Sanatan Dharma is RSS’s stand-in for ‘way of life’, but also Hindu religion, Hindutva ideology, Hindu Rashtra

“The dharma (way of life) that is continuing since eternity is Sanatan Dharma. It is all-inclusive. It is from this that all other faiths and ideas flow out. Whatever new religions took shape in India, came out of this philosophy. Hinduism itself is merely a form of Sanatan Dharma. Those who are equating it with ‘Brahmanism’ are doing it out of ignorance and self-interest. In fact, the term ‘Brahmanism’ itself is imaginary,” a senior RSS leader said.

Drawing a distinction between the Hindu way of life and “religions that came from outside”, the leader argued: “India’s religious tradition looks for similarities and constructs the idea of co-existence upon them. The rest look for differences and create exclusion. For us, this idea is against Dharma.”

The interchangeability of the words Hindu Dharma and Sanatan Dharma in Sangh discourse can also be understood in the context of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s oft-repeated articulation that the word ‘Hindu’ itself is not an organically generated term for ancient Indian civilisation, but was actually used by those who came from outside to denote the natives.

That is why Bhagwat often calls all those living in India Hindus, drawing a geographical reference, an RSS leader said. In that context, the RSS understands the actual religion of Hindus to be Sanatan Dharma.

Second RSS Sarsanghchalak M S Golwalkar in his book Bunch of Thoughts alludes to Sanatan Dharma as being an umbrella of multiple traditions.

“Logic and history do not bear out either, that ideas of Dharma are narrow or that economic interests are more comprehensive… Under one vast Sanatan Dharma (which includes under its wings all Vedic, non-Vedic, and other faiths born in this land) there are states like Bharat, Nepal, etc, formed on the basis of economic considerations. It is therefore evident that the pursuit of religion gives a broad base, whereas economic interests narrow down the relations,” Golwalkar said.

While talking about the duties of a swayamsevak in service of the society, Golwalkar said in the book that in times of distress, no distinction must be made between man and man and all must be extended help, be it Christians or Muslims. In this context, he said: “And may our actions succeed in bringing out the Glory and Effulgence of our Sanatan-Eternal-Dharma.”

In 1997, the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal of the RSS passed a resolution that referred to the idea of Sanatan Dharma in context of Golden Jubilee celebrations of India’s Independence. “The swayamsevaks are urged to seek the cooperation, in all their efforts, of all persons and organisations, motivated with love for our ‘Sanatan Dharma’ and ‘sanskriti’, and the resolve to keep the flame of freedom aglow in people’s mind,” it said.

In 2003, the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the apex decision-making body of the RSS, passed a resolution that equated Sanatan Dharma with Hinduism and nationhood while paying tribute to Shri Ma of Aurobindo Ashram on her 125th birth anniversary.

It said: “It was the conviction of Shri Aurobindo that the Hindu Dharma is none other than Sanatan Dharma, which is in fact the genuine nationhood of our country. The rise and decline of the Sanatan Dharma is correspondingly related to the rise and decline of the Hindu Nation. Shri Ma… strongly believed, just as Shri Aurobindo, Partition to be unreal and it must go – go it would. She insisted the map of Akhand Bharat should adorn the Ashram Campus as the center of inspiration, withstanding all the pressure exerted from political quarters to remove it.”

A similar articulation was also made by Golwalkar in his Bunch of Thoughts.

More recently, RSS chief Bhagwat has consistently used the term Sanatan Dharma in multiple contexts.

In August 2022, while inaugurating a temple in Tripura, Bhagwat said: “There are many food habits, culture and traditions in India and, despite all these, we all share a sense of kinship. All communities have Indianness in thought, they praise the Sanatan Dharma. We have to protect Sanatan Dharma. This religion considers everyone their own. It doesn’t convert anyone since it knows praying to anyone with a true heart takes one to one’s god.”

In January 2023, during a speech in Nagpur, Bhagwat equated Sanatan Dharma with Hindu Rashtra. “Dharma is the Satva (nature) of this country and Sanatan Dharma is the Hindu Rashtra. Whenever the Hindu Rashtra progresses, it progresses for the sake of that Dharma only. And now it is the will of God that Sanatan Dharma rises, and hence the rise of Hindustan is certain,” said Bhagwat.

The RSS chief has said in his speeches multiple times that Dharma is a way of life and a sense of duty and must not be equated with religious practices alone.

In March this year, in Uttarakhand, Bhagwat said Sanatan Dharma did not need any certificate as it had stood the test of time.

The idea of Sanatan Dharma is also tethered to the ambition of India becoming Vishwaguru. While Bhagwat has often said that the time has come when India will provide solutions to the world’s problems, in February 2021, during a public event in Hyderabad, he said the world had been suffering for 2000 years and only Sanatan Dharma could heal it.

Interestingly, Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the founder of the BJP’s precursor Bharatiya Jan Sangh, did not refer to Sanatan Dharma in his seminal text Integral Humanism. He, however, referred to the broader term of Dharma more than 160 times.

Describing it, Upadhyay said: “The ideals of the Nation constitute Chiti, which is analogous to the soul of an individual. It requires some effort to comprehend Chiti. The laws that help manifest and maintain Chiti of a Nation are termed Dharma of that Nation. Hence, it is this ‘Dharma’ that is supreme… Dharma is not confined to temples or mosques. Worship of God is only a part of Dharma. Dharma is much wider.”