the person who was supposed to sow the seed had not done so. Similar is work done without shraddha. Such work will not bear the expected fruit.

In a similar sense, the purpose of every action in life is to bring us closer to God. We should work without the sense of “I” and “mine”. We are our actions. When we get the fruits, faith is born. Such faith is unshakeable; no one will be able to disturb such faith. Work done with shraddha fosters bhakti, which leads to vishvas. The scriptures of Sanatana Dharma are mostly in the form of dialogues, the Guru’s responses to the disciple’s doubts.

The disciple has the freedom to ask until all doubts are cleared. In this way, the disciple’s shraddha increases. Imbibing the eternal truths of Sanatana Dharma will pave the way for humanity’s sreyas (liberation) and preyas (prosperity). The writer is a world-renowned spiritual leader and humanitarian