Ancient peoples of India belong to Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.+

Supreme Court of India:~ Hinduism, as a religion, incorporates all forms of belief without mandating the selection or elimination of any one single belief,“ It is a religion that has no single founder, no single scripture, and no single set of teachings. It has been described as Santana Dharma, namely, eternal faith, as it is the collective wisdom and inspiration of the centuries that Hinduism seeks to preach and propagate,” ---Hinduism has no single founder or scripture:- SC, The Times of India (Delhi) Dec 17, 2015

The people on the Indian side of the Sindhu were called Hindu by the Persian and the later western invaders. That is the genesis of the word `Hindu'.

 When we think of the Hindu religion, we find it difficult, if not impossible, to define Hindu religion or even adequately describe it. Unlike other religions in the world, the Hindu religion does not claim any one prophet; it does not worship any one God; it does not subscribe to any one dogma; it does not believe in any one philosophic concept; it does not follow any one set of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not appear to satisfy the narrow traditional features of any religion or creed. It may broadly be described as a way of life and nothing more.

Hinduism seems to be a name without any content. Is it a museum of beliefs, a medley or rites, or a mere map, a geographical expression? 

The Vedas as a body of scripture contains many contradictions and they are fragmentary in nature. For most Hindus of today, scriptures like the Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas are more attractive and appealing than the Vedas.

The Gods and Goddesses they worship differ considerably from the Vedic ones. The collection of hymns called Vedas are written in praise of certain deities by poets over several centuries does not seem to have much significance for the Hindus of today.

Hinduism is ‘Puranic based on mythology. Hinduism is based on myth because it believes in mythological Gods. Vedic Gods like Indra, Varuna, Agni, Soma, and the like, whom the Vedic people worshipped, hardly have any significance in present-day Hinduism.

Rig Veda 1/164/46: ~ “They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, or the heavenly sunbird Garutmat. The seers call in many ways that which is One; they speak of Agni, Yama, Matarishvan.

Rig Veda 8/58/2:~ Only One is the Fire, enkindled in numerous ways; only One is the Sun, pervading this whole universe; only One is the Dawn, illuminating all things. In very truth, the One has become the whole world.

The Gods and Goddesses important to the Hindus of today are Ram, Krishna, Kali, Ganesh, Hanuman, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and the respective consorts of the last three, namely, Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Shakti. None of these deities figured prominently in the Vedic pantheon and some of them are clearly non-Vedic. The major Gods of Hinduism like Vishnu and Shiva are non-Aryan in origin. Though they may have belonged to the Vedic tradition they played no major role in the Vedas.

Thus it is important to bifurcate Hinduism from the Ancient Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma the importance of ‘going back to realize the Vedic religion is nothing to do with Hinduism, which is based on diverse beliefs in non-~Vedic Gods, dogmas, rituals, and worship of human being, which is barred by Vedas.

Indian people are sentimentally attached to religion because they have inherited an adulterated version of Vedism and they call it Hinduism. Hinduism was founded by different founders of sects and castes from time to time.   Thus, understanding Hinduism is very much necessary to realize the ancient Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma, which existed prior to Buddhism and Jainism was nothing to do with the present Hinduism. Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma was caste-free, temple-free, priest free, and free of dogmas. 

People dwelling in India belonged to different castes and communities, worshipped different Gods, and practiced different rites to believe in different dogmas. 

Aryans were ancient people who originally inhabited Central Asia and later migrated southwards to the regions stretching from Iran to northwest India. These early Aryans had a similar language, race, culture, and religion with many variations. The Aryans were influenced by the Dravidic culture and in later centuries other peoples also invaded and migrated to India bringing other influences and mixing many cultures' ideologies and beliefs.

Ancient peoples of India belong to the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma, therefore, they have nothing to do with present-day Hinduism. The ancient peoples of Indus Valley or undivided India were called Hindus by Muslim Invaders.

Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is not Hinduism.

The word Hindu came originated from the word Sindhu which is another name for the river Indus. Maybe people who stayed along the Sindhu (Indus) valley came to be known as Hindus.

An exact date of the birth of Santana Dharma cannot be given. They say that Santana Dharma is as old as planet earth. Some claims it is 5000 to 7000 years old Ancient India consisted of indigenous people.

Aryans, Dravidians, Jews, Christian, and Muslims have invaded India and all ingenious people were converted to different faith from time to time. Thus, Hinduism is a group of different castes, creeds, and faith.

The Hindus believed in polytheism, believing all of their Gods to be separate individuals, which was introduced much later by the founders of Hinduism which contains diverse beliefs caste, and creed. Going to a temple would make one a follower of Hinduism.

The term ‘Hindu’ is originally a geographical nomenclature. In the Arabic texts where the term ‘Hindu’ is initially used, refers to the inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent, the land across the Sindhu or Indus River. Al-Hind was, therefore, a geographical identity, and the Hindus were all the people who lived on this land.

Thus, the term ‘Hindu’ was used to describe those who professed a religion other than Islam and Christianity. It is also noteworthy that the use of the word ‘Hindu’ in non-Islamic sources is known probably only from the 15TH century A.D.

The term ‘Hindu’ became a term of administrative convenience when the rulers of Arab, Turkish, Afghan, and Mughal origin ~ all Muslims ~ had to differentiate between ‘the believers’ and the rest.

Aurobindo (1872-1950) believed that the Vedas are the foundation of the Santana Dharma.

Remember:~

Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is distinct from Hinduism. The Vedic religion or Santana Dharma deserves to be treated on its own as a distinct religion with its own sacred texts, rites, rules of social life, beliefs, and practices without inter-linking it with Hinduism. Perhaps it is right to maintain that the Mimamsa School which is concerned with the investigation of the Vedic texts, their correct interpretation, and the meticulous performance of the Vedic rituals and ceremonies has preserved and defended a part of the heritage of the Vedic tradition.

The Vedanta school also may have received a part of the inspiration from the Vedas. For the rest of the Hindu philosophical schools and religious sects, the influence of the Vedas is nominal. However, in as much as elements from the Vedas have influenced some aspects of Hinduism, it may be considered as one of the many factors influencing Hinduism.

But by no means can it be maintained that Hinduism has its direct ancestry in the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma. Therefore, Hinduism of Vedic times is an imagined community. Hinduism is of a much later origin, and a historical view of Indian religions would endorse a dichotomy between Vedic religion or Santana Dharma and contemporary Hinduism.

Hinduism does not have a long ancestry as is often presumed or propagated by the Hindu ideologues. In fact, historically, religions like Buddhism and Jainism can claim greater antiquity than the Hinduism of today. Hinduism began to take a systematic form from the time of Sage Sri, Sankara (8thcentury A.D). In this sense, he may be considered as the ‘founder’ of Hinduism.

 Thus Hinduism came into existence with its own code of conduct beliefs, and rituals after the 8th century. Hinduism as one knows it today is of recent origin. He states: “Hinduism did not really achieve its status as a coherent, though still baffling, religious complex until after the establishment of the British rule in India.

In discussing the Vedic religion it is also to be remembered that in the course of history, many non-Aryan elements entered into the Vedic religion. The Vedic Aryans freely borrowed elements from the culture and the society around them. But we cannot say with precision, which are the non-Aryan elements in the Vedic religion. Therefore, the thesis of the direct ancestry of Hinduism of today from Vedic religion is to be considered as a myth purported by orthodoxy.

Sage Sankara endeavored toward establishing the Vedic religion and overthrowing Buddhism. But even he was not able to avoid the influence of Buddhism. The influence of the revolutionary atmosphere of Buddhism reappeared in the Advaita of Sage  Sankara. His inability to revive the Vedic religion that flourished before the Buddhist revolution in its pure form is discernible. 

Santana Dharma means that it has no beginning or an end, righteousness forever.

Swami Vivekananda says:~ The word Hindu is a misnomer; the correct word should be a Vedantins, a person who follows the Vedas.

In Encyclopaedia Britannica it says:~ The word Hinduism was first used by the British writers in the year 1830 to describe the multiplicity of the faiths of the people of India excluding the converted Christians. (Volume -20, Reference -581)

Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru:~ The word Hindu can be earliest traced to a source a tantric in the 8th century and it was used initially to describe the people, it was never used to describe religion. (The discovery of India” on pages -74 and -75)

According to Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, Its connection with religion is of late occurrence. The word Hinduism is derived from the word Hindu.

The word Hinduism was first used by English writers in the 19th century to describe the multiplicity of faiths of the people of India.

In the year 1794 A.D. Sir William Jones, the European chief justice of the then-Supreme Court of India at Calcutta, coined the new term Hinduism for the caste discriminating principle of Varnashrama Dharma originated on the basis of Manu Dharma Śāstra.

It is a well-known fact that the Vedic people not only did not identify themselves as Hindus but also did not possess the essential characteristics of Hinduism. However, in order to legitimize the antiquity of Hinduism, Maharishi and Dayananda (1824-1883) founders of Arya Samaj insisted on ‘going back to the Vedas’.

Maharishi Dayananda founder of Arya Samaj was the first thinker and reformer to emphasize the importance of ‘going back to the Vedas’ in order to bring about social reforms in society and to purify Hinduism of its many aberrations. Hinduism is ‘Puranic based’. Vedic God s like Indra, Varuna, Agni, Soma, and the like, whom the Vedic people worshipped, hardly have any significance in Hinduism.:~Santthosh Kumaar