Why is सनातन eternal? “सनातन” itself means the eternal and one should not read this question as “Why is “eternal” eternal? 😂 “सनातन” is used here as a noun and refers to सनातन धर्म (or the वैदिक परम्परा) while “eternal” is used as an adjective. This is a small blog which seeks to capture thoughts that just entered my mind.

Well begun is half done, it is said. ब्रह्मा represents the idea of a great start. If one reads the पुराण, almost all असुर seek out what fuels their ambition from ब्रह्मा. And once they obtain what they seek, they are on a roll and go on to get आधिपत्य over the त्रिलोक. And at this vantage, they seem invincible.

But what has begun well needs to be sustained. विष्णु represents the principle of sustainability. And to sustain requires dedicated practice, patience, funding (लक्ष्मी), maintaining relationships acquired, pleasant demeanour (the smile on the face of कृष्ण), back-up plans, etc. Almost all असुर hate विष्णु – meaning they do not have qualities necessary to sustain what they have begun.

Therefore, inevitably, what begins well often ends in the विष्णु phase itself. A start-up having gone wrong or an actor who remains a one-movie wonder!!! Or, a CHANGE of circumstances brings about the end of the venture. रुद्र is the CHANGE principle. As an उपनिषद् expresses -All that BEGINS eventually comes to an end”. And the end may come owing to one’s own stupidity (भस्मासुर) or surrender to the विष्णु principles (बलि) or succumbing to the power of रुद्र (त्रिपुरासुर).    

Which brings us to the question – why is सनातन eternal? सनातन is eternal since it refers to a state (or स्थिति) that is beyond ब्रह्मा, विष्णु and रुद्र. The उपनिषद् refers to ब्रह्म as the state beyond the त्रिमूर्ति, the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता refers to It as पुरुषोत्तम while the पुराण refers to this state as the परमात्मा स्थिति. कृष्ण also refers to this state as the state beyond त्रिगुण (गुणातीत स्थिति). Among the 108 नाम of देवी, we do come across the following:

ब्रह्माविष्णुशिवात्मिकायै नम:

सृष्टिस्थितिसंहारकाय नम:

ब्रह्मा represents सृष्टि (which means projection or beginning of a new venture), विष्णु represents स्थिति (which means maintaining or stabilizing what has begun) while रुद्र represents संहार (which means the CHANGE principle that brings the venture which had begun to an end).

The eternal alone is. There is no other. The temporal springs from the eternal only and while the temporal washes away, the eternal always stands. The only topic of धर्म is to talk about the eternal. The only yearning of धर्म is to reach one’s own स्वरूप viz the परमार्थ स्थिति. And because the entire world view of धर्म revolves around or centered in the eternal, it is referred to as सनातन धर्म.

The eternal or ब्रह्म is the आत्मा of the temporal. This is why when a राम or a कृष्ण or a दत्तात्रेय comes into the temporal, they become eternal. A ध्रुव or a प्रह्लाद are eternal since they too are fully aligned with the One. An आदि शंकर or a रमण or a रामकृष्ण परमहंस or a परमाचार्य also talk and live the life of an eternal and hence they too have become eternal. Even a रावण or a कंस have become eternal since they have been vanquished by the eternal. Therefore, it does not matter whether the number of adherents to the वैदिक परम्परा rise or fall – the eternal always is. Hence, the body of ज्ञान that is focussed on ब्रह्म is eternal. It is सनातन धर्म – the eternal सत्य (or Truth).