When the controversy around a politician passing remarks on Sanatana Dharma happened a few weeks back, I came across multiple videos from news channels and discussions on YouTube about this incident. Instead of passively consuming content and doing nothing about it, I decided to learn about Sanatana Dharma in depth. I should have done this many years back, but better late than never.
I stumbled upon this online course "Foundations of Sanatana Dharma" on Vyoma Sanskrit Paatashala and this course was conducted by none other than Prof.Mahadevan from IIMB. I attended his Operations Management course 15 years ago and I loved his approach to teaching - simple, crystal clear, and extremely logical. The later batches had the opportunity to attend his other course on Management paradigms through Bhagavat Gita. I so wish I get a chance to do this course sometime!
I was completely immersed in the last few weeks, listening to his 12-week lectures on Sanatana Dharma. When I completed the course yesterday, my eyes welled up. Such powerful wisdom on the principles of life are so beautifully laid out in our scriptures but most of us have not learned them during our childhood.
Professor, with his depth of knowledge and clear explanation, has presented the basic foundational pillars of Sanatana Dharma. His logical breakdown of concepts along with relevant references from numerous scriptures made this course super engaging and interesting.
He presented his arguments convincingly on why multiple births and re-births are the only logical explanation to understand differences in each individual's life - family born into, culture, and background. His brief overview of the available knowledge repository (Vedas, Vedangas, Puranas, Itihasas, etc) showed the vastness of available scriptures that would guide us to realize and know the absolute truth.
The topics on our life's journey, Karma theory, Varna-Ashrama dharma, and Purusharthas were so eye-opening that I was binge-watching the lectures one after another. It is shocking how these fundamental principles have been misinterpreted/misquoted by people who didn't take any steps to understand them in the first place.
I loved the explanation of why Dharma->Artha->Kama needs to be approached in that order and how in today's times, we have reversed the order, with too much focus on our desires first (Kama) and then seeking wealth (Artha) by hook or crook to meet those desires.
Thank you, Professor and Vyoma for this valuable and relevant course. It is much needed for all of us to understand the principles behind Sanatana Dharma in their true intention.
Those who are interested in this course, please check out the course page. It is a free course. All videos are also available on YouTube.
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