GURUNATHAR’S MESSAGE ASHWINI POOJA 18-10-2005
There was a special question I heard recently and feel I should clarify in this assembly. The followers of Buddha named their religion Buddhism, the followers of Mohammed called themselves Mohammedans, and the followers of Christ called their religion Christianity. Similarly in Bharat it is Hinduism. How has this come about? While others have named their religions after one particular prophet or leader and have followed his teachings, Hindus did not follow this pattern. They followed a number of paths but none of these paths were named after a single guru or saint. This was in ancient times. Later, all these paths were combined under the term “Sanathana Dharmam”. The meaning of this term was ‘the path of righteousness’ or the ‘true path’.
While those of other faiths followed one particular prophet or leader, a Hindu had several saints and seers to guide him. There is a whole line of such great people; but this religion is not based on their names. What I would like to state is that the foundation of the religion is of several philosophies and importance is not given to any particular individual because religion is common to all. This is my reply to the question. Importance is given to spiritual truths and not to those who interpret them. This is because the interpreters are mortal while spiritual truths are eternal.
(Translation of Gurunathar’s divine message given to and read by Guruji Shri. K.V.Narayanan}