Question 1

What is Sanatan Dharma?

Accepted Answer

Sanatan Dharma literally means "the eternal way" — it is the indigenous name for what the world calls Hinduism. It is not a religion founded by a single prophet, but a body of spiritual knowledge rooted in the Vedas (c. 1500–1200 BCE), the oldest surviving scriptures in the world, along with later texts including the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas, and Itihasa epics.

Question 2

What are the four Vedas?

Accepted Answer

The four Vedas are: Rigveda (1,028 hymns of praise, c. 1500 BCE), Yajurveda (ritual formulas), Samaveda (chanted melodies), and Atharvaveda (spells, daily-life prayers, and early medical knowledge). Each Veda has four parts — Samhita (hymns), Brahmana (ritual commentary), Aranyaka (forest treatises), and Upanishad (philosophical core).

Question 3

What is the oldest Hindu scripture?

Accepted Answer

The Rigveda is the oldest Hindu scripture and also the oldest surviving religious text in any Indo-European language. Its composition is dated c. 1500–1200 BCE. It contains 10,600 verses across 10 mandalas (books), including the Nasadiya Sukta (Rigveda 10.129) — one of humanity's earliest philosophical reflections on cosmic origin.

Question 4

How many Hindu gods are there?

Accepted Answer

Hinduism recognizes one ultimate reality (Brahman) with many manifestations. Traditional texts speak of 33 koti devatas (33 main categories of divine principles), often popularly misunderstood as "330 million gods." The primary deities include the Trimurti — Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver), Shiva (transformer) — along with Ganesha, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga, Hanuman, Krishna, and Rama as the most widely worshipped.

Question 5

What is the Bhagavad Gita?

Accepted Answer

The Bhagavad Gita ("Song of the Lord") is a 700-verse scripture in 18 chapters, part of the Mahabharata epic. Composed c. 400 BCE – 200 CE, it presents a battlefield dialogue between Prince Arjuna and Lord Krishna on duty, action, devotion, and liberation. Its most cited verse (2.47) teaches that one has the right to action but not to its fruits.

Question 6

What did ancient India contribute to world science?

Accepted Answer

Documented ancient Indian contributions include: zero as a number (Brahmagupta, 628 CE), the decimal system, trigonometry and sine tables (Aryabhata, 499 CE — 965 years before Europe), infinite series calculus (Madhava of Sangamagrama, 14th century — 300 years before Newton/Leibniz), plastic and cataract surgery (Sushruta, c. 600 BCE), the Pythagorean theorem (Baudhayana, c. 800 BCE), formal grammar (Panini's Ashtadhyayi, c. 500 BCE — foundation of modern computer science grammars), and the calculation of Earth's diameter at 99% accuracy (Surya Siddhanta, c. 400 CE).

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