Unique Qualities of Hindu Dharma
Introduction
The most remarkable aspect of Hinduism is that there is neither one central authority nor one central scripture, unlike the Abrahamic religions — Lord Jesus for Christianity, with the Bible and its commentaries, or Prophet Muhammad for Islam, with the Quran and its commentaries. The four Vedas are the principal scriptures of Hinduism, along with other scriptures built upon them — the Upanishads (the Gyan Khand of the Vedas), the eighteen Mahā Purāṇas and eighteen Upa-Purāṇas, the Itihāsas (Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata), the Samhitās, and many deity-specific scriptures such as the Durgā Saptaśatī and the Vishnu Sahasranāma. So there is a whole corpus to study, according to one's own temperament. Beyond this, Hinduism did not evolve at any one specific date, or in any one specific place, unlike other religions.
Unique Aspects of Hinduism
Since there is no central authority, Sanatan Dharma is not frozen in time — it has incorporated the thoughts and teachings of many different masters, over a period spanning thousands of years.
The essential feature that follows from this is a broad outlook toward life. There is a spirit of accommodation toward other belief systems, and no concept of "believer" versus "non-believer."
The concept of God exists both as Saguna (with attributes) and Nirguna (without attributes). This opens up an almost infinite number of paths and ways to worship God, and every sādhak has the flexibility to choose the path that suits their own temperament.
Since the human mind is conditioned to think in terms of names and forms, worship becomes far more approachable when one visualises God in the form of a chosen deity — Sri Ram, Sri Krishna, Maa Shakti, Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva. This way of worship has proven easy and natural for ordinary human beings. Its importance has been recognised even by the most evolved masters of Advaita Vedanta — Adi Shankaracharya among them — who wrote beautiful hymns and prayers in praise of many deities, despite being the most realised exponents of Nirguna Brahman.
The study of Hindu philosophy and tradition rests on the Guru-Shishya Parampara — knowledge imparted in residential Gurukuls, by masters, through word of mouth (Shruti Parampara), in an environment that fostered a deep spiritual bond between Guru and disciple, ensuring that knowledge arrived together with strong ethical values, in the Guru's own presence. The sons of kings and of commoners lived together in the same conditions, instilling humility in every disciple. Under the Guru's guidance, the concepts of Gotra, Gotra Dharma, Kul Dharma and Varna Dharma evolved, ultimately converging into Hindu Dharma — a tradition characterised, at its root, by unselfishness.
The Law of Karma, and the consequent cycle of birth and death, are integral to the Hindu belief system. This naturally acts as a moral compass, propelling the individual toward righteous living, and toward the four cardinal goals of life — Artha, Kāma, Dharma and Moksha. The attainment of Artha brings freedom from daily want; the attainment of Kāma brings freedom from emotional unrest; the attainment of Dharma brings freedom from a lower birth in the next life, leading instead to birth in an environment pious and virtuous enough to be conducive to Moksha — the ultimate goal of human life. Sri Krishna teaches this to Arjuna in the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā (verses 41–42):
प्राप्य पुण्यकृतां लोकानुषित्वा शाश्वती: समा: । शुचीनां श्रीमतां गेहे योगभ्रष्टोऽभिजायते ॥ ४१॥ अथवा योगिनामेव कुले भवति धीमताम् । एतद्धि दुर्लभतरं लोके जन्म यदीदृशम् ॥ ४२॥
The unsuccessful yogis who failed to attain Moksha at death, after living piously, go to the abodes of the virtuous. After dwelling there for many ages, they are reborn on earth into a family of pious and prosperous people — or, if they had developed dispassion through long practice of Yoga, into a family endowed with divine wisdom. Such a birth is itself conducive to the final attainment of Moksha.
The next great concept is the inclusiveness of all living beings — the recognition that runs from the smallest identity to the infinite, the universal oneness of microcosm and macrocosm. This naturally fosters respect for all life forms, and a sense of peaceful coexistence.
Next is the concept of the Panch Mahayagya, in which five debts are repaid daily — to God, to the divine beings, to one's ancestors, to fellow humans, and to other life forms. Beyond this, a human being performs ten Sanskāras across a lifetime, beginning with Garbhādhāna Sanskāra and ending with Antyeshti Sanskāra. Together, these practices form a code of conduct for living Hindu Dharma.
The highest goal of human life is to become divine — to realise the divinity of the self. Right practice leads to the realisation that the Self and Brahman are one and the same, and that the world is only a projection of Brahman through the mysterious power of Maya. One may ask — so what? The answer is: the end of suffering. That does not mean the ordinary problems of daily living disappear. They remain, and are experienced by everyone, even the most evolved masters, according to their own Prarabdha — but the way of looking at them is utterly transformed.
Through adherence to spiritual practice, and the accumulated Sanskāras of past lives, the realisation dawns on the spiritual aspirant — I am not this body and mind. Various paths have been laid out for this journey — Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga, Gyan Yoga — and generally, a combination of two or more of these is followed, according to the practitioner's temperament. One hardly needs to be told what benefit the presence of such realised masters brings to those around them.
It is also said that knowledge of God arrives in a still mind, and stillness of mind can only come after purity of thought and deed. Purity of mind leads to what Sage Patanjali described as:
योग: चित्त वृत्ति निरोध:
Yoga — the realisation of the true Self, that the Self and Brahman are one and the same — is possible only in a still mind. Sage Patanjali observed that continuous waves of thought arise, endlessly, in the ordinary human mind, shaped by each individual's own Sanskāras. But through sustained training and pious living, the mind can be stilled, and the true Self realised. This is called the Yogic method of Nirodha. Alongside it, the Vedantic path offers another method — Bādha — in which one remains fully engaged in ordinary, worldly life, but with a total sense of detachment, always remembering that everything perceived by the mind is nothing but the play of Maya.
The present age, and the human race, stand at a unique crossroads. On one hand, extraordinary progress in science and technology has brought a massive improvement in quality of life — better healthcare, longer life expectancy, improved food security, wider access to education. On the other, the world is torn by wars, by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, by the unchecked exploitation of natural resources, by pollution and by global warming. The institutions built after the Second World War, meant to preserve order in international relations, are now crumbling.
At this juncture, it is hoped that a greater adherence to the teachings of Sanatan Dharma in everyday life — without preference for any one religion over another — will help bring harmony to every aspect of human behaviour, and spare mankind from a self-inflicted destruction.