Why Hinduism Matters for Humanity

When someone asks, "Why is Hinduism important for humanity?" 

we often hear a simple yet common answer — because it's the oldest belief system. But let us dive deeper and try to understand the reasoning behind this claim, and even challenge it.

Is Being the Oldest Really the Best?

Claiming that Hinduism is important simply because it's the oldest belief system is not enough. If age alone determined value, we would never replace old furniture, we’d preserve every ancient house, and consider people from the Stone Age the most intelligent beings. Clearly, being old doesn’t automatically mean being best.

Interestingly, once Hinduism asserted its ancient roots, other religious traditions felt compelled to prove they were even older. Some Islamic scholars claim Islam begins from Adam, while some Christians argue their religion started long before Christ. But these claims often lack textual or archaeological evidence.

Moreover, these traditions believe in the linear progress of knowledge — the idea that humans evolve and become smarter over time. But if they truly believed their systems came from primitive, ancient people, then by their own logic, they are following the teachings of a technologically backward time.

Hinduism Offers a Different View of Time

Unlike the linear concept of time followed by most religions, Hinduism presents a cyclical view of time — a concept found nowhere else. Time, according to Hindu thought, moves in cycles called Yugas. Each full cycle is 24,000 years and is divided into four periods: Satya Yuga (age of truth and highest intelligence), Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga (current age of moral decline and ignorance).

This understanding of time isn't just mythological — it's scientifically relevant too. The Earth’s precession cycle, also around 25,772 years, matches this idea closely. Modern astronomy acknowledges this slow wobble of Earth’s axis, aligning well with the Hindu concept of Yugas.

The beauty of this cyclical model is that it aligns more naturally with observable phenomena in nature: seasons, day and night, life and death. Everything moves in cycles. Even galaxies rotate in spirals, stars are born and die in cycles — echoing the Hindu view that time is eternal, without a fixed beginning or end.

Evidence of an Advanced Ancient Civilization

If you visit ancient Indian temples like Kailasha, Tirupati, Meenakshi Amman, or Chennakeshava, you will find architecture that cannot be recreated with today’s technology. People argue that we’ve not found machines from that time — but that’s expected.

Imagine your household. It contains electronics, plastic, metals, and earthen pots. Now imagine 2000 years pass. What survives? Metal will rust and dissolve. Plastic will decay. Only pottery and stone will remain. Our future generations may find just those artifacts and assume we were technologically primitive. The same applies to ancient civilizations.

In fact, the precision of temple alignments to celestial events, their acoustic engineering, water management systems, and earthquake-proof designs point to a level of knowledge that was both scientific and spiritual — a blend unique to the Dharmic worldview.

Hinduism Is a Living, Evolving Way of Life

Many say, "Hinduism is a way of life." But so is Islam, Christianity, or any religion that dictates daily conduct. What makes Hinduism different?

Most religions are founded by a single prophet or central figure, with one sacred book containing eternal, unchangeable laws. Hinduism, however, has no single founder. It is a collection of philosophies, refined and added to over thousands of years.

Hindu scriptures — the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, and more — are not just spiritual. They represent generations of scientific, psychological, and philosophical inquiry, unlike any other belief system. They were open to corrections and additions, evolving over centuries. It's like a constitution that keeps growing and adapting.

In fact, the freedom to question, to reject even the Vedas (as some schools like Charvaka did), and still remain within the Dharmic fold, is unparalleled in religious thought. This intellectual openness is rare and precious.

Hinduism is Deeply Scientific

While every religion tries to claim it is scientific, Hinduism actually provides shlokas that hint at scientific truths — not in symbolic language, but direct statements.

From the Vaisheshika Sutras:

"अणुः स्वेन रूपेण न दृश्यते न च स्पर्शते। सर्वं रूपं तेन भवति, तस्मात् तस्योपरि अणुः ॥"
Translation: The atom (अणुः) is invisible and untouchable. All forms come from it. The atom is the source of everything.

This is a clear reference to atomic theory — concepts modern science only uncovered in the last few centuries.

Some sutras even mirror Newton's laws:

• "वेगः निमित्तविशेषात कर्मणो जायते" — Change of motion is due to an external force.
• "वेगः निमित्तापेक्षात कर्मणो जायते नियतदिक क्रियाप्रबन्धहेतु" — Force and change of motion are proportional and directional.
• "वेगः संयोगविशेषविरोधी" — Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

From physics to astrophysics, biology to quantum theory, many modern scientific principles have roots in Vedic knowledge. Even mathematical concepts like the value of π, binary numbers (as used by Pingala), and algebraic theorems exist in ancient Hindu texts.

Additionally, Ayurveda — Hinduism's traditional medical science — continues to gain global recognition for its holistic, personalized approach to health that aligns closely with modern-day integrative medicine.

Hinduism Is Not a Religion

So if Hinduism isn't just a religion, what is it?

Definitions of religion usually include belief in a superhuman controlling power, a unified system of sacred beliefs, or a moral vision enforced by divine authority. Hinduism doesn’t fit any of these neatly:

1.    No Superhuman God: Hinduism doesn’t focus on worshipping a single God. Instead, it describes the entire universe as divine. It emerges from what appears to be nothingness — which, in Hinduism, is not emptiness but the womb of all creation.

2.    No Unified Belief System: There is no one-size-fits-all doctrine. Multiple schools of thought — Dvaita, Advaita, Samkhya, Yoga, and more — co-exist.

3.    Not Just Moral Vision: Hinduism is not simply about moral codes. It’s a comprehensive framework to understand the self, the universe, and the interconnection between them.

Even the name “Hinduism” is not accurate. The correct word is “Dharma” — which means universal law, not religion. Over time, it was labeled as Vedic religion, Sanatana Dharma (eternal law), or Hinduism (possibly derived from “Hida Loka” in Prakrit — meaning the ‘world of the heart’).

So, Why Is Hinduism Important?

Call it Hinduism, Sanatan Dharma, or Vedic Dharma — this ancient system is not bound by time, geography, or social structure. It is a system that complements every belief without conflicting with any. It is a science, a philosophy, a lifestyle, and a path to understand the very reason for human existence.

Hindus today carry a sacred responsibility — not to convert others, but to make the world aware of this universal dharma. It doesn’t compete with your faith. It enhances it. It’s the root of the tree that holds many branches. Cutting the root endangers the entire tree of humanity.

In a world increasingly divided by names and boundaries, the unifying vision of Sanatan Dharma may be the very key to understanding who we are and why we exist.

Ultimately, the value of Hinduism lies not in its age, but in its agelessness — its ability to remain relevant in every era, every place, and every mind willing to explore the deeper truths of life.

By Pradeep Mahaur – Pradeep Mahaur Magazine

Insights on Hindu Wisdom and Global Affairs from an Indic perspective.

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