SANATANA DHARMA AND THE MODERN WORLD

What is the Ancient Western Vedic Heritage?

The Western world has had many connections with the Vedic and Hindu tradition through history. At an ancient period, mainly the pre-Christian era, we see a commonality of language, culture and religion between the European and the Hindu. For example, there are many terms in common between English and Sanskrit: mother-matar, father-pitar, brother-bhratar, sister-svaser.

There are many European and Vedic equivalent names for God: Divine-Deva, Zeus-Dyaus, Jupiter-Dyaus Pitar, Uranus-Varuna. The Greek and Roman reverence for the Gods and Goddesses through temple worship is of the same order as the kind of worship that goes on in temples in India today. At the original core of any indigenous European culture is a Vedic affinity or perhaps even a Vedic identity.

Westerners need not regard the Vedic heritage as simply Eastern, it is universal and also part of an older European heritage that can again be reclaimed, now that the hold of the exclusive religions of the Middle Ages, which suppressed mysticism and spirituality, is coming to an end. The study of the ancient Western Vedic heritage is one of the most important areas of historical research to be embarked upon today and will be very important in reclaiming the spiritual foundations of Western culture.

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