Dharmawiki (धर्मविकि)

Dharmawiki (Samskrit : धर्मविकि) is a unified knowledge resource platform to present traditional viewpoints of Sanatana Dharma. It lays the foundation in creating a universal forum and spearheading a campaign for bringing to light the numerous perspectives expounded in the Sanatana Dharmika treatises starting from the traditions set forth in the Vedas.

While Sanatana Dharma Rshi Parampara promulgated शान्तिः ॥ Shanti or peace for the वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् ॥ vasudaiva kutumbakam, at present our global society is व्याधिग्रस्थ वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् ॥ vyadhigrastha vasudaiva kutumbakam, meaning a 'diseased global family'. The society is stricken with countless evils (both in thought and deed) which translate into the diseases of the Humanity primarily due to loss of Purushartha Drsthi. Individually the diseased state stems from the Mind or Manas, which can be corrected by re-sensitizing the peoples of the world to the dharmika paths given by our seers to live a peaceful life leading ultimately to Moksha.

Dedicated to the future generations, Dharmawiki invites one and all to come together for building narratives based on Sanatana Dharma from the perspective of dharma.  Together, we shall bring back the sashastriya samalochana paddati (shashtra based thinking process) to replace a rational instead of the existing polarized thinking. Our tradition is our adhikara and it is our duty to build our narratives ourselves. We are content creators, no longer content consumers.

Dharmawiki Core Ideas

Motto : श्रूयतां धर्मसर्वस्वम् ॥ Listen to the Essence of Dharma

Aim : लोकसङ्ग्रहम् ॥ A Common Ground

Vision : धर्मसारम् इदं जगत् ॥ Universe is The Essence of Dharma

Motto: श्रूयतां धर्मसर्वस्वम् ॥ Listen to the Essence of Dharma

श्रूयतां धर्मसर्वस्वं श्रुत्वा चाप्यवधार्यताम् | आत्मनः प्रतिकूलानि परेषां न समाचरेत् ॥ (Vishnudharmottara Purana 3.253.44)

śrūyatāṁ dharmasarvasvaṁ śrutvā cāpyavadhāryatām | ātmanaḥ pratikūlāni pareṣāṁ na samācaret ॥ (Vishnudharmottara Purana 3.253.44)

Please listen to the essence of Dharma and having listened to it, bear in mind. The essence of Dharma is: Whatever is adverse (or Unfavourable) to us, we should not adopt (operate) that in case of others.

Padma Purana also reverberates the same concept.(1.19.335). Our primary efforts are to bring to light and present the unbiased dharmika perspectives on social, economic, political and cultural aspects presented in Shrutis, Smrtis, Puranas and Shastra granthas.

We strive to lay a strong foundation of ethics, codes of conduct, and common laws on which the reader may contemplate and build his/her character with more specialized principles suited to his/her intellectual and emotional temperament. It is directed to the building up of a character - pious, dutiful, strong, self reliant, upright, righteous, gentle and well-balanced - a character which will be that of a good man and a good citizen leading a Dharmika Jivana Vidhana.

Aim: लोकसङ्ग्रहम् ॥ A Common Ground

Bharatiya Samskrtika Parampara stands unrivalled in the depth and splendour of its philosophy, while it yields to none in the purity of its ethical teachings and in the flexibility and varied adaptation of its rites and ceremonies. It is inclusive enough to unite the most divergent forms of Hindu thought, but exclusive enough to leave outside it, forms of thought which divides humanity. We aim to bring to light unbiased dharmika perspectives on social, economic, political, and cultural aspects presented in Shrutis, Smrtis, Puranas and Shastra granthas.

अमन्त्रमक्षरं नास्ति नास्ति मूलमनौषधम्‌ । अयोग्यः पुरुषो नास्ति योजकस्तत्र दुर्लभः॥

amantramakṣaraṁ nāsti nāsti mūlamanauṣadham‌ । ayogyaḥ puruṣo nāsti yojakastatra durlabhaḥ॥

There is no syllable which is not a mantra, no plant which is not of medicinal value, no person totally unworthy, but what is rare is the one who can facilitate or harness these to good use.

As Yojakas (योजकाः । organizers) we aim to bring together the diversity of the intellectual thoughts, establishing the foundational unity (एकवाक्यता) in Bharatiya Shastra Granthas.

Vision: धर्मसारम् इदं जगत् ॥ Universe is The Essence of Dharma

Our vision is to compile, discuss, promote, assimilate and disperse the dharmika knowledge seen in all aspects of the Universe and Life, bringing together a scholar and novice to interact on a universal forum. We actively advocate a holistic approach towards life expounded in our traditional treatises for the betterment of the generations to come by revitalization of Purushartha Drshti and by letting go of the Svartha Drshti.

धर्माद् अर्थः प्रभवति धर्मात् प्रभवते सुखम् । धर्मेण लभ्यते सर्वं धर्मसारम् इदं जगत् ॥ [रा. ३.९.३०] (Ramayana 3.9.30)

dharmād arthaḥ prabhavati dharmāt prabhavate sukham । dharmeṇa labhyate sarvaṁ dharmasāram idaṁ jagat ॥ [rā. 3.9.30] (Ramayana 3.9.30)

From righteous duty wealth arises, from righteousness happiness will result, by righteous ways (of life) everything is attained. This universe (world) is the essence of dharma.

Articles or Narratives

The articles or narratives are not a random collection of topics. They are carefully thought out reflections of topics pertaining to present day with references in our age old tradition. Narratives present the foundational aspects of ancient texts and explain their relevance to contemporary days. The structure is built in lines of Wikipedia to enable easy categorization and organization of the subject matter. Several books both ancient and contemporary are consulted for their views. Since presenting a huge amount of information is difficult for one person, the team selects and works on the individual topics as per their flair and competence. Many articles are written by one person which are modified, in the next step, by perhaps 5 other people, to supplement and complement with necessary citations and Samskrit references.

Articles consist of compilation of viewpoints of authoritative scholars of the subject (Maharshi Vedavyasa, Philosophy given by Rishis, different Vedanta interpreters etc) and ideas presented do not belong to the author of the article. Oftentimes, a long time, perhaps running into years, after the base article is made by the original author, additions and fine tuning of the article takes place. Although numerous subjects and topics are dealt with under the vast umbrella of Sanatana Dharma, the primary focus, in this phase of the project, is to present as many foundational articles as possible to build a platform where scholars and novices can interact on a topic, discuss, learn, disseminate and practice.

Articles are mainly of three categories, complete, partially complete and those having a scope for expansion. Fair representation, is made of the philosophies and ideologies of different sampradayas of Bharatavarsha and their congruence in the ocean of Sanatana Dharma in these articles.   

Authorship

Although anyone with internet access can write or edit the pages/articles, to prevent disruption, susceptibility to inclusion of unchecked information and vandalism associated with the clause of "allowing everyone to edit", Dharmawiki pages are restricted from editing to all anonymous users at present.

It may be noted that a team of editors are working on the foundational articles to provide a discussion platform and they are gradually refined over time with more scholarly inputs.

Users who want to contribute articles can always present their point of view by requesting an account and submitting their profile here. Once assessed for their interests their login credentials are created by the core team. Detailed process to register is outlined in the Guest Author page.

Wikipedia Model

DharmaWiki greatly relies on the Wikipedia software to construct the structure and build a repository of articles. Styled in the lines of Wikipedia, Dharmawiki is a dynamic platform, a repository for Vaidika and Dharmika esoteric and general concepts and guidelines. However, Dharmawiki has several distinct features that sets it apart from the Wikipedia itself along with the hundreds of articles, blogs and forums found these days on the internet.