The word "Hindu" is not found anywhere in the Vedic scriptures. Medieval invaders to India pronounced Sindhu as Hindu. They referred to the people living beyond the Sindhu (Indus) as Hindus. Gradually the term "Hindu" became acceptable even to the Indians themselves as a general designation for their spiritual tradition. The proper term is Sanatana Dharma.

Due to the lack of proper knowledge about the subject matter of 'Sanatana Dharma', now-a-days asanatana dharma is being spread as sanatana dharma. People, lacking the knowledge of the real meaning of sanatana dharma, are considering sanatana dharma as the religion of Hindus only; which is a very limited conception. What is the real meaning of sanatana dharma?

Following is an excerpt from a lecture by the president-acharya of Sree Caitanya Gaudiya Math, Sree Srimad Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj on “What is Sanatana Dharma?”.

'The Sanskrit word Dharma is not same as religion. Both these words do not have same meaning. Since we do not find any other word in English to express the true meaning of Dharma, we use the word religion which is closest. The dictionary meaning of religion is: "A system of faith, especially to a personal God entitled to obedience."

Srila Sacidananda Bhaktivinod Thakur, while speaking in relation to the word dharma, mentions that the meaning of dharma is 'nature'. A person’s nature is his dharma. Dharma can be divided into two types. They are naimittika dharma (temporary dharma) and nitya dharma (eternal dharma). This can be illustrated by this example. The nature of water is liquidity. However, subjected to excessive cold it becomes ice. If the cold is removed it again becomes water. Therefore ice form will be referred as the naimittika dharma of water while liquidity is its eternal dharma.

To understand our dharma (eternal nature), first of all we should know—who are we? Normally we will think of us to be this body and refer to its designation as ourselves. We understand this body to be the person. On the contrary, in our speech we use phrases like: “my body”, “my mind”, “and my intelligence”. Nobody says 'I body, I mind'. This tells that 'I', the person, is different from the body. From an external perspective, nobody identifies the body as the person. Whether a country is theistic or atheistic, everywhere the body is considered as a person as long as there is a conscious principle present in it. On losing that conscious principle, nobody calls the dead body a person. Burning or burying a dead body does not result in any punishment! Nowhere a dead body has the right to vote in elections!

As long as a body has the conscious principle present in it, it is identified as a person. By the existence of that principle, 'I' remains and by the absence of that principle, 'I' does not remain That conscious principle, referred to as atma or iiva or Soul in the scriptures, is our real self.

Now let's think about the real position of the living entities (jivas). Where from did they come? What is their dharma? Srimad Bhagavad-Gita is accepted and adored all over the world. Lord Sri Krishna mentions in the Bhagavad-Gita that living entities are parts of His energy/potency. However, at another place in Bhagavad-Gita, He says that they are His own parts. On the basis of the second statement, some say that the jiva is a part of Bhagavan, and therefore he is also Bhagavan. However, this is not correct. The jivas are not mentioned as Bhagavan here. Both statements of Krishna in the Gita should be considered. Lord Krishna says,

apareyam itas tv anyam
prakritim viddhi me param
jiva-bhutam maha-baho
yayedam dharyate jagat

(O mighty-armed Arjuna! There is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities). According to Gita, living entities are not part of the Supreme Lord Himself, but a part of His energy. The atomic soul is energy of the eternally existing, eternally blissful and eternally knowledgeable Supreme Lord

A part of the Lord is non-different from the Lord, because every part of the infinite is infinite. The direct part of the Lord is called svamsa. All incarnations are Lord Krishna's svamsa. Every part of the infinite is infinite, but a part of the energy of the infinite cannot be infinite. For example, a part of sun will be non-different from the sun, but the rays of light cannot be considered to be sun itself. Even all the light rays collected together cannot be called sun. Similarly living entity (jiva) is part of Lord's energy, not of the Lord Himself. The jnanis explain 'tattvamasi' as 'You are that'. However vaisnava teachers refute it and explain it as 'you are His', or 'you are His servant'.

If the sun's light is coming to my room through the window, then I cannot say that the sun has come to my room. The Sun is 1,4 00,000 times the size of the whole earth, so how can it come into my room? It is the light rays of the sun, as a part of the sun's energy that has come. Even all the light rays collected together cannot make the sun as such. The sun gives light, but the light does not become the sun. Similarly, jiva is energy of the Supreme Lord and can never become God.

The Lord has infinite potencies or energies. The Gita talks about two of those: the 'superior' and 'inferior' potencies. Living entities (jivas) are formed from the superior energy, while material and subtle bodies are composed from the inferior energy. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu made it clear that a jiva is a part of the Lord's marginal potency. The jiva comes from Bhagavan, is in Bhagavan, and is therefore for Bhagavan. If we consider the jiva to be Bhagavan, then we will be misunderstanding Bhagavan. Just like a finger is a small part of the body, the jiva is also a small part of the Lord's potency - not the complete Lord. Some people also say that we were God earlier, but became jiva by the influence of maya, yet we will become God again by chanting ‘soham soham!’. This is completely wrong. This is not the scriptural injunction. God can never become jiva, because the Absolute is always Absolute.

The Lord is eternal and His potencies are eternal. The jiva, being a part of the Lord's potency, therefore, is eternal. Their relationship is eternal and their dharma is also eternal. This is called eternal dharma or 'Sanatana Dharma'. The meaning of Sanatana is: "whatever existed in the past, is existing now and will always exist in the future."

However dharma of the body is not sanatana, because the body is destructible. The subtle body made of mind, intelligence and ego, is also not eternal. The dharma of a destructible thing cannot be called 'Sanatana Dharma'. This is called 'Naimittik Dharma'.

The soul is superior to mind and body and is not restricted by any social, national or geographical barriers. Therefore Sanatana dharma does not only apply to India, but it is the dharma for all the living entities, who are spread in innumerable universes.

The essence is that soul is eternal, whereas the material body is destructible. Therefore, all body related dharmas are destructible and only the soul's dharma is eternal. Living entities are part and parcel of the Lord's potency. The potency is always under the control of the owner of the potency and serves that owner. Similarly the service of the Lord is the highest duty of the living entity. This dharma of soul is known as Bhagavat dharma, Sanatana dharma or Vaishnava Dharma. This is the natural dharma of living entities.

We should understand very well that performing rituals alone does not constitute dharma. Upasana (worship) is the right method. The mind will be purified by the remembrance of the Supreme Lord (Bhagavan). Pureness of mind will result in love for the Supreme Lord, and love for the Supreme Lord will cause the development of love for all the living beings related to Him. In this process, there will not be any violence towards anybody. Therefore love for the Supreme Lord is the highest dharma.