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This is not about a museum artifact or a momentary slogan. A ‘Samyaka Sanatani’ is not defined by the volume of the proclamations made, but by the quiet synergy between the inner life and the Nature’s order, the ‘ṛitu’ that sustains existence itself. He walks a path defined long before his birth, yet he does not walk backward into time. To be a Sanatani, one needs to belong to that which has no beginning and no end. To be Samyaka is to live it rightly, completely, and in its true spirit. Together, the ‘Samyaka Sanatani’ represents ‘Sanatana Dharma.’ This is not a static inheritance, but is a living, breathing continuity that renews itself in every age without losing its spirit or essence.‘Sana aatanoti iti sanatanaha’ defines Sanatana. ‘Sanaaha’ is eternal or one that has no beginning or end. ‘Aatanotihi’ is to attain, stretch, pervade, or expand. ‘Sanatanaha’ is that which makes one attain the eternal. For the Samyaka Sanatani, dharma is not a rigid code frozen into established constructs or commandments. It is a living principle. ‘Dharyate Iti Dharmaha’ ‘That which upholds is Dharma.’ It upholds the individual, society, and the subtle balance of the Nature. He understands, as Krishna revealed to Arjuna, that dharma is contextual and dynamic. What is righteous in one circumstance may become destructive in another. Therefore, a Sanatani does not reduce dharma to slogans or absolutism. He recognizes ‘Atmadharma’, the duty to one’s inner nature, ‘kuladharma’, the responsibility toward family and lineage, ‘samajadharma’, the obligation to society, and ‘rashtradharma’, the duty toward the nation. To ignore any one of these is imbalance. To integrate all of them consciously is to live the life of ‘Samyaka.’Knowledge, or ‘Jnana’, holds a sacred place in a Sanatani’s life, but it never becomes a pedestal for arrogance. He studies the ‘Upaniṣhads’ and reflects upon the Bhagavad Gita. He engages with the ‘darshanas’ the apprehension of reality or truths of life, ‘Nyaya’ the disciplined logic, ‘Sankhya’ the analysis of reality, ‘Yoga’ the inward mastery, and ‘Vedanta’ the pursuit of non-dual truth. Be that as it may, he remembers that even the Vedas themselves confess limitation through the principle of ‘reductio-ad-absurdum’, or the words ‘neti-neti’, not this, not this. Truth is always approached through humility, and not captured through certainty. The Samyaka Sanatana debates without hostility and listens without fear. He doesn’t face stagnation even under questioning. A true Sanatani believes in “satyam bhruyaat Priyam bhruyaatna bhruyaat stayam Priyam. Priyam cha naanrutam bhruyaat esha dharmaha sanaatanaha.” Speak the truth, but speak it pleasantly. Do not speak truth that causes harm. Do not speak pleasant falsehood. This is ‘Sanaatana Dharma.’Sanatana’s bhakti is deep but never blind. He does not worship to negotiate favours, nor does he outsource responsibility to the divine. When he bows before Siva, he bows to calmness and prays for the dissolution of ego. When he invokes Visshnu, he aligns himself with preservation and balance. When he bows before Durga, he honours power guided by compassion and wisdom. For a Sanatani, the deities are not competing authorities but expressions of nature’s principles and inner possibilities. Hence, devotion enlarges his vision and the reverence never compromises discernment. Karma is not fatalism for a Sanatani. For him, karma is continuity, not imprisonment. Every thought is a seed, every action is a direction, and every intention is a force that shapes future experience. He acts, as the Gita instructs, through ‘nishkaama Karma’, not as indifference, but as freedom from ego and attachment. Success does not intoxicate him, and failure does not depress him. Action aligned with dharma is its own completion. Renunciation, for him, is not withdrawal from the world but the shedding of ignorance while remaining fully engaged in life.Pluralism does not confuse the Samyaka Sanatani. It strengthens him. He knows that Sanatana Dharma does not move in a single line but flows like a river. For him, ‘Dvaita and Advaita’, devotion and inquiry, ritual and renunciation, temple and forest, householder and ascetic, all coexist within the same Nature’s framework. He believes that the truth is one while expressions are many. Difference, therefore, is not a threat but a sign of strength and vitality. He does not demand uniformity, because he understands that reality itself is vast.His relationship with history is mature. He carries civilisational memory without turning it into perpetual grievance. He honours ancestors but does not freeze their contexts into permanent commands. He recognises that Sanatana Dharma survived millions of years not by resisting change, but by absorbing, refining, and integrating new realities without losing its core principles. He remembers trauma and distortion, yet he refuses to build identity solely on reaction. Confidence rooted in continuity does not need constant assertion. He expresses himself naturally through conduct.Outer markers matter less to him than inner discipline. For him, ‘Yama’ and ‘niyama’ precede ritual. Character precedes costume. Integrity precedes identity. He knows that countless ‘yajnas’ are meaningless without ‘ahimsa’ in thought, speech, and action. Cleanliness of mind is as sacred as cleanliness in a temple. Spirituality, in his life, is private discipline but realises that it may come with unavoidable public consequences.Ultimately, the Samyaka Sanatani stands as a living bridge, between ancient wisdom and modern complexity, between inner realization and outer responsibility, between devotion and discernment. He does not ask the world to return to the past, nor does he abandon the past in pursuit of the new. He carries the eternal forward, rightly adapted and never diluted. Like a banyan tree rooted deep in the soil of time while spreading wide enough to shelter many, he demonstrates that Sanatana Dharma is not merely something to be inherited or defended, but something to be practised. By living as a samyaka, he ensures that what is eternal does not merely survive, but remains alive. The Article is Authored by Dr S S Mantha who is Former Chairman, AICTE and Chancellor, RBU, Nagpur.Views expressed are personal.

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