Sanatana Dharma - Is it Based on Manu Dharma or Trimurti?

What is the Source of Creation according to the Vedic texts? Let us examine:

“From Ananda (bliss) certainly all these beings originate; they live by Ananda after being born, and towards Ananda, they proceed, and into Ananda, they get merged” (Taitiriya Upanishad 3.6).

The Vedas and Upanishads mention Brahman as the source of creation. What is the definition of Brahman? Brahman has been defined as Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman, i.e. with attributes and without attributes.

“Brahman is Truth, Knowledge, Infinite".(Taitiriya Upanishad 2.1)“Brahman is consciousness and bliss". (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 3.9.28)

“That is the Infinite in which one does not see anything else, does not hear anything else, does not know anything else. And that is limited where one sees something else” (Chandogya Upanishad 23 -24)

Brahman has been defined as Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman, i.e. without attributes as well as with attributes.

“Brahman has but two forms – gross and subtle, mortal and immortal, limited and unlimited, and defined and undefined” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 2.3.1)

“It is not comprehended through the eyes nor through speech, nor through the other senses; nor is it attained through austerity or karma” (Mundaka Upanishad, 3.1.3)

Saguna Brahman is called Purusha, Hiranya Garbha, Mahat, etc. in the Vedas and Upanishads:

“Hiranyagarbha was born first, and having been born, he became the only lord of all beings. He held the earth and this heaven. That single deity we propitiate with oblation” (Rigveda X.CXX1.1)

While Brahman is omniscient and omnipotent why it had to create the Purusha? Because in the Nondual state of Brahman, which is pure Ananda, Consciousness, there cannot be any thoughts, mind, or perception of anything else (as it is merged with bliss alone). Why is it so? The Upanishads say:

“Because He (Nondual Brahman) is pure and without vital force and mind (Mundaka Upanishad 2.1.2)”.

“Because when there is duality, as it were, then one sees something” (Brihadaranyaka 2.4.14)

That is the very quality of Nirguna Brahman. When this non-dual status (of pure Bliss) gets altered due to sankalpam and the subsequent acts of creation, it can no longer be called Nirguna Brahman, because of the touch of qualities like thought, mind, intelligence, qualities (sattva, Raja, Tama), etc. Nirguna Brahman can have no such qualities, as it is a state of pure bliss, pure light, pure consciousness. So the Vedas introduce the concept of Saguna Brahman, of Purusha (the Cosmic Person) or that of ‘Superior and Inferior Brahman:

“When He that exists as the superior and inferior Brahman is known all the results of one’s actions get eradicated". (Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.8)While defining Brahman Sankaracharya mentions:

“That omniscient and omnipotent source must be Brahman from which occur the birth, continuance, and dissolution of this universe that is manifested through name and form, that is associated with diverse agents and experiences that provide the support for actions and results having well-regulated space-time and causation, and that defies all thoughts about the real nature of its creation”. (Brahma Sutra Bhashya II).

All the above actions related to creation cannot be done without a conceiving agent - a Karma-Dharma-Sakshi. Because of its non-dual nature, Nirguna Brahman transforms himself into a personified embodiment to perform the act of creation which involves thinking or ideation (Sankalpam) knowledge (Jnana Shakti), and the potential for action (Kriya Shakti). Sankaracharya says in Brahma Sutra Bhashya:

“Even though the gods are sentient and equipped with all kinds of power, still they can accomplish their respective duties only when they are in possession of bodies and organs in a physical context”.

Yaska’s Niruktha mentions six kinds of modification associated with creation– birth, continuance, growth, transformation, decay, and death, which Brahman remaining in its pure non-dual state cannot perform.

So the omniscient omnipotent non-dual Brahman with the power of Sankalpam transforms himself into a Purusha, into a qualitative embodiment. That very moment a transmutation happens and Nirguna Brahman manifests as Saguna Brahman for the purpose of creation:

“He wished, ‘Let me become many, let me be born”. He undertook a deliberation. Having deliberated, He created all this that exists (Taitiriya Upanishad, 2.6.1)“

He assumes one form, He assumes three forms” (Chandogya Upanishad, 8.26.2)

“From Him who is Omniscient in general and in detail, whose austerity (i.e. creative effort) is constituted by knowledge, emerged this Brahman (Viz. Purusha, Hiranyagarbha) as well as name, form and food” (Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.9)

“He made Himself by Himself (Taitiriya Upanishad 2.6.1)”

Who is this Cosmic Person (Purusha) of the Vedas and Upanishads? He has been called by various names in the Vedic texts such as Virat Purusha, Hiranya Garbha, Mahat, Ishwara, etc.

“In the beginning, this universe was but the Self (Virat Purusha) of the human form” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, I.4.1)

The famous Purusha Suktha of Rig Veda mentions that the diverse creation is an act of the Purusha.

“The gods are the semen of Prajapati (Virat Purusha) (Aitereya Brahmana, 2.1.3.1)

“All the gods worship Vijnana, the eldest, as Brahman (Taitiriya Upanishad 2.5.1) and it is a well-known fact that the eldest, or the firstborn (identified with Hiranyagarbha) is the eldest, or the firstborn (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.4.1).

How the Purusha created the Solar system as an ecosystem for the origin and evolution of life on the earth plane is detailed in the scriptures. The created Jeevas are in a constant struggle to attain perfection and oneness with Purusha. So the Upanishads declare:

“There is nothing higher than Purusha; He is the culmination. He is the highest goal". (Katha Upanishad 1.3.2)

Over the ages, the Purusha or Hiranya Garbha of the Vedas and Upanishads were equated with Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Goddess, etc. in accordance with the views of different sects through the writers of Puranas and Smritis. Actually, the Purusha is Manu, because Rishis have calculated the age of Creation in terms of Manvantara after the name of Manu, and not after Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva.

If Brahma created the world, why the episodes of creation were not named after Brahma? The Manvantara time concept is related to Manu (the Purusha of the Vedas). The whole discourse of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru is based on Manu and Manvantara Time Order under which the spiritual evolution of humanity and all other created Jeevas take place.

Although the authors of Puranas and Smritis agree that the episodes of creation happen through 14 Manus they have demoted Manu below Brahma in order to show that the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are supreme. They did this probably to integrate and bring the three main pre-existing ancient sects -Saiva, Vaishnava, Shakteya under one umbrella for the promotion of Vedic religion and ritualism under the suzerainty of Vaidikas.

This was an error against Manu Dharma and the Manvantara Time Cycle. The Manvantara Time Order is the Sankalpam of God for spiritual evolution through the course of Yugas, which happens through the medium of a chain of Kalanthara Gurus (Guru Parampara). A Jeeva has to evolve through ten spiritual stages or Avasthas to attain mukthi in Brahman; that is why this system of yugas is in place through the Manvantara Time Cycle.

The ancient Vaidikas torpedoed this system of Sanatana Dharma through the composition of Puranas in which Trimurti gods were extolled as the authority of creation, sustenance, and dissolution so that their worship can be perpetuated. They developed complex tantric rituals for this purpose over which they have a more or less total monopoly.

In Manu Dharma, Kalanthara Gurus or Trikala Jnani Gurus are the authorities of spiritual evolution in accordance with Manvantara Time Order. Manu Dharma is Ashram-centric and Guru-centric while the Trimurti system is Temple-centric and priest-centric. Friction exists between the two. Even Sri Krishna had to face resistance when he tried to revive Guru-centric spirituality. In the end, the clever Vaidikas brought Sri Krishna under the umbrella of Trimurti by portraying him as an avatar of Vishnu, which he was not. Sri Krishna had transcended name and form.

Recently, the Sankaracharya of Dwaraka objected to the worship of Shirdi Sai Baba saying that it was against the Vedic religion. The fear behind it is if all people start following a Guru Parampara, the Vedic religion will be weakened, and along with that the special status and privileges of Vaidikas will also be lost.

If Sanatana Dharma has to be protected, India should give value to Manu's system of spiritual evolution. The heart of Sanatana Dharma is Manu Dharma and spiritual evolution through the Manvantara Time Cycles. By the Will of Brahman, a fresh initiative for the restoration of the long-lost Manu Dharma or Sanatana Dharma has been started through Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru, the Kalanthara Guru of this age. There are the prophecies of Sri Buddha, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammad, and many others that a Kalanthara Guru will be born in this age to establish the true Dharma of God. The followers of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru believe that the Guru is that great Soul in the prophecies.

What is Sanatana Dharma? Sanatana Dharma in a Nut Shell

Structure and Definition

What is Sanatana Dharma? Sanatana Dharma means God’s eternal spiritual order. Everybody knows that its nature and definition are known from the revelations of Rishis and Sages who are the authors of the Vedas and Upanishads, philosophies such as Vedanta, Sankhya, Yoga, and Nyaya. There are auxiliary texts like Bhagavad Gita, Jnana Vasishta, Guru Gita, and Narada Bhakti Sutra that are secular in nature and supportive of the basic tenets of Sanatana Dharma. These constitute the wisdom bank of Sanatana Dharma. Puranas, Epics, Smritis, etc. are the elaboration of these ideas focusing on ethics, history, rituals, and so on through the eyes and interpretation of various sects. These are the source material or different ways through which the question of God, Creation, the meaning and purpose of life have been approached.

But what one does not know is that their interpretation and application change from Yuga to Yuga through the authority of Dharma, namely a Kalanthara Guru, in order to fulfill the directive purpose of spiritual evolution as envisaged by Brahma Nischayam or Brahma Sankalpam. This Will of Brahman gets implemented through the sages or Kalanthara Gurus in the Manu Parampara under Manvanatara Time Order. This is the basic structure and definition of Sanatana Dharma.

Creation Theory in Sanatana Dharma

The idea of creation in Sanatana Dharma differs from the Puranic myths, which mention that god Brahma is the Creator. Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru reveals that every solar system, in which all living beings have their abode, is created through the medium of an Archetypal Manu who is said to be the first self-projection of God and through whose ideation or sankalpam manifests the visible universe consisting of planetary units and stellar systems. Because of this, the Indian rishis calculated the age of the cosmos in terms of Manvantara after the name of Manu. Manu is the God manifest - the primordial Purusha, the Hiranya Garbha, or the Mahat or Ishwara mentioned in the Vedas and Upanishads - that creates our local universe consisting of twelve zodiacs, twenty-seven stars, and nine planets. This Manu, therefore, is not to be related to the author of Manusmriti, one of the dharmic treatises (Smriti) in Hinduism.

Spiritual Authority - The Kalanthara Guru

The great rishis have said that God is pure Consciousness and Light indefinable. However, God transforms Himself into a Cosmic Person (i.e. Manu) wishing to create the human universe. Various divinities, humans, and other sentient and insentient beings in the solar system get evolved through a long process of cyclical evolution by the limitless potential of knowledge and action potential (jnana shakti and kriya shakti) and ideation (sankalpam) of this Cosmic Person. Four Trikala Jnani Gurus or Kalanthara Gurus, plus one Santhi Guru, like Sri Krishna who appeared in between Dwapara and Kali Yuga, appear in every yuga to guide the spiritual evolution of Jeevas.

Sanatana Dharma - the Natural Spiritual Order

The pathetic religious discords today arise owing to the ignorance about this natural spiritual order. Every sect claims that theirs is the only way to God or the true path, which produces discord and conflicts in society. Numerous gurus, seers, and prophets of different caliber come for a different duration such as 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, or 5000 years according to the socio-spiritual evolution of society. Sri Ram, Sri Krishna, Sri Buddha, Mahavir, Zarathustra, Moses, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammad, Guru Nanak, and others were great preceptors who appeared for such spiritual renovation during historical intervals.

This process of spiritual renovation goes on until the end of a cosmic age that has a length of billions of years. The spiritual evolution of humanity is not limited to 2000 or 5000 years. Therefore, no prophet or guru can claim to be the final messenger of God or the only way to God. It is this spiritual culture or character of Indian spirituality known as Sanatana Dharma which makes it eternally relevant, vibrant, and tolerant of other religions.

India is the Motherland of Hindus

India is the land where Sanatana Dharma originated from primordial times and its people practiced Dharmic religions viz. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and in recent times Sikhism. Since the forced entry of Islam at the beginning of the middle ages, there is now a large population of Muslims also in India. The Islamic invaders looted the wealth of India and pierced its cultural soul. After the arrival of St. Thomas and other Christian missionaries, Christianity has also a presence here. Apart from political and economic subjugation, one of the major aims of British colonial rulers was the conversion of Indians into Christianity. As was the case during the Islamic rule, the British too compelled Indians to learn their language and culture. They achieved this aim by enforcing their own model of education, administrative as well as the judicial system, replacing the age-old native social institutions, an important one of which was the Gurukula system of education. The British thus succeeded to tear away the Indian social system. But there were also some positive changes in the Indian society by the British rule. After the golden period of Buddhist India, there was a general degeneration in all fields - science, technology, art, and culture and India had relapsed into a primitive superstitious society. Modernity came to India through the British. Caste laws and other harmful customs and traditions such as Sati lost their legal sanction.

 

The Muslims of India opted for a theocratic nation (Pakistan) exclusively for Muslims, rejecting democracy, after gaining independence from the British. A great population of Muslims went to Pakistan. However, a small population of Muslims wanted to remain in India. Their population steadily increased under the favorable constitution of India which promotes the interests of minorities. India is a democratic state which guarantees equal rights for all religions. This is in line with the vision of Indian rishis who treated all religions with sympathy and granted freedom of thought as well as the right to choose their own path for salvation. However, while enjoying special privileges for themselves in the name of minorities using the constitutional provisions, the minorities, especially Muslim religious leaders oppose the rituals and customs of Hindus and their right to identify their motherland with Hinduism.

 

By their opposition to a Uniform Civil Code, Triple Talaq, singing of Vande Mataram, Cow Slaughter, the practice of Yoga (now the protest against CAA, NRC), etc. the Muslim leadership has sent the message that they cannot tolerate any un-Islamic practices and can go by only sharia, even though it violates the rights and freedom of Hindus. It means that India has to remain without a soul, cut off from its spiritual and cultural roots in the name of a secular democratic constitution. There are several predominantly Christian democratic nations in other parts of the world, in Europe and America. They never suppress Christian values and aspirations. They take pride that the provision of democratic-secular rule springs from Christian values. The values of people spring from their spiritual and cultural world views. Can it be otherwise in the case of Hindus? The Muslim religious leaders want to take advantage of the liberal secular democratic rule but refuse to respect the spiritual and cultural world views of Indian religions.

 

It creates a perpetual fear among Hindus that once the Muslims become the majority in any part of India, they would no longer opt for democracy but will force others to accept Islamic laws under sharia. Already, a struggle is on in Kashmir for cessation driven by strong Islamic fundamentalism. In the background of a rising Muslim population in India, many Muslim leaders have begun to openly challenge the majority community on many sensitive issues. Their confrontational attitude has fueled the growth of an equally belligerent form of Hindutva. Hindus take it as a battle for religious sovereignty in their motherland and the right to preserve their age-old culture and spiritual tradition, whether good or bad, novel or outdated in others’ views.

 

It is an unfortunate instance of a negative and unhealthy interpretation of secularism. A nation and its people have the right to identify their motherland with the culture and religion of their own. Only that gives them a national identity and the freedom to express, nurture and fulfill their spiritual and cultural aspirations. Only that gives a nation the soul-strength to forge ahead. The concept of secular democracy can only help to create soulless societies and soulless people detached from its culture and worldview. The spiritual and cultural edifice of India is built upon the vision of great rishis and Mahatmas like Sri Krishna, Sri Buddha, Mahavir, Guru Nanak, and innumerable other sages. India cannot advance in the world forsaking its own identity.

 

All religions should be able to coexist peacefully in India. For thousands of years, India has been the motherland of all isms and thoughts, where one can freely go on with their beliefs and cultural practices. However, the trouble started with the arrival of Islam and Christianity. Both these religions claim that theirs is the only path that can save mankind. Therefore, they constantly try to impose their worldviews on other people and try to convert them by choice or force. Millions of people were butchered and continue to be butchered because of this bigoted view of religion. Despite several centuries of cruel massacre and persecution of millions of Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists, Islam could not triumph over the dharmic religions of India. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism still flourish in India as before, which shows the strength, resilience, and relevance of these ancient spiritual paths for God-realization. They would continue to exist so long as the creation exists because they provide rational answers to the mysteries of life and death with incomparable depth and insight.

 

However, over the long ages Hinduism has worn out and reform is essential if Hinduism is to survive. Many distortions have taken place in the original concept of Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma. These distortions make Hinduism easy prey for criticism and ridicule by others. Although Hindus constitute eighty percent of the population, their voices are not heard. It is difficult for them to have a common goal because they are divided by sects, castes, regions, and language identities. Their object of worship also differs from caste groups to caste groups. Even the worship of demonic spirits (matan, maruta, mantramuti, yakshi, chathan, etc.) and associated rituals and festivals are celebrated with pomp and show. The Hinduism practiced by the Hindu masses is mainly based on the mythical stories in the Puranas. Some of these myths have no scriptural sanctity. Such distortions generate aversion among the believers of one God, inside Hinduism and outside of it.

 

Hinduism, therefore, should be reinterpreted because no archaic spiritual culture can reinvigorate the people in this new era of Kali. Unfortunately, the Hindutva leadership has accepted the flawed foundation of Hinduism for the revival of Hinduism. This would not have happened had they started from the reformatory path initiated by the great mahatmas beginning from Sri Krishna, Sri Buddha, Mahavir, Guru Nanak, Maharshi Dayanand, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Narayana Guru, Chattambi Swamikal, and several others who stressed the belief in One God and One People concept of rishis. The heart of Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma is to be found in the Vedas and Upanishads, which have upheld monotheism, the worshiping of Supreme Brahman, the One God. The Hindus in general glue to the poetical tales in the Puranas depicting the glory and valor of several gods and kings. The rishis were the most rational thinkers. They believed only in the Supreme Brahman, the One God without a Second.

One can find the heart of Hinduism in the following verses of Rig Veda:

 

‘Who knows the secret?

Who proclaimed it here?

Whence, whence this manifold creation sprang?

The gods themselves came later into being –

Who knows from whence this great creation sprang?

Then,

“He who gives breath,

He who gives strength;

Who commands all the bright gods revere,

Whose shadow is immortality, whose shadow is death; -

Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?...

He through whom the sky is bright and the earth firm-

He through whom the heaven was stabilized,

Nay the highest heaven –

He who measured out space in the sky? –

Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?

He who by His might looked even over the waters,

Which held power and generated the sacrificial fire,

He who alone is God above all gods;

Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?

(Rig Veda, X.129, translated by Max Muller)

Seven Signs of a God's Messenger - A Checklist

Seven Signs of a Messenger of God

Guru is the bridge between man and God. It is said in the scriptures that God’s first creations were the Rishis. In the beginning, God revealed the secret of creation as well as all laws (dharma) first to the primordial Rishis. The secret of creation and its laws are universal, eternal, and changeless, therefore, it is called Sanatana Dharma. These laws are interpreted from time to time by Epochal Guru incarnations or Messengers of God in accordance with the evolving nature of ages.

An important revelation in the Vedic lore is that Brahman, the One God (not the trinity god Brahma) can be known only through the medium of a Guru, who has realized Brahman. However, the question is how to recognize such a Poorna Guru, a Messenger of God? The checklist is here:

1. A Poorna Guru will be a Trikala Jnani – knower of past, present, and future, which means he knows our soul and where we stand in terms of our inner evolution. He also knows the process of soul evolution through the course of Manvantara time cycles or yugas. Having known the soul and its karma, he guides us appropriately and helps upgrade our inner potency, in proportion to which, one's worldly fortunes also peak. The Poorna Guru should be able to fathom the influences that you carry, i.e. the spiritual entanglements from your past and present, and be also able to nullify them.

2. The Poorna Guru takes only the name of Absolute Brahman, which means he is not subservient to a Deva, Devi, or angel from whom spiritual energy or communication (in the form of revelation) is channelized. He must have transcended the spiritual stages of such intermediaries and submerged fully with the Supreme Light. The Poorna Guru receives direct messages in the form of visions or revelations from the Light, not through an angel or deva.

3. You may come across great gurus whose wisdom may amaze you, but check what is the object of their worship. Those who perform miracles should be totally avoided as the performance of miracles is against God. Many people channelize satanic spirits and perform miracles and healing to increase the number of followers. Performance of miracles was a feat of great yogis in the past ages - dwapara and treta, but should not be imitated in Kali Yuga. Kali Yuga is the age of jnana, karma, bhakti, and self-surrender to God. Even in Yogic science, the performance of miracles is not advised.

4. The Poorna Guru is born with the mission for a universal change. He modifies the prevailing (old) belief systems and organizes life anew. He will be the initiator of a new mantra and a way of worship transcending the distinctions of caste, creed, race, or gender. By this, be brings all people under one umbrella. The Poorna Guru is a harmonizer and will never claim that he is the only Messenger or final Messenger of God. He considers the work of all mahatmas as well as their teachings worthy to the extent of its merit. They revealed what they knew. The Poorna Guru does not coerce others to accept his teachings.

5. The Poorna Guru is the maker of man (Srishti kartha). He teaches the science of nourishing a family. Only the Poorna Guru can teach how to purify the bloodline. He teaches the secret of begetting healthy and fortunate children free from mental and physical flaws and also the knowledge of how to nurture them to their absolute potential by way of marriage between two compatible souls looking into their past lives, purity of ancestral souls, and family stock (gotra).

6. The Poorna Guru preserves the life of humanity (Sthithi Kartha). He preserves the human race by bonding them in love and compassion. He protects the balance between man and nature by means of dharma and helps the human race in its spiritual as well as material advancement.

7. The Poorna Guru helps transcend death by removing the fear of death (Samhara Kartha). He places the souls after death at appropriate mandalas in order to exhaust their karma and gives them an opportunity for rebirth in good wombs for further spiritual evolution.

We can see that the dharma and karma (Yugadharma) being observed today belongs to a remote past, i.e. Dwapara Yuga and Treta Yuga. When the laws and values appropriate to the age (yuga) are not followed in accordance with the Will of God, human civilization stagnates. In this new age of Kali Yuga, we must follow the teachings of a Poorna Guru and seek His guidance and leadership to bring about the desired transformation of human society.

God has again blessed India with a Poorna Guru – Navajyothi Sri Karunakara Guru, whose 93rd Birth Anniversary is being celebrated on 3 September 2019. By accepting His teachings and guidance, the world can overcome all the ills that it is facing today.

What is Ailing Hinduism?

Much before the advent of Christianity and Islam, India gave the world the monotheistic view of God and theories related to the creation, the evolution of life, time concept, karma, reincarnation, etc. Although the Vedas venerate gods that are organic to the cosmic apparatus, they go beyond and present us the concept of formless and manifest facets of God. The formless God is called Brahman, who with a desire to create the universe manifested Himself as the Cosmic Purusha. So Purusha is the First Born of God, the kinetic form of the unborn, unknowable God. Vedas and Upanishads clearly say the formless Brahman made Him known by appearing in the form of a Cosmic Person. Borrowing this Vedic idea Bible writers say that God created man in His own image.

According to the theory of creation in Hindu scriptures, Purusha remained in the fluid of the universal egg for a long time and finding Him alone, He split himself into two, as a man and a woman with a desire to create. (His first creations were sages or rishis, it is said). The name of the Purusha is Manu and the woman Satarupa. It is mentioned further that from this pair the human race originated; hence Manu is considered the progenitor of mankind. These ideas of creation traveled worldwide and took regional forms. The Purusha began to be worshipped in various forms and names in subsequent ages. The Hindus equated Him with the trinity gods Siva, Vishnu, Brahma and so on. In the prophetical religions, Purusha is worshipped as the Father in Heaven, Allah, etc. The Manu became the myth of Adam in Christianity and Islam.

Manu in Indian spirituality is the Creator himself, not just the human ancestor. Manu is God in creative mode. For this reason, the world-time is named Manvantara after Manu’s name by the primordial rishis. Therefore, Indian spirituality is monotheistic in essence although not in practice currently. The concept of a monotheistic God originated in India. However, during the course of time, certain socio-spiritual distortions occurred in India. The Vedic scribes re-wrote Purana Samhita (mythological treatise which was one in the beginning) and portrayed Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva as the authorities of creation probably to bring these pre-Vedic traditions together. They altered the Manvantara time calculation subservient to trinity god Brahma instead of Manu, according to the revelations received through Sri Karunakara Guru. Manu lost all significance. During the long ages of editions and re-editions of Vedic texts in the hands of Vaidikas, the history of Manu was lost except his name. The Vedic priests not only made trinity gods equal to Brahman but made the community of priests too equal to a god. They instituted a hierarchical caste system that gave no spiritual rights to others. The other communities were prohibited from learning Vedas and rituals and were left to worship evil spirits and tribal gods.

According to Manu Parampara or Sanatana Dharma, only Trikala jnani (all-knowing) gurus are the spiritual authorities in every yuga. Sri Ram was the Guru of Treta yuga and Sri Krishna of Dwapara Yuga. The object of Worship in Sanatana Dharma is Brahman alone, the formless Supreme Light, through the medium of an epochal Guru, who appears in every age. From the beginning of this new age Kali Yuga (which began approx. 5200 years ago), God sent great souls like Sri Krishna, Sri Buddha, Mahavir, Guru Nanak, Kabir Das, and others. However, the Vaidikas brought these great souls under the Trimurti system through interpolated Puranas which portrayed them as avatars of one or the other gods. For example, is the myth of Sri Krishna and Sri Buddha who are mentioned as avatars of Vishnu in the Puranas. The great Mahatmas and their words were not recognized in order to promote the monopoly of Vaidikas.

Further, Vedanta philosophy brought great spiritual distortion in the minds of people as its real essence was misunderstood. The people became full of ‘ahamkara’ or ego-ness as they were taught to think they are Brahman (Aham Brahmasmi). Any sinful person and even an evil spirit can become equal to God in this way. A person can attain Brahman only after cleansing all karma doshas and pitru doshas (karmic and genetic imprints and debilities) through many reincarnations and after crossing many spiritual stages. A fully realized Guru who knows the past, present, and future and who is the spiritual authority of age is necessary for such spiritual cleansing and a spiritual voyage through the cosmic egg.

Thus the Sanatana spiritual order was distorted. God sent other messengers like Moses, Jesus and Prophet Mohammad outside India and tried to re-establish Sanatana Dharma world-view. Since the origin of Sanatana Dharma is in India, the prophets of Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) did not get revealed the full idea of the secret of creation and related knowledge with regard to the evolution of life, the theory of karma, reincarnation, etc. So Christianity and Islam present only a dogmatic half-baked view of God and creation. Only Sanatana Dharma presents an all-encompassing inclusive world view. Sanatana Dharma is time tested, eternal and the divine plan for spiritual evolution.

God sends an epochal Guru, a Kalanthara Guru in every age. Accordingly, He sent another great reformer, a divine messenger to India as the spiritual authority of this new age - Kali Yuga. The name of that great Soul is Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru (1927-1999), whose abode is in Thiruvananthapuram, at the southern tip of India, in Kerala. The great Guru’s spiritual intercession cleanses the individual and family from all karmic and genetic sins and leads one to peace and divine joy. The Guru has led thousands of families to the new order - Guru Margam getting rid of all caste, gender, and religious segregations. In the new order, the venerable is only Brahman, the One God. Mediators are not priests, but the all-knowing Guru and his lineage of realized spiritual masters.

Why Hinduism Has to Evolve?

We have only one religion – the Religion of Liberation’, said Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru (1927-1999), the founder of Santhigiri Guru Parampara about the path of Dharma he founded. Guru Dharma deals with principles related to the spiritual scheme of time cycles (Yuga Dharma), wisdom transmission (Guru Dharma) and the laws concerning soul’s transmigratory journey for the fulfilling experience of non-dual consciousness. Guru revealed the way for experiencing the pure vision of non-dual Truth living in the duality of phenomenal existence.

We might take time cycles i.e. Yugas, Manvantaras, and Kalpa as some obscure concepts from an unknown past. Just like time in the form of day and night as well as year and season is bound to human destiny, Yugas and Manvantaras are the measurements of infinite time, related to the origin and evolution of life and consciousness in the solar system. The solar system has come into being with such matchless perfection by the Will of Brahman, the Transcendental Light (Brahma Prakasham).

How can the Absolute Nondual Truth create a world of plurality is a question that continues to perplex man.  Existence cannot come into being from non-existence, declare the Upanishads (Chandogya Upanishad, VI.II.1). Although the Divine Light is non-dual primordial consciousness and also the basis for phenomenal existence, it creates the world of plurality with names, forms, qualities and different potencies by launching itself through a primordial kinetic urge (Adi Sankalpam).

Adi Sankalpam means the first thought or the Word of God as reflected in the Upanishads as ‘May I Be Many’, ‘May I Create the World’. (Chandogya Upanishad, VI.II.3, Aitareya Upanishad, I, Taitiriya Upanishad, II.vi.i). This primordial urge, the spontaneous self-expression of the nondual Truth creates the boundaries of time and space as well as the whole phenomena of existence, the cosmic plan.  

Some religions are against anthropomorphizing God, as they argue that the Absolute Truth is arupi, i.e. formless. Advaita Vedanta even deny that the creation is only a mirage, an illusion.  However, the argument is only partially true.

Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru said:

‘Although God is arupi (formless), there is swarupam (form). When we say the love of God, we should imagine a ‘swarupam’ (an embodiment) for God in mind, because God indeed is a ‘swarupam’. Saying that God is omnipresent and interpret in some other way, we would never be able to understand God’.

The pure absolute consciousness has to first transform itself into an entity for the purpose of creation, the scriptures reveal. The Brihadaranya Upanishad mentions: ‘In the beginning, this was but the Self in a form similar to that of a Man’. (Rig Veda, 10.90.2, Yajurveda 31:18, Aiteraya Upanishad, 1:1:3).

This progenitor is known as Manu in Indian cosmology. He is the first born of God, the Purusha or the Hiranyagarbha of the Vedas and Upanishads and the Logos in western theology. The Indian rishis calculated the age of the universe in terms of Manvantara after the name of Manu, the archetypal Guru, the primordial Purusha, through whose volition (sankalpa) every solar system comes into existence. Man has lost the awareness about this archetypal heavenly father. Therefore, Indian rishis calculated the age of the universe in terms of Manvantara, the age of a Manu.

Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru said:

‘Manu Parampara (lineage) is to provide God’s dharma to the world. It is a long time now since we have reached to this helpless state of not knowing about Manvantara, Chaturyuga, how many chaturyugas constitute a Manvantara…’

Nine heavenly bodies revolve around the sun creating the conditions for the origin, sustenance, and evolution of human life. The Rishis revealed that a Manvantara has seventy-one age-quartets or Chaturyugas (306,720,000 human years) consisting of Satya, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali, which cyclically evolve to a pre-determined goal of perfection. Then another solar system begins with the next Manu. Fourteen such archetypal Manus appear in an episode of creation called Kalpa.

‘When we talk about the origin of the universe, the yuga-cycles and dissolutions happen with such a long age. Manvantara comes at the transition to another yuga-cycle after dissolution’ (Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru).

This process of creation goes on infinitely, without a beginning and end, which explains the theory of an expanding universe with its billions of galaxies and the possible existence of countless solar systems. Therefore, the Indian name for God is Brahman, which means that which expands.

‘There is a measure of Brahma Prakasham (Divine Light) for the movement of the solar system’ said Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru. The universe moves on the wheel of time, therefore, the human race cannot move forward without the proper awareness of time. Time is the synonym for change. Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru said about it as avastha bhedam (change of nature or stage).

‘Evolving through each age, developing through centuries, we are crossing stages. When we say ‘avastha bhedam’, the stage from a base entity to a Deva is a unique stage (avastha) of ours’ (Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru).

When Darvin’s theory of evolution is taken further to ethereal planes (mandalas), the soul of man further evolves into the status of greater luminous bodies of a deva, Rishi, sanyasi and other higher levels of manifestation. The soul goes through ten spiritual stages of transformation, according to the Guru. The worlds mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana and other texts relate to these stages of soul evolution.

After the age of Kali, the Chaturyuga cycle again begins with Satya, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali. Satya Yuga is the age of perfection, when God realization is direct, according to the Rishis. While the perfected souls in Satya Yuga adorn the heavens as radiant entities and merge with Brahman (the absolute nondual state) at the end of a Kalpa, souls in the various states of evolution such as an animal, human, deva or a rishi also have to go through the long process of evolution through the cycle of ages. The soul might go down in the process of evolution when righteous dharma and karma are violated.

The present age is the Kali Yuga of 28th Chaturyuga, with 43 Chaturyugas to go, to complete this Manu cycle. Kali Yuga is a period of spiritual perfection. The spiritual order of Kali yuga requires that man attains necessary soul luminance to qualify for the all perfect Satya Yuga, rectifying the mistakes that might have happened in the karma and dharma of previous yuga cycles dwapara and treta.  Sanatana Dharma is related to this eternal spiritual order.

However, the mediums of revelation, as well as the modes of application, change from time to time because of socio-environmental changes and human errors that trigger periodical civilizational changes. This change is continuous. Spiritual guides appear for various durations such as 1000, 2000, 3500 or 5000 in a yuga cycle.

‘When the Treta Yuga is completely traversed in the order of Yuga Dharma, an ideology cannot remain more than 5000 or 10000 years. With the passage of time, many failings come in those ideologies’ (Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru).

In view of the above, Yuga Dharma embodies the concept of age-specific renewal of the Dharmic order.

Karunakara Guru said: ‘Yuga Dharma is not only for any particular caste, religion or person. Yuga Dharma is for the whole world… we should know what is Yuga Dharma. There is no use taking up all the four without following what is to be followed in each Yuga. But, we have a tradition that has taken up all the four’.

The ways of worship and social laws of bygone ages (Treta and Dwapara) are practiced in Kali Yuga against the age-specific spiritual order of Sanatana Dharma. The regime of Mahatmas and their spiritual guidance pertaining to Kali Yuga according to the concept of yuga dharma are ignored. Sri Ram, the guru of Treta and Sri Krishna, the guru of Dwapara, whose spiritual incumbency belonged to their respective ages, as well as the rituals and the sacred chants of those yugas are followed in the Kali Yuga. The rights and wrongs of the past yugas are repeated arresting the age-related spiritual evolvement.

While the Vedic tradition portrayed Kali Yuga as an age of ruin, Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru said that Kali is the best age after Satya Yuga since it is an age of spiritual evolvement. The revelations of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru regarding the Dharmic order of Kali Yuga deserve serious attention:

*. We should make changes according to the time. Time will not step aside for us. Since this is the age of Kali, what is required is the propagation of Dharma suitable to Kali Yuga.

*. If the time of Deva in the Treta and Dwapara had been fulfilled through mantra and tantra, it has to be fulfilled through austerities and knowledge (tapas and jnana) in the age of Kali.

* Most jnanis have not been able to understand what the Dharmic order of Kali Yuga is.

* In order to implement Kali Yuga Dharma, a correction and a new path is required. The new path is to develop a good character among the people.

The effort for the transition to Kali Yuga Dharma had begun from Sri Krishna. After Sri Krishna, the Upanishad Rishis, Sri Buddha, Mahavir and other Mahatmas tried to rejuvenate the jnana tradition of India. However, their efforts remain unfulfilled because of spiritual distortions.

Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru referred to it as ‘the error that denied Guru Dharma in the name of Vedic dharma’. Guru said that there would be a change only when we accept the path opened by the Mahatmas:

‘What is required first is the removal of ignorance. That only will lead to victory. What is required for that? We should understand the vision of Mahatmas; should think about it and then try to actualize it. Thus, if we strive step by step, we can reach the desired shore…. Our destined karma is to knock at the door and find out the self-sacrifice of every great soul, that they did for our sake…Mahatmas are the means to love truth and to know the karma with discrimination.’

But the Mahatmas did not get the desired status in India. The Rishi tradition gave way to the Vedic tradition which tried to cement the Trimurti tradition, the worship of trinity gods (Siva, Vishnu and Goddess) and their large family of gods, divinities and gurus under it. The Hindus of India are thus divided into many sects and caste groups leading to their spiritual disunity.  Therefore, the efforts to unite Hindus have always failed.

 Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru said:

‘An effort has taken place to unite us through Vaishnava, Shaiva and Sakteya traditions. But people would not be united in that way because these three had come in three different ways. What is required for unifying is some awareness.’

The mistake prevailing in the world now is that the dharma of the fourth epoch (Kali Yuga) has not been implemented here. Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru said that the worship of One Almighty God has to be perfected in Kali Yuga. The doctrine of One Absolute God was put forward by India first. However, for the last few millenniums, Vedic tradition functioned without giving respect to the jnana tradition; therefore, Yuga dharma could not be established here.

The idea of One God worship was propagated by prophets such as Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad in West Asia, which has spread throughout the world. But in the prophetic religions, there is no clear concept about cosmic time order – about the Yugas and Manvantaras. They also do not accept the theory of spiritual evolution, reincarnation, etc.

Nature has an inherent character to evolve the soul to its Absolute status through a series of evolutionary incarnations. There exists, also a divine intervention that creates or directs this rhythmic evolution. The uniqueness of Indian spirituality is this idea of a divine intervention, in the form of a spiritual embodiment that exists as the ‘witnessing authority of all actions and knowledge (Karma-Dharma-Saakshi, i.e. Guru Incarnation). Indian spirituality considers the relationship between an enlightened Guru - who is the embodiment of absolute realization- and the souls who are struggling to attain freedom from the chains of imperfection as the fundamental dharma for the evolvement and fulfilment of all living beings. 

The path of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru is the hope for the whole human race to unite spiritually. It is an opportunity for Hinduism and India to evolve with universal acceptance.

Mukundan P.R.

Senior Coordinator, 

Santhigiri Social Research Institute

Thiruvananthapuram

Reference:

Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru, A Dialogue on Human Prospect, Santhigiri Publications

Mukundan P.R., The Riddle of Manu, Manvantara Avatars and World Teacher Prophecies, Santhigiri Publications

Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru, The Liberating Dharma, Santhigiri Publications

Sanatana Dharma Will Rule the World

“Islam and Christianity are prophetic religions which do not have a long history. Besides, there is a deviation from the time of Moses. Also these two religions have more or less performed their functions, in their respective paths. The changes brought about by the Christian and Islamic presence in India were considerable. The Christian British bettered the lot of the lower castes and educated them. They started getting sufficient to improve their physique. Some from among these sections identified themselves with the occupying suzerain and became part of the new religious and educational institutions. They soon participated in the governance and outstripped the Brahmins in cleverness. Those who embraced Islam practiced it as a rigorous discipline. They relied on physical aggression at times and expanded the areas of their influence. Still, the majority of them are disadvantaged as they came from these Hindu communities which were uncultivated in the finer graces of religious culture. However elevated these religious groups might have become through education and affluence and however long they might have stayed close to political power, there is something lacking. The refinement of Sanatana Dharma is that it comes with a virtuous way of life combining cleanliness, tidiness and humility envisaged in the Hindu way of life.
 
The Sanatana law has come to mean a mixing of myths and legends of the ancient past and more recent stories up to the propounder of the Gita. All these are put together with an eagerness to establish Advaita. Those who spout this Advaita, non-duality, are often unsympathetic to neighbors and even to their own brothers and sisters. We are talking all the time. Vedanta degenerates into pedantry. That is why a correction is difficult in this path. As far as Islam and Christianity are concerned conflicts and consequent divisions occurred within them even as they were coming up. This divisive tendency had led to disasters. It is not yet time for another coming (of a prophet or great soul), bringing peace and rejuvenating these faiths. Besides, other paramparas have not been able to go deep into spirituality as the Sanatana or perennial law of the Manvantara system. It is a matter of divine intervention. Such depth of spirituality as this is difficult to find elsewhere. And so is such extensive history and religious culture. Still more significantly, the responsibility of working for the remaining time period of this Manuparampara is vested in the Dharma of the Hindus.
The Manuparampara is the means to impart the Law of the Supreme to the world. Therefore the essence of all religions inheres in this system. An alternative to this way cannot evolve easily in the world.

India is a land of great wisdoms and great civilizations grown over vast periods of time. It should, therefore, strive to establish the perfect culture willed by the Almighty. Not only Christians or Muslims alone, all religions ought to heed this. Though each world religion is essentially part of a totality, each has been separately ennobled by many great men from time to time with their self-sacrifice and effort which have given rise to different customs and traditions. Many such traditions are visible in Hinduism itself. It is doubtful if any other religion is enriched to this extent. In order to mold life in keeping with this Age -the Kali, theologians and all believers of various religions should assess this Kali and its composite culture – the samkara mentioned in the Gita. This is a process to be achieved by the present and future generations…

A reorganization of our society, of our country, is required. All of us, believers, should free ourselves from the destructive effects of the caste system. We should overcome ethnic and religious differences. All children of this land should come together in humility and in devotion to God. That is the way to reorganize. This will give us the strength of mind, and power. The community that could contribute greatly towards this reorganization is the Brahmin community. In them intelligence, skill, ability and shrewdness blend as it were. They should give up their varnasrama caste trappings completely and lay the foundation of a composite—samkara—culture, the culture that is meant for Kali, indicated by the author of the Bhagavad Gita. They should unite with others to build a complete society, totally free from caste or class. They should not be distracted by the differences seen today. The pattern of having one mode of worship for themselves and other modes for the rest should change first. Instead of securing tantric rites people should be firm in the experiential worship of the Divine. Those who strive wholeheartedly for this should lead others who lack awareness. If we do not do this, the births of great souls would be diverted elsewhere away from our ethnic stream. The focus of redemption will move away and we will be left in a complex of Karma…” (Quoted from the book ‘A Dialogue on Human Prospects’ by Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru, published by Santhigiri Ashram) 

Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru (1927-1999) is the Founder Guru of Santhigiri Ashram at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala