Sanātana Dharma in the context of "Hindu culture"

Hinduism (/ˈhɪnduˌɪzəm/) is an umbrella term for a range of Indian religious and spiritual traditions (sampradayas) that are unified by adherence to the concept of dharma, a cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and righteous living, as expounded in the Vedas. The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest surviving religion in the world, it is also described by the 19th century term Sanātana Dharma (lit. 'eternal dharma'). Vaidika Dharma (lit. 'Vedic dharma') and Arya Dharma are historical endonyms for Hinduism.

Hinduism entails diverse systems of thought, marked by a range of shared concepts that discuss theology, mythology, and other topics in textual sources. Hindu texts have been classified into Śruti (lit. 'heard') and Smṛti (lit. 'remembered'). The major Hindu scriptures are the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas, the Mahabharata (including the Bhagavad Gita), the Ramayana, and the Agamas. Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include karma (action, intent and consequences), saṃsāra (the cycle of death and rebirth) and the four Puruṣārthas, proper goals or aims of human life, namely: dharma (ethics/duties), artha (prosperity/work), kama (desires/passions) and moksha (liberation/emancipation from passions and ultimately saṃsāra). Hindu religious practices include devotion (bhakti), worship (puja), sacrificial rites (yajna), and meditation (dhyana) and Yoga. Hinduism has no central doctrinal authority and many Hindus do not claim to belong to any denomination. However, scholarly studies notify four major denominations: Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. The six Āstika schools of Hindu philosophy that recognise the authority of the Vedas are: Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedanta.

Hindus (Hindustani: [ˈɦɪndu] ; /ˈhɪnduːz/; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent.

It is assumed that the term "Hindu" traces back to Avestan scripture Vendidad which refers to land of seven rivers as Hapta Hendu which itself is a cognate to Sanskrit term Sapta Sindhuḥ. (The term Sapta Sindhuḥ is mentioned in Rig Veda and refers to a North western Indian region of seven rivers and to India as a whole.) The Greek cognates of the same terms are "Indus" (for the river) and "India" (for the land of the river). Likewise the Hebrew cognate hōd-dū refers to India mentioned in Hebrew Bible (Esther 1:1). The term "Hindu" also implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent around or beyond the Sindhu (Indus) River. By the 16th century CE, the term began to refer to residents of the subcontinent who were not Turkic or Muslims.

Sanātanī (Devanagari: सनातनी) is a modern term used to describe Hindu duties that incorporate teachings from the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Agamas and other Hindu religious texts and scriptures such as the Ramayana and its many versions, as well as the Mahabharata (incl. the Bhagavad Gita), which itself is often described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy and a practical, self-contained guide to life. The word Sanātanī is coined from Sanātana Dharma (Sanskrit: सनातन धर्म, lit. 'the Eternal Dharma') which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts.

A Sanātanī performs duties in accordance with their Svadharma, or one's own inherent nature and prescribed duty, which involves fulfilling responsibilities based on individual capacity and one's unique role within society. Ultimately, this is rooted in the realisation of the spiritual, or constitutional, identity of the atman (Self). These eternal duties are universal in essence. They encompass virtues such as honesty, non-violence, purity, charity, goodwill, compassion, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, generosity, and asceticism.