India <-- Indus <-- Hindustan <-- Hindu <-- Sindhu
The people living around the Sindhu river in the northwest part of the Indian subcontinent were probably referred by Persians as Hindus which in the language of other foreigners changed to Indus. The land itself came to be known as Hindustan and India. What was the name of the country before it was known as Hindustan or India? Well, most of us know it was Bhaarata (भारत). Today also, the name Bhaarata is used in different contexts. How did this name come? As a popular belief, the country gained its name after the famous Bharata (भरत), son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntalaa. But most ancient scripts state that Bhaarata country was named after the Emperor Bharata, son of Rishabha Deva (ऋषभदेव), the first theertankara in Jainism, also believed to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Before Bharata ruled, what was this land known as? Not many people might know that it was known as Anjanaabha (अञ्जनाभ).
Well, that is an interesting tidbit. But what was/is the religion of the people living there? What were/are their holy books? What language did they speak? It is generally known that the religion of the people there is Hinduism. Vedas are their most sacred holy books. Sanskrit was the common language used among them.
Sanaatana Dharma
However, identification of Hinduism with these people is a modern phenomenon. Unlike other religions and people, at the core of the Hinduism, there is no concept of religion - that it was founded by a person, or a group or even a god. In fact, it is not a religion. It is called Sanaatana Dharma (सनातन धर्म) which literally means the practice being followed (exists) eternally. A religion defines a set of rules one has to follow in order to achieve an objective or god. Dharma goes beyond religion. There are no set rules. It is a framework of loose guidelines to realize one's own potential - physically, mentally and spiritually. In this quest, emphasis is on seeking one's own nature, nature of the universe and its creator, relationship of self with the universal forces. This makes it very personal for every individual. The high level principles are subject to one's own adaptions. The abstraction at the high level has manifested into hundreds of communities and sub-communities within the Sanaatana Dharmaa with their own rules, practices and rituals. The whole group of these communities is now known to be Hindus. Even there, some communities want themselves to be called Hindus, while others do not. With very diverse rules and rituals, there is often a varying degree of friction between these communities too.
Sanskrit Language
The ancient language that the followers of Sanaatana Dharma spoke had also no name. It was just bhaashaa (भाषा) - meaning a means to communicate. Probably, as the other languages evolved in the society, this bhaashaa came to be known as Sanskrit - meaning refined. And it continued to be the link language between different communities in the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years. In this phonetic language, there are only guidelines and a word is mostly made up of letters or sub-words based on the function or meaning of the referred object. Each sound (or letter) might have multiple meanings and when these letters are combined to form a word, that word might have multiple meanings. Many times, a word can have hundreds of meanings. Though this structure greatly enhances the beauty of the language, it could pose a challenge while adapting the language to everyday use. For a common man's everyday use, the objects or things in the real world need to be identified by finite and specific words. Since in Sanskrit the same object can be referred to by a host of words, and the same word can refer to many objects, it is left to the listener or the reader to discern what the speaker or writer is trying to say. For example, to refer to the Sun, there are many words like: रवि, भानु, खग, पूषन्, दिवाकर, दिनकर, सूर्य, आदित्य, भास्कर etc. Each of these words may mean other things too. सूर्य = a knowledgeable person, आदित्य = any person/god born to Aditi, भास्कर = anything that makes something shine, पूषन् = anything that supports, खग = anything that moves in the sky. How many words one can think for the Sun in English? In such a situation, coining new words in Sanskrit and their adaptation by the masses becomes a challenge. Could this be the reason that Sanskrit lost its favor with the vast public and remained as the language of scholars - गीर्वाणभारती or the language of the gods?
Vedas
Similar argument can be made about the Vedas - the ultimate sacred scriptures of the Hindus. The contents of these scriptures, as the Hindus believe, are not the creation of any human, but were revealed to humans through seers or well-accomplished sages. The Vedas are in Sanskrit and as posited above, each word is subject to various interpretations. And the Vedic meaning of many words and their current meaning may be totally opposite. For example: अन्तरिक्ष in Vedas may mean sea, but its meaning in current Sanskrit usage is space or sky. Given this situation, there have been hundreds of interpretations for Vedas, many of them with complete opposite meanings, resulting into different branches and schools of thought within Hinduism - and some even disproving the existence of God with the words of these scriptures!
The Challenge
While it is great to have the freedom to explore one's spirituality, dive into the beauty of the language, and experiment and experience the Vedic facts, the community as a whole faces the challenge of identity. While Hindu is the word that should be used for anyone living in the Indian subcontinent, Sanaatana Dharma, Sanskrit language and the Vedas cannot be attached to one community. The principles and guidelines in them are very much universal in nature. However, to preserve, practice, enhance and to spread the awareness to the mankind, unity in diversity on all these fronts is needed, especially in these modern times and the times to come.
Painting by: Casey Vogt
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