The word religion was used by Cicero in the very beginning in the context of reconnecting with the legion which was mostly connected with the military of the Roman Gods. The traditional sense was to get into the service of Roman Gods for the Roman Empire. Many other meanings were ascribed to the word religion by many scholars including Max Mueller, the biggest assumpter by far.
The intellectual ineptude of Max Mueller is striking to say the least. In his zeal to hide the vedic superiority over anything western, he gave four lectures in which he spoke in length on Mohammedanism, Buddhism, Christianism and ‘Hindooism’.
He quotes Varuna as the ‘God of Sky’ comparing Varuna to Greek God. The reader can now very well understand the depth of his understanding of vedic literatures. For current researchers, it will be best to visualize Max Mueller more as a propagandist of his personal misunderstandings imposed on the socialistic academic world. Not all knowledge is good, especially half baked. The word ‘Religio’ was the propaganda of Roman warriors to their fallen soldiers to join back their armies.
Since the 1200s the word religion has been commonly used by the English.
Even, Max Mueller was confused so as to connect Religion to the Vedic concept of Dharma. Dharma is common across the non-Abrahamic faith ecosystem. Essentially, Dharma means Truth. It is also the goal as well as the process. The other meanings of Dharma are compulsory duty, Law, prescribed duty, vocational duty, professional duty, the philosophy of ultimate surrender, essential quality, a science, empirical analysis, and above all the Absolute Truth. In addition, Dharma is also another name for Vishnu, the source of all and everything. For a western philosophist it’s very difficult to understand the concept of Dharma. For the many ‘isms’ that they have propounded, most of their definitions don’t even hold the depth of philosophical research by a simple vedic Brahmana. I think that’s the result of the faulty course of research initiated from the point of view of their political masters. The whole idea of monotheism is faulty. When the abrahamic propagandists changed their faiths towards the exclusive monotheism, they sowed the seeds of huge political supremacy wars.
Judaism, Mohammedanism and Christianism are all competing religions of the planet due the fault filled pride of being the only version of truth.
Neither Greeks would agree to this definition of the religion relevant today and nor do Romans. Greeks and later Romans always believed in the power of twelve gods & goddesses which they inherited from pre-Greek philosophies. This outdated definition of religion, applicable to only Abrahamic faiths has created most of the political chaos today. The connotation of religion is the socio-political faith system to control people through made-up festivals and cultural symbols. For example, Jesus is shown with golden hair born in the middle-east. Many stories of these manufactured exclusive religions are folklore stolen from their regional past and usurped to be presented to show themselves as great. Most of the stories are devoid of real truth. No archeological evidence exists and any questioning is a heresy.
Therefore, religions emphasize a lot of belief, because evidence of the historical event is never there.
That’s where Dharma stands out from Religion. The Vedas, Puranas, Itihas, Ramayan, Mahabharat and Upanishad are all based on directly evidenced & recorded truths. Their version of events have always stood the test of time. Every single event has an astronomical time stamp, archeological evidence and experience based traditions. Sanatana Dharma or the duty of the soul is the most powerful experiential spirituality. Yoga is the way to experience it. Varnashrama is the way to implement it in human society.
To Summarize,
- Dharma doesn’t mean religion
- Religion is a dogma while Dharma is a science
- Most traditions in a religion are made up for propaganda, while Dharma stands for truth
- Religions are exclusive to their own people, while Dharma is for Humanity as a whole
- Religions divide while Dharma Unites
- Religions destroy native history, and are the foundational basis of colonial conquests. Dharma is natural and doesn’t discriminate
To conclude, everyone must follow dharma at all times.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are personal to the author
